Trading water for carbon in the future: Effects of elevated CO 2 and warming on leaf hydraulic traits in a semiarid grassland
Abstract
Abstract The effects of climate change on plants and ecosystems are mediated by plant hydraulic traits, including interspecific and intraspecific variability of trait phenotypes. Yet, integrative and realistic studies of hydraulic traits and climate change are rare. In a semiarid grassland, we assessed the response of several plant hydraulic traits to elevated CO 2 (+200 ppm) and warming (+1.5 to 3°C; day to night). For leaves of five dominant species (three graminoids and two forbs), and in replicated plots exposed to 7 years of elevated CO 2 , warming, or ambient climate, we measured: stomatal density and size, xylem vessel size, turgor loss point, and water potential (pre‐dawn). Interspecific differences in hydraulic traits were larger than intraspecific shifts induced by elevated CO 2 and/or warming. Effects of elevated CO 2 were greater than effects of warming, and interactions between treatments were weak or not detected. The forbs showed little phenotypic plasticity. The graminoids had leaf water potentials and turgor loss points that were 10% to 50% less negative under elevated CO 2 ; thus, climate change might cause these species to adjust their drought resistance strategy away from tolerance and toward avoidance. The C4 grass also reduced allocation of leaf area tomore »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[3];
[6]
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences Cleveland State University Cleveland Ohio USA
- Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA
- Rangeland Resources &, Systems Research, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture Fort Collins Colorado USA
- Water Management Research, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture Fort Collins Colorado USA
- Department of Botany University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment Western Sydney University Penrith New South Wales Australia
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDA; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1879922
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1879925; OSTI ID: 1904505
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0006973; 1021559
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Global Change Biology
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Global Change Biology Journal Volume: 28 Journal Issue: 20; Journal ID: ISSN 1354-1013
- Publisher:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; carbon dioxide; drought; intraspecific; plant functional type; species; stomata; turgor loss point; warming; water potential; xylem
Citation Formats
Mueller, Kevin E., Ocheltree, Troy W., Kray, Julie A., Bushey, Julie A., Blumenthal, Dana M., Williams, David G., and Pendall, Elise. Trading water for carbon in the future: Effects of elevated CO 2 and warming on leaf hydraulic traits in a semiarid grassland. United Kingdom: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1111/gcb.16314.
Mueller, Kevin E., Ocheltree, Troy W., Kray, Julie A., Bushey, Julie A., Blumenthal, Dana M., Williams, David G., & Pendall, Elise. Trading water for carbon in the future: Effects of elevated CO 2 and warming on leaf hydraulic traits in a semiarid grassland. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16314
Mueller, Kevin E., Ocheltree, Troy W., Kray, Julie A., Bushey, Julie A., Blumenthal, Dana M., Williams, David G., and Pendall, Elise. Thu .
"Trading water for carbon in the future: Effects of elevated CO 2 and warming on leaf hydraulic traits in a semiarid grassland". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16314.
@article{osti_1879922,
title = {Trading water for carbon in the future: Effects of elevated CO 2 and warming on leaf hydraulic traits in a semiarid grassland},
author = {Mueller, Kevin E. and Ocheltree, Troy W. and Kray, Julie A. and Bushey, Julie A. and Blumenthal, Dana M. and Williams, David G. and Pendall, Elise},
abstractNote = {Abstract The effects of climate change on plants and ecosystems are mediated by plant hydraulic traits, including interspecific and intraspecific variability of trait phenotypes. Yet, integrative and realistic studies of hydraulic traits and climate change are rare. In a semiarid grassland, we assessed the response of several plant hydraulic traits to elevated CO 2 (+200 ppm) and warming (+1.5 to 3°C; day to night). For leaves of five dominant species (three graminoids and two forbs), and in replicated plots exposed to 7 years of elevated CO 2 , warming, or ambient climate, we measured: stomatal density and size, xylem vessel size, turgor loss point, and water potential (pre‐dawn). Interspecific differences in hydraulic traits were larger than intraspecific shifts induced by elevated CO 2 and/or warming. Effects of elevated CO 2 were greater than effects of warming, and interactions between treatments were weak or not detected. The forbs showed little phenotypic plasticity. The graminoids had leaf water potentials and turgor loss points that were 10% to 50% less negative under elevated CO 2 ; thus, climate change might cause these species to adjust their drought resistance strategy away from tolerance and toward avoidance. The C4 grass also reduced allocation of leaf area to stomata under elevated CO 2 , which helps explain observations of higher soil moisture. The shifts in hydraulic traits under elevated CO 2 were not, however, simply due to higher soil moisture. Integration of our results with others' indicates that common species in this grassland are more likely to adjust stomatal aperture in response to near‐term climate change, rather than anatomical traits; this contrasts with apparent effects of changing CO 2 on plant anatomy over evolutionary time. Future studies should assess how plant responses to drought may be constrained by the apparent shift from tolerance (via low turgor loss point) to avoidance (via stomatal regulation and/or access to deeper soil moisture).},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.16314},
journal = {Global Change Biology},
number = 20,
volume = 28,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Thu Aug 04 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Thu Aug 04 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
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