Coordination of rooting, xylem, and stomatal strategies explains the response of conifer forest stands to multi-year drought in the southern Sierra Nevada of California
Abstract
Abstract. Extreme droughts are a major determinant of ecosystem disturbance that impacts plant communities and feeds back into climate change through changes in plant functioning. However, the complex relationships between aboveground and belowground plant hydraulic traits and their role in governing plant responses to drought are not fully understood. In this study, we use a model, the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator in a configuration that includes plant hydraulics (FATES-Hydro), to investigate ecosystem responses to the 2012–2015 California drought in comparison with observations at a site in the southern Sierra Nevada that experienced widespread tree mortality during this drought. We conduct a sensitivity analysis to explore how different plant water sourcing and hydraulic strategies lead to differential responses during normal and drought conditions. The analysis shows the following. Deep roots that sustain productivity through the dry season are needed for the model to capture observed seasonal cycles of evapotranspiration (ET) and gross primary productivity (GPP) in normal years, and deep-rooted strategies are nonetheless subject to large reductions in ET and GPP when the deep soil reservoir is depleted during extreme droughts, in agreement with observations. Risky stomatal strategies lead to greater productivity during normal years as compared to safer stomatalmore »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 2216978
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 2279132
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-193779
Journal ID: ISSN 1726-4189
- Grant/Contract Number:
- DE‐AC02‐05CH11231; AC05-76RL01830; AC02-05CH11231; EAR-1331931
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Biogeosciences (Online)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Biogeosciences (Online) Journal Volume: 20 Journal Issue: 22; Journal ID: ISSN 1726-4189
- Publisher:
- Copernicus GmbH
- Country of Publication:
- Germany
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Citation Formats
Ding, Junyan, Buotte, Polly, Bales, Roger, Christoffersen, Bradley, Fisher, Rosie A., Goulden, Michael, Knox, Ryan, Kueppers, Lara, Shuman, Jacquelyn, Xu, Chonggang, and Koven, Charles D. Coordination of rooting, xylem, and stomatal strategies explains the response of conifer forest stands to multi-year drought in the southern Sierra Nevada of California. Germany: N. p., 2023.
Web. doi:10.5194/bg-20-4491-2023.
Ding, Junyan, Buotte, Polly, Bales, Roger, Christoffersen, Bradley, Fisher, Rosie A., Goulden, Michael, Knox, Ryan, Kueppers, Lara, Shuman, Jacquelyn, Xu, Chonggang, & Koven, Charles D. Coordination of rooting, xylem, and stomatal strategies explains the response of conifer forest stands to multi-year drought in the southern Sierra Nevada of California. Germany. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4491-2023
Ding, Junyan, Buotte, Polly, Bales, Roger, Christoffersen, Bradley, Fisher, Rosie A., Goulden, Michael, Knox, Ryan, Kueppers, Lara, Shuman, Jacquelyn, Xu, Chonggang, and Koven, Charles D. Fri .
"Coordination of rooting, xylem, and stomatal strategies explains the response of conifer forest stands to multi-year drought in the southern Sierra Nevada of California". Germany. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4491-2023.
@article{osti_2216978,
title = {Coordination of rooting, xylem, and stomatal strategies explains the response of conifer forest stands to multi-year drought in the southern Sierra Nevada of California},
author = {Ding, Junyan and Buotte, Polly and Bales, Roger and Christoffersen, Bradley and Fisher, Rosie A. and Goulden, Michael and Knox, Ryan and Kueppers, Lara and Shuman, Jacquelyn and Xu, Chonggang and Koven, Charles D.},
abstractNote = {Abstract. Extreme droughts are a major determinant of ecosystem disturbance that impacts plant communities and feeds back into climate change through changes in plant functioning. However, the complex relationships between aboveground and belowground plant hydraulic traits and their role in governing plant responses to drought are not fully understood. In this study, we use a model, the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator in a configuration that includes plant hydraulics (FATES-Hydro), to investigate ecosystem responses to the 2012–2015 California drought in comparison with observations at a site in the southern Sierra Nevada that experienced widespread tree mortality during this drought. We conduct a sensitivity analysis to explore how different plant water sourcing and hydraulic strategies lead to differential responses during normal and drought conditions. The analysis shows the following. Deep roots that sustain productivity through the dry season are needed for the model to capture observed seasonal cycles of evapotranspiration (ET) and gross primary productivity (GPP) in normal years, and deep-rooted strategies are nonetheless subject to large reductions in ET and GPP when the deep soil reservoir is depleted during extreme droughts, in agreement with observations. Risky stomatal strategies lead to greater productivity during normal years as compared to safer stomatal control, but they also lead to a high risk of xylem embolism during the 2012–2015 drought. For a given stand density, stomatal and xylem traits have a stronger impact on plant water status than on ecosystem-level fluxes. Our study highlights the significance of resolving plant water sourcing strategies to represent drought impacts on plants and consequent feedbacks in models.},
doi = {10.5194/bg-20-4491-2023},
journal = {Biogeosciences (Online)},
number = 22,
volume = 20,
place = {Germany},
year = {Fri Nov 17 00:00:00 EST 2023},
month = {Fri Nov 17 00:00:00 EST 2023}
}
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