Unsaturation of vapour pressure inside leaves of two conifer species
Abstract
Stomatal conductance (gs) impacts both photosynthesis and transpiration, and is therefore fundamental to the global carbon and water cycles, food production, and ecosystem services. Mathematical models provide the primary means of analysing this important leaf gas exchange parameter. A nearly universal assumption in such models is that the vapour pressure inside leaves (ei) remains saturated under all conditions. The validity of this assumption has not been well tested, because so far ei cannot be measured directly. Here, we test this assumption using a novel technique, based on coupled measurements of leaf gas exchange and the stable isotope compositions of CO2 and water vapour passing over the leaf. We applied this technique to mature individuals of two semiarid conifer species. In both species, ei routinely dropped below saturation when leaves were exposed to moderate to high air vapour pressure deficits. Typical values of relative humidity in the intercellular air spaces were as low 0.9 in Juniperus monosperma and 0.8 in Pinus edulis. These departures of ei from saturation caused significant biases in calculations of gs and the intercellular CO2 concentration. Thus, our results refute the longstanding assumption of saturated vapour pressure in plant leaves under all conditions.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[5];
- James Cook Univ., Cairns, QLD (Australia). College of Science and Engineering
- Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia). Research School of Biology
- Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- METER Group, Inc., Pullman, WA (United States)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Dept. of Biology
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Earth Systems Analysis and Modelling Group
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1440441
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-17-30329
Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396; DP1097276; DP150100588
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Scientific Reports
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 8; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Biological Science; stomatal control, leaf gas exchange, pinon, juniper, drought
Citation Formats
Cernusak, Lucas A., Ubierna, Nerea, Jenkins, Michael W., Garrity, Steven R., Rahn, Thom, Powers, Heath H., Hanson, David T., Sevanto, Sanna, Wong, Suan Chin, McDowell, Nate G., and Farquhar, Graham D. Unsaturation of vapour pressure inside leaves of two conifer species. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-25838-2.
Cernusak, Lucas A., Ubierna, Nerea, Jenkins, Michael W., Garrity, Steven R., Rahn, Thom, Powers, Heath H., Hanson, David T., Sevanto, Sanna, Wong, Suan Chin, McDowell, Nate G., & Farquhar, Graham D. Unsaturation of vapour pressure inside leaves of two conifer species. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25838-2
Cernusak, Lucas A., Ubierna, Nerea, Jenkins, Michael W., Garrity, Steven R., Rahn, Thom, Powers, Heath H., Hanson, David T., Sevanto, Sanna, Wong, Suan Chin, McDowell, Nate G., and Farquhar, Graham D. Wed .
"Unsaturation of vapour pressure inside leaves of two conifer species". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25838-2. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1440441.
@article{osti_1440441,
title = {Unsaturation of vapour pressure inside leaves of two conifer species},
author = {Cernusak, Lucas A. and Ubierna, Nerea and Jenkins, Michael W. and Garrity, Steven R. and Rahn, Thom and Powers, Heath H. and Hanson, David T. and Sevanto, Sanna and Wong, Suan Chin and McDowell, Nate G. and Farquhar, Graham D.},
abstractNote = {Stomatal conductance (gs) impacts both photosynthesis and transpiration, and is therefore fundamental to the global carbon and water cycles, food production, and ecosystem services. Mathematical models provide the primary means of analysing this important leaf gas exchange parameter. A nearly universal assumption in such models is that the vapour pressure inside leaves (ei) remains saturated under all conditions. The validity of this assumption has not been well tested, because so far ei cannot be measured directly. Here, we test this assumption using a novel technique, based on coupled measurements of leaf gas exchange and the stable isotope compositions of CO2 and water vapour passing over the leaf. We applied this technique to mature individuals of two semiarid conifer species. In both species, ei routinely dropped below saturation when leaves were exposed to moderate to high air vapour pressure deficits. Typical values of relative humidity in the intercellular air spaces were as low 0.9 in Juniperus monosperma and 0.8 in Pinus edulis. These departures of ei from saturation caused significant biases in calculations of gs and the intercellular CO2 concentration. Thus, our results refute the longstanding assumption of saturated vapour pressure in plant leaves under all conditions.},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-018-25838-2},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
number = 1,
volume = 8,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Wed May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
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Regional vegetation die-off in response to global-change-type drought
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Internal Conductance to CO 2 Diffusion and C 18 OO Discrimination in C 3 Leaves
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The Sites of Evaporation within Leaves
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On the Resistance to Transpiration of the Sites of Evaporation within the Leaf
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Experimental drought and heat can delay phenological development and reduce foliar and shoot growth in semiarid trees
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High-frequency field measurements of diurnal carbon isotope discrimination and internal conductance in a semi-arid species, Juniperus monosperma
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Leaf water content and palisade cell size
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Dynamics of leaf water relations components in co-occurring iso- and anisohydric conifer species: Dynamics of leaf water relations components
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Stable isotopes in leaf water of terrestrial plants: Stable isotopes in leaf water
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Soil Morphology of Canopy and Intercanopy Sites in a Piñon-Juniper Woodland
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Works referencing / citing this record:
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- Stangl, Zsofia R.; Tarvainen, Lasse; Wallin, Göran
- Photosynthesis Research, Vol. 141, Issue 1
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- Liles, G. C.; Maxwell, T. M.; Silva, L. C. R.
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Foliar water uptake: Processes, pathways, and integration into plant water budgets: Foliar Water Uptake
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Equivalence of foliar water uptake and stomatal conductance?
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Species-Specific Shifts in Diurnal Sap Velocity Dynamics and Hysteretic Behavior of Ecophysiological Variables During the 2015–2016 El Niño Event in the Amazon Forest
journal, June 2019
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Reviews and syntheses: Turning the challenges of partitioning ecosystem evaporation and transpiration into opportunities
journal, January 2019
- Stoy, Paul C.; El-Madany, Tarek S.; Fisher, Joshua B.
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Examining the evidence for decoupling between photosynthesis and transpiration during heat extremes
journal, January 2019
- De Kauwe, Martin G.; Medlyn, Belinda E.; Pitman, Andrew J.
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 16, Issue 4
Reviews and syntheses: Turning the challenges of partitioning ecosystem evaporation and transpiration into opportunities
text, January 2019
- Stoy, Paul C.; El-Madany, Tarek S.; Fisher, Joshua B.
- ETH Zurich
Reviews and syntheses: Turning the challenges of partitioning ecosystem evaporation and transpiration into opportunities
text, January 2019
- Stoy, Paul C.; El-Madany, Tarek S.; Fisher, Joshua B.
- Karlsruhe
The humidity inside leaves and why you should care: implications of unsaturation of leaf intercellular airspaces
journal, April 2019
- Buckley, Thomas N.; Sack, Lawren
- American Journal of Botany, Vol. 106, Issue 5
Diurnal variation in mesophyll conductance and its influence on modelled water-use efficiency in a mature boreal Pinus sylvestris stand
journal, May 2019
- Stangl, Zsofia R.; Tarvainen, Lasse; Wallin, Göran
- Photosynthesis Research, Vol. 141, Issue 1
Species-Specific Shifts in Diurnal Sap Velocity Dynamics and Hysteretic Behavior of Ecophysiological Variables During the 2015–2016 El Niño Event in the Amazon Forest
journal, June 2019
- Gimenez, Bruno O.; Jardine, Kolby J.; Higuchi, Niro
- Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol. 10
Examining the evidence for decoupling between photosynthesis and transpiration during heat extremes
journal, January 2019
- De Kauwe, Martin G.; Medlyn, Belinda E.; Pitman, Andrew J.
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 16, Issue 4