Reductions in tree performance during hotter droughts are mitigated by shifts in nitrogen cycling
[1];
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[4];
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- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Swiss Federal Inst. for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf (Switzerland)
- Swiss Federal Inst. for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Birmensdorf (Switzerland)
- U.S. Geological Survey, Moab, UT (United States). Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Univ. of Alicante-Joint Research Unit (JRU) (Spain). Center for Environmental Studies of the Mediterranean (CEAM)
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Earth Systems Science Division
Climate warming should result in hotter droughts of unprecedented severity in this century. Such droughts have been linked with massive tree mortality and data suggest warming interacts with drought to aggravate plant performance. Yet, how forests will respond to hotter droughts remains unclear, as does the suite of mechanisms trees use to deal with hot droughts. For this study, we used an ecosystem-scale manipulation of precipitation and temperature on piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) trees to investigate nitrogen (N) cycling-induced mitigation processes related to hotter droughts. We found that while negative impacts on plant carbon and water balance are manifest after prolonged drought, performance reductions were not amplified by warmer temperatures. Rather, increased temperatures for five years stimulated soil N cycling under piñon trees and modified tree N allocation for both species, resulting in mitigation of hotter drought impacts on tree water and carbon functions. These findings suggest that adjustments in N cycling are likely after multi-year warming conditions and that such changes may buffer reductions in tree performance during hotter droughts. Furthermore, the results highlight our incomplete understanding of trees’ ability to acclimate to climate change, raising fundamental questions about the resistance potential of forests to long-term, compound climatic stresses.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; US Geological Survey (USGS). Ecosystems Mission Area; Generalitat Valenciana (Spain); Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (Spain); European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396; BEST/2016/289; CGL2015-69773-C2-2-P MINECO/FEDER; SC0008168; 31003A_159866; CGL2015-69773-C2-2-P
- OSTI ID:
- 1460658
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1464839
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-18-24941
- Journal Information:
- Plant, Cell and Environment, Vol. 41, Issue 11; ISSN 0140-7791
- Publisher:
- WileyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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