Abstract
• Context
The cause of morphological plasticity of leaves within the crowns of tall trees still debated. Whether it is driven by irradiance or hydraulic constraints is inconclusive. In a previous study, we hypothesized that water stress caused between-site and within-tree morphological variability in mature Robinia trees.
• Aims
To test this hypothesis, we designed an experiment to analyze the effect of long-term water stress on leaf growth of Robinia seedlings in a controlled environment.
• Methods
Two treatments were performed: well-watered (midday water potential, Ψ w = −0.45 MPa) and water-stressed (Ψ w = −1.0 Mpa), which resulted in significant differences in physiology, relative growth rate, and the temporal progress of leaf growth.
• Results
Variation of leaf cell sizes among treatments was comparable to the variability previously observed in the field. However, values of leaf density and leaf mass per unit area tended to be lower in our controlled experiments than in the field, which may reflect differences between mature leaves of juvenile and adult trees.
• Conclusions
Our tentative conclusion is that leaf water stress may be the primary factor controlling morphological changes observed in the field, but further experiments are needed to document the relative importance of irradiance.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Bruce Alexander, Greenhouse Manager of ALES Faculty, University of Alberta, for his valuable support. MTT wishes to thank the United States Forest Service for salary support while working at the University of Alberta, which made this study possible. YXZ wishes to thank the China Scholarship Council for travel costs to Canada and thanks to Tsinghua University for granting leave from normal study to conduct research at University of Alberta as a jointly trained PhD student for 18 months.
Funding
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30070637).
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Handling Editor: Erwin Dreyer
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Yanxiang ZHANG: did the experimental work, data analysis, and first draft.
Maria Alejandra EQUIZA: provided training in methods and oversaw experimental work.
Quanshui ZHENG: was primary PhD supervisor in China.
Melvin T. TYREE: suggested experimental design and assisted in writing and data analysis.
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Zhang, Y., Equiza, M.A., Zheng, Q. et al. Factors controlling plasticity of leaf morphology in Robinia pseudoacacia L. II: the impact of water stress on leaf morphology of seedlings grown in a controlled environment chamber. Annals of Forest Science 69, 39–47 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-011-0134-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-011-0134-7