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Anatomical and physiological regulation of post-fire carbon and water exchange in canopies of two resprouting Eucalyptus species

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Abstract

The great majority of Eucalyptus spp. are facultative resprouters, and they dominate the eucalypt forests of Australia. Despite this numeric and geographic dominance, there is a general lack of knowledge of their capacity for carbon capture and water loss during canopy reinstation. After a crown-removing fire, we measured leaf-level determinants of carbon and water flux in resprouting canopies of Eucalyptus dives and E. radiata over the 3 years that followed. Leaf anatomy and physiology changed markedly during canopy reinstation, and leaves produced in the second year (2010) were distinct from those produced later. Leaves produced in 2010 were thicker (all measures of leaf anatomy), yet more porous (increased intercellular airspace), causing specific leaf area also to be greater. Indicators of heterotrophic activity, leaf respiration rate and light compensation point, were twofold greater in 2010, whereas all measures of photosynthetic capacity were greatest in leaves produced in 2011 and 2012. Whilst stomatal density, vein density and leaf hydraulic conductance all progressively decreased with time, neither leaf water status nor carbon isotope discrimination were affected. We conclude that canopy reinstation is primarily limited by pre-fire carbon stores, rather than by post-fire edaphic conditions (e.g., water availability), and thus argue that capacity for recovery is directly linked to pre-fire forest health.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mike Kemp, Neil Murdoch, Jessica O’Brien and Audrey Deheinzlin, Marco Harbusch and Anita Wesolowski for assistance with field campaigns, and Jeremy Platt and Sarah Bachman for measurement of leaf structural features. This work was supported by the Bushfire CRC (T.L.T., T.N.B., A.B. and M.A.A.). T.N.B. was also supported by the US National Science Foundation (Award #1146514) and by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

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All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Centre for Carbon Water and Food, The University of Sydney, 380 Werombi Road, Brownlow Hill, NSW, 2570, Australia

    Tarryn L. Turnbull, Alexandra M. Barlow & Mark A. Adams

  2. Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, IA Watson Grains Research Centre, The University of Sydney, 12656 Newell Highway, Narrabri, NSW, 2390, Australia

    Thomas N. Buckley

  3. Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Tarryn L. Turnbull, Thomas N. Buckley, Alexandra M. Barlow & Mark A. Adams

Authors
  1. Tarryn L. Turnbull
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  2. Thomas N. Buckley
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Correspondence to Tarryn L. Turnbull.

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Communicated by Andrea Polle.

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Turnbull, T.L., Buckley, T.N., Barlow, A.M. et al. Anatomical and physiological regulation of post-fire carbon and water exchange in canopies of two resprouting Eucalyptus species. Oecologia 176, 333–343 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3032-5

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