Abstract
This paper analyzes the effect of the canopy age of Guiera senegalensis J.F. Gmel on water regulation processes and adaptative strategy to drought over a period of 2 years. The species is widespread in the agricultural Sahel. Before sowing, farmers cut back the shrubs to limit competition with crops. The stumps resprout after the millet harvest. Leaf water potential and stomatal conductance were measured in two fallows and in the two adjacent cultivated fields. Leaf transpiration rate and soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance were deduced. The decrease in both stomatal and plant hydraulic conductance caused by seasonal drought was greater in mature shrubs than in current year resprouts. The decrease in predawn and midday leaf water potentials in response to seasonal drought was isohydrodynamic, and it was greater in mature shrubs, suggesting that current year resprouts are under less stress. In resprouts, the leaf transpiration rate stopped increasing beyond a hydraulic conductance threshold of 0.05 mol. m−2 s−1 MPa−1. Vulnerability to cavitation was determined on segments of stems in the laboratory. The leaf water potential value at which stomatal closure occurred was −2.99 ± 0.68 MPa, which corresponded to a 30 % loss in xylem conductivity. Thanks to its positive safety margin of 0.6 MPa, G. senegalensis can survive above this value. The observed strategy places G. senegalensis among the non-extreme xeric plants, leading us to suppose that this species will be vulnerable to the expected increase in regional drought.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acherar M, Rambal S (1992) Comparative water relations of four Mediterranean oak species. Vegetatio 99:177–184
Ambouta KJM (1984) Contribution à l’édaphologie de la brousse tigrée de l’ouest nigérien. PhD dissertation, Nancy I University, France, Nancy
Aranda I, Gil L, Pardos JA (2000) Water relations and gas exchange in Fagus sylvatica L. and Quercus petraea (Mattuschka) Liebl. in a mixed stand at their southern limit of distribution in Europe. Trees 14:344–352
Arbonnier M (2001) Arbres, arbustes et lianes des zones sèches d’Afrique de l’Ouest, vol 2. CIRAD, MNHN, Paris
Balme M, Vischel T, Lebel T, Peugeot C, Galle S (2006) Assessing the water balance in the Sahel: impact of small scale rainfall variability on runoff. Part 1: rainfall variability analysis. J Hydrol 331:336–348
Beikircher B, Mayr S (2009) Intraspecific differences in drought tolerance and acclimation in hydraulics of Ligustrum vulgare and Viburnum lantana. Tree Physiol 29:765–775
Berger A, Grouzis M, Fournier C (1996) The water status of six woody species coexisting in the Sahel (Ferlo, Senegal). J Trop Ecol 12:607–627
Bonal D, Guehl J-M (2001) Contrasting patterns of leaf water potential and gas exchange responses to drought in seedlings of tropical rainforest species. Funct Ecol 15:490–496
Boulain N, Cappelaere B, Ramier D, Issoufou HBA, Halilou O, Seghieri J, Guillemin F, Oï M, Gignoux J, Timouk F (2009) Towards an understanding of coupled physical and biological processes in cultivated Sahel–2. Vegetation and carbon dynamics. J Hydrol 375:190–203
Bréda N, Huc R, Granier A, Dreyer E (2006) Temperate forest trees and stands under severe drought: a review of ecophysiological responses, adaptation processes and long-term consequences. Ann For Sci 63:625–644
Breman H, Kessler J (1995) Woody plants in agro-ecosystems of semi-arid regions, with an emphasis on the Sahelian countries. Berlin Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Cappelaere B, Descroix L, Lebel T, Boulain N, Ramier D, Laurent JP, Favreau G, Boubkraoui S, Boucher M, Bouzou Moussa I, Chaffard V, Hiernaux P, Issoufou HBA, Le Breton E, Mamadou I, Nazoumou Y, Oi M, Ottlé C, Quantin G (2009) The AMMACATCH experiment in the cultivated Sahelian area of southwest Niger-Investigating water cycle response to a fluctuating climate and changing environment. J Hydrol 375:34–51
Castell C, Terradas J (1994) Effects of water and nutriment availability on water relations, gas exchange and growth rate of mature plants and resprouts of Arbutus unedo L. Ann Bot 73:595–602
Chapotin SM, Razanameharizaka JH, Holbrook NM (2006) Water relations of baobab trees (Adansonia spp. L.) during the rainy season: does stem water buffer daily water deficits? Plant Cell Environ 29:1021–1032
Cochard H (2002) A technique for measuring xylem hydraulic conductance under high negative pressures. Plant Cell Environ 25:815–819
Cochard H, Breda N, Granier A (1996) Whole tree hydraulic conductance and water loss regulation in Quercus during drought: evident for stomatal control of embolism? Ann For Sci 53:197–206
Cochard H, Coll L, Le Roux X, Améglio T (2002) Unraveling the effects of plant hydraulics on stomatal conductance during water stress in walnut. Plant Physiol 128:282–290
Cochard H, Damour G, Bodet C, Tharwat I, Poirier M, Ameglio T (2005) Evaluation of a new centrifuge technique for rapid generation of xylem vulnerability curves. Physiol Plant 124:410–418
Cochard H, Herbette S, Barigah T, Badel E, Ennajeh M, Vilagrosa A (2010) Does sample length influence the shape of xylem embolism vulnerability curves? A test with the Cavitron spinning technique. Plant Cell Environ 33:1543–1552
Cornwell WK, Bhaskar R, Sack L, Cordell S, Lunch CK (2007) Adjustment of structure and function of Metrosideros polymorpha at high versus low precipitation. Funct Ecol 21:1063–1071
Cruiziat P, Cochard H, Améglio T (2002) The hydraulic architecture of trees: main concepts and results. Ann For Sci 59:723–752
Diagne AL (2003) Transpiration globale et fonctionnement hydrique unitaire chez Acacia tortilis en conditions de déficit pluviométrique. Sècheresse 14:235–240
Do FC, Rocheteau A, Diagne AL, Goudiaby V, Granier A, Lhomme JP (2008) Stable annual pattern of water use by Acacia tortilis in Sahelian Africa. Tree Physiol 28:95–104
Donovan LA, Linton MJ, Richards JH (2001) Predawn plant water potential does not necessarily equilibrate with soil water potential under well watered conditions. Oecologia 129:328–335
Eamus D, Prior L (2001) Ecophysiology of trees of seasonally dry tropics: comparisons among phenologies. Adv Ecol Res 32:113–197
Franks PJ, Drake PL, Froend RH (2007) Anisohydric but isohydrodynamic: seasonally constant plant water potential gradient explained by stomatal control mechanism incorporating variable plant hydraulic conductance. Plant Cell Environ 30:19–30
Frappart F, Hiernaux P, Guichard F, Mougin E, Kergoat L, Arjounin M, Lavenu F, Koité M, Paturel JE, Lebel T (2009) Rainfall regime across the Sahel band in the Gourma region, Mali. J Hydrol 375:128–142
Granier A, Colin F (1990) Effets d’une sécheresse édaphique sur le fonctionnement hydrique d’Abies bornmulleriana en conditions naturelles. Ann Sci For 47:189–200
Grouzis M, Diouf M, Rocheteau A, Berger A (1998) Fonctionnement hydrique et réponses des ligneux sahéliens à l’aridité. In Campa Claudine, Grignon C, Gueye M, Hamon Serge (eds) L’acacia au Sénégal. Paris : ORSTOM pp 47–61 (Colloques et Séminaires). L’Acacia au Sénégal : Réunion Thématique, 1996/12/03-05, Dakar
Hacke UG, Sperry JS, Ewers BE, Ellsworth DS, Schafer KVR, Oren R (2000) Influence of soil porosity on water use in Pinus taeda. Oecologia 124:495–505
Hanan NP, Prince SD (1997) Stomatal conductance of west-central supersite vegetation in HAPEX-SaheI: measurements and empirical models. J Hydrol 188–189:536–562
Hély C, Bremond L, Alleaume S, Smith B, Sykes MT, Guiot J (2006) Sensitivity of African biomes to changes in the precipitation regime. Global Ecol Biogeogr 15:258–270
Herbette S, Wortemann R, Awad H, Huc R, Cochard H, Barigah TS (2010) Insights into xylem vulnerability to cavitation in Fagus sylvatica L. phenotypic and environmental sources of variability. Tree Physiol 30:1448–1455
Jones HG (1992) Plant and microclimate: a quantitative approach to environmental plant physiology, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Kolb KJ, Sperry JS (1999) Differences in drought adaptation between subspecies of sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata). Ecology 80:2373–2384
Lamy JB, Bouffier L, Burlett R, Plomion C, Cochard H, Delzon S (2011) Uniform selection as a primary force reducing population genetic differentiation of cavitation resistance across a species range. PLoS One 6:e23476. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023476
Larwanou M, Saâdou M (2011) The role of human interventions in tree dynamics and environmental rehabilitation in the Sahel zone of Niger. J Arid Environ 75:194–200
Le Houerou HN, Bingham RL, Skerbek W (1988) Relationship between the variability of primary production and the variability of annual precipitation in world arid lands. J Arid Environ 15:1–18
Lebel T, Ali A (2009) Recent trends in the central and western Sahel rainfall regime 4 (1990–2007). J Hydrol 375:52–64
Leblanc M, Favreau G, Massuel S, Tweed S, Loireau M, Cappelaere B (2008) Land clearance and hydrological change in the Sahel: SW Niger. Glob Planet Change 61:135–150
Limousin JM, Rambal S, Ourcival JM, Rocheteau A, Joffre R, Rodriguez-Cortina R (2009) Long-term transpiration change with rainfall decline in a Mediterranean Quercus ilex forest. Glob Change Biol 15:2163–2175
Limousin JM, Longepierre D, Huc R, Rambal S (2010) Change in hydraulic traits of Mediterranean Quercus ilex submitted to long-term throughfall exclusion. Tree Physiol 30:1026–1036
Louppe D (1991) Guiera senegalensis: espèce agroforestière? Micro-jachère dérobée de saison sèche et approvisionnement énergétique d’un village du centre-nord du bassin arachidier sénégalais. Bois et Forêts des Tropiques 228:41–47
Lu P, Biron P, Granier A, Cochard H (1996) Water relation of adult Norway spruce (Picea abies (L) Karst) under soil drought in the Vosges Mountains: whole-tree hydraulic conductance, xylem embolism and water loss regulation. Ann For Sci 53:113–121
Maherali H, Pockman WT, Jackson RB (2004) Adaptive variation in the vulnerability of woody plants to xylem cavitation. Ecology 85:2184–2199
Martinez-Vilalta J, Cochard H, Mencuccini M, Sterck F, Herrera A, Korhonen JFJ, Llorens P, Nikinmaa E, Nolè A, Poyatos R, Pipullone F, Sass-Klaassen U, Zweifel R (2009) Hydraulic adjustment of Scots pine across Europe. New Phytol 18:353–364
McDermitt DK (1990) Sources of error in the estimation of stomatal conductance and transpiration from porometer data. HortScience 25:1538–1548
Meinzer FC (2002) Co-ordination of vapour and liquid phase water transport properties in plants. Plant Cell Environ 25:265–274
Meinzer FC (2003) Functional convergence in plant responses to the environment. Oecologia 134:1–11
Meinzer FC, Sharifi MR, Nilsen ET, Rundcl PW (1988) Effects of manipulation of water and nitrogen regime on the water relations of the desert shrub Larrea tridentata. Oecologia 77:480–486
Meinzer FC, Goldstein G, Jackson P, Holbrook NM, Gutiérrez MV, Cavelier J (1995) Environmental and physiological regulation of transpiration in tropical forest gap species: the influence of boundary layer and hydraulic conductance properties. Oecologia 101:514–522
Monteny BA, Lhomme JP, Chehbouni A, Troufleau D, Amadou M, Sicot M, Verhoef A, Galle, Said F, Lloyd CR (1997) The role of the Sahalian biosphere on the water and the CO2 cycle during the HAPEX-Sahel experiment. J Hydrol 188–189:516–535
Otieno DO, Schmidt MWT, Kinyamario JI, Tenhunena J (2005) Responses of Acacia tortilis and Acacia xanthophloea to seasonal changes in soil water availability in the savanna region of Kenya. J Arid Environ 62:377–400
Pammenter NW, Vander Willigen C (1998) A mathematical and statistical analysis of the curves illustrating vulnerability of xylem to cavitation. Tree Physiol 18:589–593
Quero JL, Sterck FJ, Martínez-Vilalta J, Villar R (2011) Water-use strategies of six co-existing Mediterranean woody species during a summer drought. Oecologia 166:45–57
Ramier D, Boulain N, Cappelaere B, Timouk F, Rabanit M, Lloyd CR, Boubkraoui S, Métayer F, Descroix L, Wawrzyniak V (2009) Towards an understanding of coupled physical and biological processes in the cultivated Sahel-1. Energy and water. J Hydrol 375:204–216
Ritchie GA, Hinkley TM (1975) The pressure chamber as an instrument for ecological research. Adv Ecol Res 9:165–254
Roupsard O, Ferhi A, Granier A, Pallo F, Depommier D, Mallet B, Joly HI, Dreyer E (1999) Reverse phenology and dry-season water uptake by Faidherbia albida (Del.) A. Chev. in an agroforestry parkland of Sudanese West Africa. Funct Ecol 13:460–472
Saâdou M (1990) La végétation des milieux drainés nigériens à l’est du fleuve Niger. PhD dissertation, Abdou Moumouni University, Niger, Niamey
Schultz HR (2003) Differences in hydraulic architecture account for near-isohydric and anisohydric behaviour of two field-grown Vitis vinifera L. cultivars during drought. Plant Cell Environ 26:1393–1405
Schulze ED, Cermak J, Matyssek R, Penka M, Zimmermann R, Vasicek F, Gries W, Kucera J (1985) Canopy transpiration and water fluxes in the xylem of the trunk of Larix and Picea trees—a comparison of xylem flow, porometer and cuvette measurements. Oecologia 66:475–483
Seghieri J (2010) Comparison of the measurements of leaf water potential between a hydraulic press and a pressure chamber in six Sahelian woody species. Agrofor Syst 80:185–190
Seghieri J, Galle S (1999) Contribution to a Sahelian two-phase mosaic system: soil water regime and vegetation life cycles. Acta Oecol 20:209–218
Seghieri J, Laloe F (2004) Characterization of the variability of the daily course of leaf water potential in the dominant shrub species within Sahelian fallows in South-West Niger. Ecol Model 173:271–281
Seghieri J, Simier M (2002) Variations in phenology of a residual invasive shrub species in Sahelian fallow savannas, south-west Niger. J Trop Ecol 18:897–912
Seghieri J, Do FC, Devineau JL, Fournier A (2012) Phenology of woody species along the climatic gradient in west tropical Africa. In: Zhang X (ed) Phenology and climate change InTech. http://www.intechopen.com/books/phenology-and-climate-change/phenology-of-woody-species-along-the-climatic-gradient-in-west-tropical-africa- doi:10.5772/33729
Sperry JS, Pockman WT (1993) Limitation of transpiration by hydraulic conductance and xylem cavitation in Betula occidentalis. Plant Cell Environ 16:279–287
Sperry JS, Adler FR, Campbell GS, Comstock JP (1998) Limitation of plant water use by rhizosphere and xylem conductance: results from model. Plant Cell Environ 21:347–359
Sperry JS, Hacke UG, Oren R, Comstock JP (2002) Water deficits and hydraulic limits to leaf water supply. Plant Cell Environ 2:251–263
Sultan B, Baron C, Dingkuhn M, Sarr B, Janicot S (2005) La variabilité climatique en Afrique de l’Ouest aux échelles saisonnière et intra-saisonnière. II: applications à la sensibilité des rendements agricoles au Sahel. Sècheresse 16:1–10
Tardieu F (2005) Plant tolerance to water deficit: physical limits and possibilities for progress. CR Geoscience 337:57–67
Tardieu F, Simonneau T (1998) Variability among species of stomatal control under fluctuating soil water status and evaporative demand: modeling isohydric and anisohydric behaviour. J Exp Bot 49:419–432
Wezel A, Rajot JL, Herbrig C (2000) Influence of shrubs on soil characteristics and their function in Sahelian agro-ecosystems in semi-arid Niger. J Arid Environ 44:383–398
Wortemann R, Herbette S, Barigah TS, Fumanal B, Alia R, Ducousso A, Gomory D, Roeckel-Drevet P, Cochard H (2011) Genotypic variability and phenotypic plasticity of cavitation resistance in Fagus sylvatica L. across Europe. Tree Physiol 31:1175–1182
Zimmermann MH (1983) Xylem structure and the ascent of sap in plants. Springer, New York
Acknowledgments
Most of the funding for this study was provided by the FSP (Fonds de Solidarité Prioritaires) Recherches Interdisciplinaires et Participatives sur les Interactions entre les Ecosystèmes, le Climat et les Sociétés en Afrique de l’ouest (RIPIECSA) program entiltled: « Vulnérabilité et Adaptations des Socio-écosystèmes en Afrique » (VASA) from the Agence inter-établissements de recherche pour le développement (AIRD) and the IRD’s Département Soutien et formation des communautés scientifiques du Sud (DSF). Additional funding was provided by the AMMA program and the IRD’s incentive project on “Climate Change, Water Resources and Food Crops in the Sahel” (CRECS project). We gratefully acknowledge the two reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments on previous versions of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by U. Luettge.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Issoufou, H.BA., Delzon, S., Laurent, JP. et al. Change in water loss regulation after canopy clearcut of a dominant shrub in Sahelian agrosystems, Guiera senegalensis J. F. Gmel. Trees 27, 1011–1022 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0852-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-013-0852-6