Abstract
Key message
The high-wood-density species displays greater water limitation tolerance, as it maintains leaf transpiration under drought conditions.
Abstract
The relationship between environmental conditions and plant hydraulic safety is essential to understand species’ strategies to minimize damage to their hydraulic structure yet maintain function. In the Brazilian semi-arid, the relationships between rainfall seasonality, hydraulic conductivity, wood density, stomatal conductance, and phenology in different species still needs to be clarified. To better understand these relationships, we selected two deciduous trees species with contrasting wood density: (1) Commiphora leptophloeos (Mart.) J.B. Gillett (low wood density) and (2) Cenostigma pyramidale (Tul.) E. Gagnon & G. P. Lewis (high wood density) from the Caatinga dry forest of northeast Brazil. We tracked monthly measurements of whole-tree hydraulic conductivity, leaf stomatal conductance, leaf transpiration rate, xylem water potential, and phenology. We found that the low-wood-density species had a higher whole-tree hydraulic conductivity and an early leaf flush and fall. In addition, lower leaf transpiration rate and higher water storage capacity maintained high xylem water potential and stomatal conductance values, especially in the rainy season. On the other hand, the high-wood-density species had a lower whole-tree hydraulic conductivity and higher leaf transpiration rate, even during the dry season. These results point to the divergent hydraulic strategies employed by each species, further suggesting opposing hydraulic safety pathways during drought.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the members of the Semiarid Ecohydrology Study Group of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Academic Unit of Serra Talhada (UFRPE/UAST) for assistance in the fieldwork, especially Mirna Clarissa Almeida, Erison Martins, Romário Horas, Lypson Simões, and Fernando Barros for technical support in the field. We also thank the Graduate Program in Plant Production of UFRPE/UAST for the availability of equipment and laboratories and Senhor Homem Bom Magalhães for accessing the field where we carried out the study.
Funding
This work was funded by the Fundação do Amparo a Ciência e Tecnologia de Pernambuco-FACEPE (APQ-1196-5.03/15). MM is funded by (FACEPE Fellow-IBPG-1009-5.01/18); Observatório Nacional da Água e da Dinâmica do Carbono no Bioma Caatinga-ONDACBC: FACEPE (APQ-0532-5. 01/14); additional funding includes: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico-CNPq (465764/2014-2); Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-CAPES (88887.136369/2017-00); AIC-GRHASSA: FACEPE (APQ-0296-5.01/17), and PEGASUS: CNPq (441305/2017-2); CAPES/TAMU (006/2014); NSF GRFP (DGE-1252521), 2017.
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MM, CW, ALAL, and ES conceived the study. MM, CW, NDSB, RS, and JRIS collected the data. MM, NDSB, RS, and JRIS analyzed the data. MM wrote the first draft and all authors contributed substantially to the manuscript.
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Medeiros, M., Wright, C.L., de Lima, A.L.A. et al. Divergent hydraulic strategies of two deciduous tree species to deal with drought in the Brazilian semi-arid region. Trees (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-024-02506-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-024-02506-9