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Inter- and under-canopy soil water, leaf-level and whole-plant gas exchange dynamics of a semi-arid perennial C4 grass

  • Physiological ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

It is not clear if tree canopies in savanna ecosystems exert positive or negative effects on soil moisture, and how these might affect understory plant carbon balance. To address this, we quantified rooting-zone volumetric soil moisture (θ25 cm), plant size, leaf-level and whole-plant gas exchange of the bunchgrass, bush muhly (Muhlenbergia porteri), growing under and between mesquite (Prosopis velutina) in a southwestern US savanna. Across two contrasting monsoon seasons, bare soil θ25 cm was 1.0–2.5% lower in understory than in the intercanopy, and was consistently higher than in soils under grasses, where θ25 cm was similar between locations. Understory plants had smaller canopy areas and volumes with larger basal diameters than intercanopy plants. During an above-average monsoon, intercanopy and understory plants had similar seasonal light-saturated leaf-level photosynthesis (A net-sat), stomatal conductance (g s-sat), and whole-plant aboveground respiration (R auto), but with higher whole-plant photosynthesis (GEPplant) and transpiration (T plant) in intercanopy plants. During a below-average monsoon, intercanopy plants had higher diurnally integrated GEPplant, R auto, and T plant. These findings showed little evidence of strong, direct positive canopy effects to soil moisture and attendant plant performance. Rather, it seems understory conditions foster competitive dominance by drought-tolerant species, and that positive and negative canopy effects on soil moisture and community and ecosystem processes depends on a suite of interacting biotic and abiotic factors.

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Acknowledgments

We thank T.O. Keefer for helping test and install the TDR station, and Michelle Cavanaugh, Ashley Wiede, J.J. Dale, Evan Sommer, Maggie Heard and Donna King for their help in the field, and support from the Philecology Foundation to T. Huxman.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA-ARS Southwest Watershed Research Center, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Erik P. Hamerlynck, Russell L. Scott & M. Susan Moran

  2. Department of Geography, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Andrea M. Schwander

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    Erin Connor

  4. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Travis E. Huxman

Authors
  1. Erik P. Hamerlynck
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  2. Russell L. Scott
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  3. M. Susan Moran
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  4. Andrea M. Schwander
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  5. Erin Connor
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  6. Travis E. Huxman
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Correspondence to Erik P. Hamerlynck.

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Communicated by Kouki Hikosaka.

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Hamerlynck, E.P., Scott, R.L., Susan Moran, M. et al. Inter- and under-canopy soil water, leaf-level and whole-plant gas exchange dynamics of a semi-arid perennial C4 grass. Oecologia 165, 17–29 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1757-3

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