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Photosynthetic response of two shrubs to rainfall pulses in desert regions of northwestern China

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Photosynthetica

Abstract

Pulses of rainfall are particularly pivotal in controlling plant physiological processes in ecosystems controlled by limited water, and the response of desert plants to rainfall is a key to understanding the responses of desert ecosystems to global climatic change. We used a portable photosynthesis system to measure the responses of the diurnal course of photosynthesis, light-response curves, and CO2-response curves of two desert shrubs (Nitraria sphaerocarpa Maxim. and Calligonum mongolicum Turcz) to a rainfall pulse in a desert-oasis ecotone in northwestern China. The photosynthetic parameters, light- and CO2-response curves differed significantly before and after the rainfall pulse. Their maximum net photosynthetic rate (P N) values were 23.27 and 32.92 μmol(CO2) m−2 s−1 for N. sphaerocarpa and C. mongolicum, respectively, with corresponding maximum stomatal conductance (g s) values of 0.47 and 0.39 mol(H2O) m−2 s−1. The P N of N. sphaerocarpa after the rainfall was 1.65 to 1.75 times the value before rainfall, whereas those of C. mongolicum increased to approximately 2 times the prerainfall value, demonstrating the importance of the desert plants response by improving their assimilation rate to precipitation patterns under a future climate.

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Abbreviations

A max :

assimilation at saturating CO2

CCP:

CO2 compensation point

CE:

carboxylation efficiency

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

C s :

cell CO2 concentration

CSP:

CO2 saturation point

CUE:

CO2-use efficiency

E :

transpiration rate

g s :

stomatal conductance

LCP:

light compensation point

LUE:

light-use efficiency

LSP:

light saturation point

PAR:

photosynthetically active radiation

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

P Nmax :

light-saturated maximum assimilation

QE:

quantum efficiency

R day :

photorespiration

R esp :

leaf respiration

RH:

relative humidity

Rubisco:

ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

SMS:

soil moisture storage

VPD:

vapour pressure deficit

WUE:

water-use efficiency

T:

air temperature

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Key Laboratory of Inland River Ecohydrology, Cold and Arid Regions, Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    B. Liu & W. Z. Zhao

  2. School of Mathematics and Statistics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Z. J. Wen

Authors
  1. B. Liu
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  2. W. Z. Zhao
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  3. Z. J. Wen
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Correspondence to B. Liu.

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Acknowledgments: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41001015, 41071019) the Foundation for Excellent Youth Scholars of CAREERI, CAS (No. 51Y084931), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No.lzujbky-2010-170) and the Tianyuan Youth Foundation of NSFC (No. 11026067).

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Liu, B., Zhao, W.Z. & Wen, Z.J. Photosynthetic response of two shrubs to rainfall pulses in desert regions of northwestern China. Photosynthetica 50, 109–119 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-012-0015-9

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