Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Carbon isotope discrimination and foliar nutrient status of Larrea tridentata (creosote bush) in contrasting Mojave Desert soils

  • Ecophysiology
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We investigated the relationships between foliar stable carbon isotope discrimination (Δ), % foliar N, and predawn water potentials (ψpd) and midday stomatal conductance (g s) of Larrea tridentata across five Mojave Desert soils with different age-specific surface and sub-surface horizon development and soil hydrologies. We wished to elucidate how this long-lived evergreen shrub optimizes leaf-level physiological performance across soils with physicochemical characteristics that affect the distribution of limiting water and nitrogen resources. We found that in young, coarse alluvial soils that permit water infiltration to deeper soil horizons, % foliar N was highest and Δ, g s and ψpd were lowest, while %N was lowest and Δ, g s and ψpd were highest in fine sandy soils; Larrea growing in older soils with well-developed surface and sub-surface horizons exhibited intermediate values for these parameters. Δ showed negative linear relationships with % N (R 2=0.54) and a positive relationship with ψpd (R 2=0.14). Multiple regression analyses showed a strong degree of multicolinearity of g s and Δ with ψpd and N, suggesting that soil-mediated distribution of co-limiting water and nitrogen resources was the primary determinant of stomatal behavior, which is the primary limitation to productivity in this shrub. These findings show that subtle changes in the soil medium plays a strong role in the spatial and temporal distribution and utilization of limiting water and nitrogen resources by this long-lived desert evergreen, and that this role can be detected through carbon isotope ratios.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Atchley MC, de Soyza AG, Whitford WG (1999) Arroyo water storage and soil nutrients and their effects on gas-exchange of shrub species in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. J Arid Environ 43:1-33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beatley JC (1974) Effects of rainfall and temperature on the distribution and behavior of Larrea tridentata (creosote-bush) in the Mojave Desert of Nevada. Ecology 55:245–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Burk JH, Dick-Peddie WA (1973) Comparative production of Larrea divaricata Cav. on three geomorphic surfaces in southern New Mexico. Ecology 54:1094–1102

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer JR (1984) Intraspecific competitive effects on water relations, growth and reproduction in Encelia farinosa. Oecologia 63:153–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans JR (1989) Photosynthesis and nitrogen relationships in leaves of C3 plants. Oecologia 78:9−19

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans RD, Belnap J (1999) Long-term consequences of disturbance on nitrogen dynamics in an arid ecosystem. Ecology 80:150–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Farquhar GD, Ehleringer JR, Hubick KT (1989) Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 40:503–537

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Field CB, Merino J, Mooney HA (1983) Compromises between water-use efficiency and nitrogen-use efficiency in five species of California evergreens. Oecologia 60:384–389

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonteyn PJ, Mahall BE (1981) An experimental analysis of structure in a desert plant community. J Ecol 69:883–896

    Google Scholar 

  • Franco AC, de Soyza AG, Virginia RA, Reynolds JF Whitford WG (1994) Effects of plant size and water relations on gas exchange and growth of the desert shrub Larrea tridentata. Oecologia 97:171–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Gile LH, Gibbens RP, Lenz JM (1998) Soil-induced variability in root systems of creosote bush ( Larrea tridentata) and tarbush ( Flourensia cernua). J Arid Environ 39:57–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamerlynck EP, McAuliffe JR, Smith SD (2000) Effects of surface and sub-surface soil horizons on the seasonal performance of Larrea tridentata (creosotebush). Funct Ecol 14:596–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamerlynck EP, McAuliffe JR, McDonald EV, Smith SD (2002) Ecological responses of two Mojave Desert shrubs to soil horizon development and soil water dynamics. Ecology 83:768–779

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper KT, Belnap J (2001) The influence of biological soil crusts on mineral uptake by associated vascular plants. J Arid Environ 47:347–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huxman TE, Cable JM, Ignace DD, Etts JA, English NB, Weltzin J, Williams DG (2003) Response of net ecosystem gas exchange to a simulated precipitation pulse in a semi-arid grassland: the role of native versus non-native grasses and soil texture. Oecologia (in press)

  • Lathja K, Schlesinger WH (1986) Plant responses to variations in nitrogen availability in a desert shrubland community. Biogeochemistry 2:29–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Lathja K, Schlesinger WH (1988a) The biogeochemistry of phosphorous cycling and phosphorous availability along a desert soil chronosequence. Ecology 69:24–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Lathja K, Schlesinger WH (1988b) The effect of CaCO3 on the uptake of phosphorus by two desert shrub species, Larrea tridentata (DC) Cov and Parthenium incanum H.B.K. Bot Gaz 149:328–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lathja K, Whitford WG (1989) The effect of water and nitrogen amendments on photosynthesis, leaf demography, and resource use efficiency in Larrea tridentata, a desert evergreen shrub. Oecologia 80:341–348

    Google Scholar 

  • McAuliffe JR (1994) Landscape evolution, soil formation, and ecological patterns and processes in Sonoran Desert bajadas. Ecol Monogr 64:111–148

    Google Scholar 

  • McAuliffe JR (1999) The Sonoran Desert: landscape complexity and ecological diversity. In: Robichaux RH (ed), Ecology of Sonoran Desert plants and plant communities. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Ariz., USA, pp 68–114

  • McAuliffe JR, McDonald EV (1995) A piedmont landscape in the eastern Mojave Desert: Examples of linkages between biotic and physical components. In: Reynolds RE, Reynolds J (eds) Ancient Surfaces of the East Mojave Desert. San Bernardino Co Museum Assoc Quart 42:55–63

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald EV (1994) The relative influences of climatic change, desert dust, and lithologic control on soil-geomorphic processes and hydrology of calcic soils formed on Quaternary alluvial-fan deposits in the Mojave Desert, California. PhD Dissertation, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M., USA

  • McDonald EV, Pierson FB, Flerchinger GN, McFadden LD (1996) Application of a process-based soil water balance model to evaluate the influence of Late Quaternary climate change on soil-water movement in calcic soils. Geoderma 74:167–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McFadden LD, Wells SG, Jercinovich MJ (1987) Influences of eolian and pedogenic processes on the origin and evolution of desert pavements. Geology 15:504–508

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Niinemets Ü, Kull K (1994) Leaf weight per area and leaf size of 85 Estonian woody species in relation to shade-tolerance and light availability. For Ecol Manage 70:1−10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niinemets Ü, Tenhunen JD (1997) A model separating leaf structural and physiological effects on carbon gain along light gradients for the shade-tolerant species, Acer saccharum. Plant Cell Environ 20:845–866

    Google Scholar 

  • Nobel PS (1981) Spacing and transpiration of various sized clumps of a desert grass, Hilaria rigida. J Ecol 69:735–742

    Google Scholar 

  • Noy-Meir I (1973) Desert ecosystems: Environment and producers. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 4:25–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Oechel WC, Strain BR, Odening WR (1972) Tissue water potential, photosynthesis, 14C-labeled photosynthate utilization and growth in the desert shrub Larrea divaricata Cav. Ecol Monogr 42:127–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogle K, Reynolds JF (2002) Desert dogma revisited: coupling of stomatal conductance and photosynthesis in the desert shrub, Larrea tridentata. Plant Cell Environ 25:909–921

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reich PB, Kloeppel BD, Ellsworth DS, Walters MB (1995) Different photosynthesis- nitrogen relations in deciduous hardwood and evergreen coniferous tree species. Oecologia 104:24–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Reich PB, Ellsworth DS, Walters MB (1998) Leaf structure (specific leaf area) modulates photosynthesis-nitrogen relations: evidence from within and across species and functional groups. Funct Ecol 12:948–958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Pilmanis AM (1998) Plant-soil interactions in deserts. Biogeochemistry 42:169–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharifi MR, Meinzer FC, Nilsen ET, Rundel PW, Virginia RA, Jarrel WM, Herman DJ, Clark PC (1988) Effect of manipulation of water and nitrogen supplies on the quantitative phenology of Larrea tridentata (creosote bush) in the Sonoran Desert of California. Am J Bot 75:1163–1174

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith SD, Monson RK, Anderson JE (1997) Physiological ecology of North American desert plants. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

  • Vitousek PM, Field CB, Matson PA (1990) Variation in foliar δ13C in Hawaiian Metrosideros polymorpha: a case of internal resistance. Oecologia 84:362–370

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams DG, Ehleringer JR (2000) Carbon isotope discrimination and water relations of oak hybrid populations in southwestern Utah. West N Am Nat 60:121–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1974) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., USA

Download references

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the staff of the University of California Riverside’s Sweeney Granite Mountain Desert Preserve for their help during this project. Funds from Rutgers University to E.P.H., the NSF-EPSCoR and matching funds from the State of Nevada to S.D.S., and the Desert Botanical Garden to J.R.M., supported this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, 101 Warren St., Newark, NJ, 07102–1811, USA

    Erik P. Hamerlynck

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

    Travis E. Huxman

  3. Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ, 85008, USA

    Joseph R. McAuliffe

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 89101, USA

    Stanley D. Smith

Authors
  1. Erik P. Hamerlynck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Travis E. Huxman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joseph R. McAuliffe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Stanley D. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erik P. Hamerlynck.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hamerlynck, E.P., Huxman, T.E., McAuliffe, J.R. et al. Carbon isotope discrimination and foliar nutrient status of Larrea tridentata (creosote bush) in contrasting Mojave Desert soils. Oecologia 138, 210–215 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-003-1437-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-003-1437-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation