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Leaf gas exchange and water status responses of a native and non-native grass to precipitation across contrasting soil surfaces in the Sonoran Desert

  • Ecophysiology
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Abstract

Arid and semi-arid ecosystems of the southwestern US are undergoing changes in vegetation composition and are predicted to experience shifts in climate. To understand implications of these current and predicted changes, we conducted a precipitation manipulation experiment on the Santa Rita Experimental Range in southeastern Arizona. The objectives of our study were to determine how soil surface and seasonal timing of rainfall events mediate the dynamics of leaf-level photosynthesis and plant water status of a native and non-native grass species in response to precipitation pulse events. We followed a simulated precipitation event (pulse) that occurred prior to the onset of the North American monsoon (in June) and at the peak of the monsoon (in August) for 2002 and 2003. We measured responses of pre-dawn water potential, photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance of native (Heteropogon contortus) and non-native (Eragrostis lehmanniana) C4 bunchgrasses on sandy and clay-rich soil surfaces. Soil surface did not always amplify differences in plant response to a pulse event. A June pulse event lead to an increase in plant water status and photosynthesis. Whereas the August pulse did not lead to an increase in plant water status and photosynthesis, due to favorable soil moisture conditions facilitating high plant performance during this period. E. lehmanniana did not demonstrate heightened photosynthetic performance over the native species in response to pulses across both soil surfaces. Overall accumulated leaf-level CO2 response to a pulse event was dependent on antecedent soil moisture during the August pulse event, but not during the June pulse event. This work highlights the need to understand how desert species respond to pulse events across contrasting soil surfaces in water-limited systems that are predicted to experience changes in climate.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of the USDA-CSREES (grant no. 00-35101-9308), the International Arid Lands Consortium, the University of Arizona, Sustainability of Semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas under the STC Program of the National Science Foundation, agreement no. EAR-9876800 and NSF awards DEB 041-5977, DEB 041-8363 and DEB 041-8134 to T. E. H., J. F. W., and D. G. W. D. D. I. was supported by the University of Arizona—Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship. J. Cable, D. Potts, A. Eilts, N. English, M. Mason, J. Chen and P. B. Allen assisted in the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 1041 E. Lowell St, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0088, USA

    Danielle D. Ignace & Travis E. Huxman

  2. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

    Jake F. Weltzin

  3. Renewable Resources and Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, USA

    David G. Williams

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  1. Danielle D. Ignace
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  2. Travis E. Huxman
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  3. Jake F. Weltzin
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  4. David G. Williams
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Correspondence to Danielle D. Ignace.

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Communicated by Alan Knapp.

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Ignace, D.D., Huxman, T.E., Weltzin, J.F. et al. Leaf gas exchange and water status responses of a native and non-native grass to precipitation across contrasting soil surfaces in the Sonoran Desert. Oecologia 152, 401–413 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-007-0670-x

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