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Tissue-water relations of two co-occurring evergreen Mediterranean species in response to seasonal and experimental drought conditions

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Abstract

Tissue-water relations were used to characterize the responses of two Mediterranean co-occurring woody species (Quercus ilex L. and Phillyrea latifolia L.) to seasonal and experimental drought conditions. Soil water availability was reduced ∼15% by partially excluding rain throughfall and lateral flow (water runoff). Seasonal and experimental drought elicited physiological and morphological adaptations other than osmotic adjustment: both species showed large increases in cell-wall elasticity and decreased saturated-to-dry-mass ratio. Increased elasticity (lower elastic modulus) resulted in concurrent decreases in relative water content at turgor loss. In addition, P. latifolia showed significant increases in apoplastic water fraction. Decreased saturated-to-dry-mass ratio and increased apoplastic water fraction were accompanied by an increased range of turgor maintenance, which indicates that leaf sclerophyllous traits might be advantageous in drier scenarios. In contrast, the degree of sclerophylly (as assessed by the leaf mass-to-area ratio) was not related to tissue elasticity. An ∼15% reduction in soil water availability resulted in significant reductions in diameter growth when compared to control plants in both species. Moreover, although P. latifolia underwent larger changes in tissue water-related traits than Q. ilex in response to decreasing water availability, growth was more sensitive to water stress in P. latifolia than in Q. ilex. Differences in diameter growth between species might be partially linked to the effects of cell-wall elasticity and turgor pressure on growth, since Q. ilex showed higher tissue elasticity and higher intrinsic tolerance to water deficit (as indicated by lower relative water content at turgor loss) than P. latifolia.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the technical assistance of M. Lluch. This research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Spain) grant REN 2000-0278/GLO. The manuscript was completed under grant REN 2002-00633/GLO (Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spain). Financial support to L.S. (“Ramon y Cajal” program, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spain) is greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament d’Enginyeria Agroalimentària i Biotecnologia, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Campus del Baix Llobregat, Av. Canal Olímpic, s/n, 08860, Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain

    Lydia Serrano

  2. Unitat d’Ecofisiologia CSIC-CEAB-CREAF, Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Josep Peñuelas & Romà Ogaya

  3. Departament de Tecnologia Hortícola, Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries, Cabrils, Barcelona, Spain

    Robert Savé

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  1. Lydia Serrano
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  2. Josep Peñuelas
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  3. Romà Ogaya
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  4. Robert Savé
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Correspondence to Lydia Serrano.

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Serrano, L., Peñuelas, J., Ogaya, R. et al. Tissue-water relations of two co-occurring evergreen Mediterranean species in response to seasonal and experimental drought conditions. J Plant Res 118, 263–269 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-005-0220-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-005-0220-8

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