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Differences in water-use strategies along an aridity gradient between two coexisting desert shrubs (Reaumuria soongorica and Nitraria sphaerocarpa): isotopic approaches with physiological evidence

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Abstract

Background and aims

Understanding the responses of different plant species to changes in available water sources is critical for accurately modeling and predicting species dynamics. Our study aimed to explore whether there were differences in water-use strategies between the two coexisting shrubs (Reaumuria soongorica and Nitraria sphaerocarpa) in response to different amounts of summer precipitation.

Methods

We conducted 3 years of field observations at three sites along an aridity gradient from the middle to lower reaches of the Heihe River basin, northwestern China. Stable oxygen composition (δ18O) in plant xylem water, soil water and groundwater were analyzed concurrently with ecophysiological measurements at monthly intervals during the growing seasons.

Results

Water source for coexisting R. soongorica and N. sphaerocarpa did not differ at the sites with high precipitation, but significantly differed in more arid locations. The N. sphaerocarpa was more sensitive to summer precipitation than R. soongorica in terms of predawn water potential, stomatal conductance and foliage carbon-isotope discrimination.

Conclusions

The plants relying on groundwater maintained consistent water use strategies, but not plants that took up precipitation-derived water. We also found that the difference in water source uptake between the coexisting species was more apparent in more arid locations.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Engui Li and Lei Liu for their help in field observations and Prof. Wang from Hexi University for providing a laboratory for conducting some experiments. We also thank Dr. Grzegorz Skrzypek for revisions, which significantly improved this manuscript. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant NSFC 91425301, 91625101), the PCSIRT (IRT-15R06), and projects supported by the State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology and by Ten Thousand Talent Program for leading young scientist.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Cicheng Zhang, Xiaoyan Li, Pei Wang, Xiuchen Wu & Yongmei Huang

  2. School of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Cicheng Zhang, Xiaoyan Li, Pei Wang, Yang Wang, Xiuchen Wu, Wei Li & Yongmei Huang

  3. Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Huawu Wu

  4. Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Huawu Wu

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  1. Cicheng Zhang
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Correspondence to Xiaoyan Li.

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Zhang, C., Li, X., Wu, H. et al. Differences in water-use strategies along an aridity gradient between two coexisting desert shrubs (Reaumuria soongorica and Nitraria sphaerocarpa): isotopic approaches with physiological evidence. Plant Soil 419, 169–187 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3332-8

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