Abstract
Climate change is predicted to affect the water balance of several ecosystems mostly through changes in the energy budget and hydrological input (rainfall frequency, intensity, and timing). Changes in rainfall patterns and cloudiness directly affect incoming radiation, atmospheric water vapor saturation deficit and soil water availability, the main variables controlling the rates of water uptake and transport along the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum (SPAC). Developing a predictive framework about vegetation responses to a changing climate is challenging because it involves complex non-linear interactions between these environmental variables and species-specific responses. By examining the hydraulic traits of functional groups within plant communities we can better predict the impacts of changes in rainfall regimes within functional groups and therefore, generate more realistic predictions of ecosystem carbon and water balance changes due to local and regional changes in precipitation regimes. In this review, we discuss several aspects of plant hydraulic functioning and then explore how predicted changes in precipitation regimes may affect tree water and carbon balance. We examine the impacts of changes in rainfall patterns on the SPAC and also explore the multiple ways that plants can absorb and transport water. Finally, we explore the diversity of hydraulic traits and potential mechanisms causing large-scale drought-induced mortality recently observed in several ecosystems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen CD, Macalady AK, Chechouni H, Bachelet D, McDowell N, Vennetier M, Kitzberger T, Rigling A, Breshears DD, Hogg EHT, Gonzalez P, Frensham R, Zhang Z, Castro J, Demidova N, Lim JH, Allard G, Running SW, Semerci A, Cobb N (2010) A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. For Ecol Manag 259:660–684
Aranda I, Forner A, Cuesta B, Valladares F (2012) Species-specific water use by forest tree species: from the tree to the stand. Agric Water Manag 114:67–77
Araújo MB, Thuiller W, Pearson RG (2006) Climate warming and the decline of amphibians and reptiles in Europe. J Biogeogr 33:1712–1728
Arnold JG, Srinivasan R, Muttiah RS, Williams JR (1998) Large area hydrologic modeling and assessment part I: model development. J Am Water Resour Assoc 34:73–89
Baltzer JL, Davies SJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Noor NSM (2008) The role of desiccation tolerance in determining tree species distributions along the Malay-Thai Peninsula. Funct Ecol 22:221–231
Bartlett MK, Scoffoni C, Sack L (2012) The determinants of leaf turgor loss point and prediction of drought tolerance of species and biomes: a global meta-analysis. Ecol Lett 15:393–405
Bellard C, Bertelsmeier C, Leadley P, Thuiller W, Courchamp F (2012) Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity. Ecol Lett 15:365–377
Brando PM, Nepstad DC, Balch JK, Bolker B, Christman MC, Coe M, Putz FE (2012) Fire-induced tree mortality in a neotropical forest: the roles of bark traits, tree size, wood density and fire behavior. Glob Change Biol 18:630–641
Breshears DD, McDowell NG, Goddard KL, Dayem KE, Martens SN, Meyer CW, Brown KM (2008) Foliar absorption of intercepted rainfall improves woody plant water status most during drought. Ecology 89:41–47
Brodersen CR, McElrone AJ, Choat B, Matthews MA, Shackel KA (2010) The dynamics of embolism repair in xylem: in vivo visualizations using high-resolution computed tomography. Plant Physiol 154:1088–1095
Brodribb TJ, Holbrook NM (2003) Changes in leaf hydraulic conductance during leaf shedding in seasonally dry tropical forest. New Phytol 158:295–303
Brodribb TJ, Feild TS, Sack L (2010) Viewing leaf structure and evolution from a hydraulic perspective. Funct Plant Biol 37:488–498
Bucci SJ, Scholz FG, Goldstein G, Meinzer FC, Sternberg LSL (2003) Dynamic changes in hydraulic conductivity in petioles of two savanna tree species: factors and mechanisms contributing to the refilling of embolized vessels. Plant Cell Environ 26:1633–1645
Burgess SSO, Bleby TM (2006) Redistribution of soil water by lateral roots mediated by stem tissues. J Exp Bot 57:3283–3291
Burgess SSO, Dawson TE (2004) The contribution of fog to the water relations of Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don): foliar uptake and prevention of dehydration. Plant, Cell Environ 27:1023–1034
Burgess SSO, Adams MA, Turner NC, White DA, Ong CK (2001) Tree roots: conduits for deep recharge of soil water. Oecologia 126:158–165
Burkhardt J, Basi S, Pariyar S, Hunsche M (2012) Stomatal penetration by aqueous solutions—an update involving leaf surface particles. New Phytol 196:774–787
Caldwell MM, Dawson TE, Richards JH (1998) Hydraulic lift: consequences of water efflux from the roots of plants. Oecologia 113:151–161
Chapin FS, Schulze ED, Mooney HA (1990) The ecology and economics of storage in plants. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 21:423–447
Chave J, Coomes D, Jansen S, Lewis SL, Swensons N, Zanner AE (2009) Towards a worldwide wood economics spectrum. Ecol Lett 12:351–366
Chaves MM, Maroco JP, Pereira JS (2003) Understanding plant response to drought—from genes to the whole plant. Funct Plant Biol 30:239–264
Choat B, Ball MC, Luly JG, Holtum JAM (2003) Pit membrane porosity and water stress-induced cavitation in four co-existing dry rainforest tree species. Plant Physiol 133:41–48
Choat B, Ball MC, Luly JG, Holtum JAM (2005) Hydraulic architecture of deciduous and evergreen dry rainforest tree species from north-eastern Australia. Trees 19:305–311
Choat B, Jansen S, Brodribb TJ, Cochard H, Delzon S, Bhaskar R, Bucci SJ, Field TS, Gleason SM, Hackel UG, Jacobsen AL, Lens F, Maherali H, Vilalta JM, Mayr S, Mencuccini M, Mitchell PJ, Nardini A, Pittermann J, Pratt RB, Sperry JS, Westoby M, Wright IJ, Zanne AE (2012) Global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought. Nature 491:752–755
Christoffersen BO, Restrepo-Coupe N, Arain MA, Baker IT, Cestaro BP, Ciais P, Fisher JB, Galbraith D, Guan X, Gulden LE, van den Hurk B, Ichii K, Imbuzeiro HMA, Jain A, Levine N, Miguez-Macho G, Poulter B, Roberti DR, Sakaguchi K, Sahoo A, Schaefer K, Shi M, Verbeeck H, Yang ZL, Araújo AC, Kruijt B, Manzi AO, da Rocha HR, von Randow C, Muza MN, Borak J, Costa MH, de Gonçalves LGG, Zeng X, Saleska SR (accepted) Mechanisms of water supply and vegetation demand govern the seasonality and magnitude of evapotranspiration in Amazonia. Agric For Meteorol
Cochard H, Delzon S (2013) Hydraulic failure and repair are not routine in trees. Ann For Sci 70:659–661
Condit R, Engelbrecht BMJ, Pino D, Pérez R, Turner BL (2013) Species distributions in response to individual soil nutrients and seasonal drought across a community of tropical trees. Proc Natl Acad Sci 110:5064–5068
Cruiziat P, Cochard H, Améglio T (2002) Hydraulic architecture of trees: main concepts and results. Ann For Sci 59:723–752
David TS, Pinto CA, Nadezhdina N, Kurz-Besson C, Henriques MO, Quilhó T, Cermak J, Chaves MM, Pereira JS, David JS (2013) Root functioning, tree water use and hydraulic redistribution in Quercus suber trees: a modeling approach based on root sap flow. For Ecol Manag 307:136–146
Dawson TE (1993) Hydraulic lift and the water use by plants: implications for water balance, performance and plant–plant interactions. Oecologia 95:565–574
Dawson TE (1996) Determining water use by trees and forests from isotopic, energy, balance and transpiration analyses: the roles of tree size and hydraulic lift. Tree Physiol 16:263–272
Domec JC, Warren JM, Meinzer FC (2004) Native root xylem embolism and stomatal closure in stands of Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine: mitigation by hydraulic redistribution. Oecologia 141:7–16
Domec JC, Scholz FG, Bucci SJ, Meinzer FC, Goldstein G, Villalobos-Vega R (2006) Diurnal and seasonal changes in root xylem embolism in neotropical savanna woody species: impact on stomatal control of plant water status. Plant Cell Environ 29:26–35
Donovan LA, Richards JH, Linton J (2003) Magnitude and mechanisms of disequilibrium between predawn plant and soil water potentials. Ecology 84:463–470
Doughty CE, Goulden ML (2008) Are tropical forests near a high temperature threshold? J Geophys Res. doi:10.1029/2007JG000632
Dunn JP, Kimmerer TW, Potter DA (1987) Winter starch reserves of white oak as a predictor of attack by the twolined chestnut borer, Agrilus bilineatus (Weber) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Oecologia 74:352–355
Eller CB, Lima AL, Oliveira RS (2013) Foliar uptake of fog water and transport belowground alleviates drought effects in the cloud forest tree species, Drimys brasiliensis (Winteraceae). New Phytol 199:151–162
Engelbrecht BMJ, Kursar TA, Tyree MT (2005) Drought effects on seedling survival in a tropical moist forest. Trees 19:312–321
Engelbrecht BMJ, Comita LS, Condit R, Kursar TA, Tyree MT, Turner BL, Hubbell SP (2007) Drought sensitivity shapes species distribution patterns in tropical forests. Nature 447:80–83
Epron D, Bahn M, Derrien D, Lattanzi FA, Punpanen J, Gessler A, Hogberg P, Maillard P, Dannoura M, Gérant D, Buchmann N (2012) Pulse-labelling trees to study carbon allocation dynamics: a review of methods, current knowledge and future prospects. Tree Physiol 32:776–798
Farquhar GD, Caemmerer S, Berry JA (2001) Models of photosynthesis. Plant Physiol 125:42–45
Feng X, Porporato A, Rodriguez-Iturbe I (2013) Changes in rainfall seasonality in the tropics. Nat Clim Change 3:811–815
Franks P, Brodribb TJ (2005) Stomatal control and water transport in the xylem. In: Holbrook NM, Zwieniecki MA (eds) Vascular transport in plants. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 69–89
Gloor M, Brienen RJW, Galbraith D, Feldpausch TR, Schöngart J, Guyot JL, Espinoza JC, Lloyd J, Phillips OL (2013) Intensification of the Amazon hydrological cycle over the last two decades. Geophys Res Lett 40:1729–1733
Goldsmith GR (2013) Changing directions: the atmosphere–plant–soil continuum. New Phytol 199:4–6
Goldsmith GR, Matzke NJ, Dawson TE (2013) The incidence and implications of clouds for cloud forest plant water relations. Ecol Lett 16:307–314
Hale BE, Herms DA, Hansen RC, Clausen TP, Arnold D (2005) Effects of drought stress and nutrient availability on dry matter allocation, phenolic glycosides, and rapid induced resistance of poplar to two Lymantriid defoliators. J Chem Ecol 31:2601–2620
Hamon WR (1961) Estimating potential evapotranspiration. J Hydraul Div Proc Am Soc Civil Eng 871:107–120
Hanba YT, Moriya A, Kimura K (2004) Effect of leaf surface wetness and wettability on photosynthesis in bean and pea. Plant Cell Environ 27:413–421
Hartmann H, Ziegler W, Trumbore S (2013a) Lethal drought leads to reduction in nonstructural carbohydrate in Norway spruce tree roots but not in the canopy. Funct Ecol 27:413–427
Hartmann H, Ziegler W, Olaf K, Trumbore S (2013b) Thirst beats hunger—declining hydration during drought prevents carbon starvation in Norway spruce saplings. New Phytol 200:340–349
Hoch G, Popp M, Korner C (2002) Altitudinal increase of mobile carbon pools in Pinus cembra suggests sink limitation of growth at the Swiss treeline. Oikos 98:361–374
Holwerda F, Bruijnzeel LA, Muñoz-Villers LE, Equihua M, Asbjornsen H (2010) Rainfall and cloud water interception in mature and secondary lower montane cloud forests of central Veracruz, Mexico. J Hydrol 384:84–96
IPCC—Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
IPCC—Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013) Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/#.Um6qp_lvOo8
Jackson PC, Meinzer FC, Bustamante M, Goldstein G, Franco A, Rundel PW, Caldas L, Igler E, Causin F (1999) Partitioning of soil water among tree species in a Brazilian Cerrado ecosystem. Tree Physiol 19:717–724
Jones JW, Colwick RE, Threadgill ED (1972) A simulated environmental model of temperature, evaporation, rainfall and soil moisture. Trans ASAE 15:366–372
Kozlowski TT (1992) Carbohydrate sources and sinks in woody plants. Bot Rev 58:107–222
Kumagai T, Porporato A (2012) Strategies of a Bornean tropical rainforest water use as a function of rainfall regime: isohydric or anisohydric? Plant Cell Environ 35:61–71
Kuzyakov Y, Gavrichkova O (2010) Time lag between photosynthesis and carbon dioxide efflux from soil: a review of mechanism and controls. Glob Change Biol 16:3386–3406
Lapola DM, Oyama MD, Nobre CA (2009) Exploring the range of climate biome projections for tropical South America: the role of CO2 fertilization and seasonality. Global Biogeochem Cycles 23:1–16
Lee JE, Oliveira RS, Dawson TE, Fung I (2005) Root functioning modifies seasonal climate. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102:17576–17581
Lens F, Tixier A, Cochard H, Sperry JS, Jansen S, Herbette S (2013) Embolism resistance as a key mechanism to understand adaptive plant strategies. Plant Biol 16:287–292
Lewis SL, Brando PM, Phillips OL, van der Heijden GMF, Nepstad D (2011) The 2010 Amazon drought. Science 331:554
Limm E, Simonin K, Bothman A, Dawson TE (2009) Foliar water uptake: a common water acquisition strategy for plants of the redwood forest. Oecologia 161:449–459
Lopez OR, Kursar TA, Cochard H, Tyree MT (2005) Interspecific variation in xylem vulnerability to cavitation among tropical tree and shrub species. Tree Physiol 25:1553–1562
Lutz JA, van Wagtendonk JW, Franklin JF (2010) Climatic water deficit, tree species ranges, and climate change in Yosemite National Park. J Biogeogr 37:936–950
Maherali H, Pockman WT, Jackson RB (2004) Adaptive variation in the vulnerability of wood plants to xylem cavitation. Ecology 85:2184–2199
Marengo JA, Nobre CA, Tomasella J, Oyama MD, de Oliveira GS, de Oliveira R, Camargo H, Alves LM, Brown IF (2008) The drought of Amazonia in 2005. J Clim 21:495–516
Marengo JA, Tomasella J, Alves LM, Soares WR, Rodriguez DA (2011) The drought of 2010 in the context of historical droughts in the Amazon region. Geophys Res Lett 38:L12703. doi:10.1029/2011GL047436
Markewitz D, Devine S, Davidson EA, Brando P, Nepstad DC (2010) Soil moisture depletion under simulated drought in the Amazon: impacts on deep root uptake. New Phytol 187:592–607
Martínez-Vilalta J, Prat E, Oliveras I, Pinol J (2002) Xylem hydraulic properties of roots and stems of nine Mediterranean woody species. Oecologia 133:19–29
McDowell NG (2011) Mechanisms linking drought, hydraulics, carbon metabolism and vegetation mortality. Plant Physiol 155:1051–1059
McDowell NG, Sevanto S (2010) The mechanisms of carbon starvation: how, when, or does it even occurs at all? New Phytol 186:264–266
McDowell NG, Pockman WT, Allen CD, Breshears DD, Cobb N, Kolb T, Plaut J, Sperry J, West A, Williams DG, Yepez EA (2008) Mechanisms of plant survival and mortality during drought: why do some plants survive while others succumb to drought? New Phytol 178:719–739
McDowell NG, Ryan MG, Zeppel MJB, Tissue DT (2013a) Improving our knowledge of drought-induced forest mortality through experiments, observations, and modeling. New Phytol 200:289–293
McDowell NG, Fisher RA, Chonggang X, Domec JC, Holtta T, Mackay DS, Sperry JS, Boutz A, Dickman L, Gehres N, Limousin JM, Macalady A, Martínez-Vilalta J, Mencuccini M, Plaut JA, Ogée J, Pangle RE, Rasse DP, Ryan MG, Sevanto S, Waring RH, Williams AP, Yepes E, Pockman WT (2013b) Evaluating theories of drought-induced vegetation mortality using a multimodel-experiment framework. New Phytol 200:304–321
Meinzer FC, McCulloh KA (2013) Xylem recovery from drought-induced embolism: where is the hydraulic point of no return? Tree Physiol 33:331–334
Meinzer FC, Johnson DM, Lachenbruch B, McCulloh KA, Woodruff DR (2009) Xylem hydraulic safety margins in woody plants: coordination of stomatal control of xylem tension with hydraulic capacitance. Funct Ecol 23:922–930
Meir P, Brando PM, Nepstad D, Vasconcelos S, Costa ACL, Davidson E, Almeida S, Fisher RA, Sotta ED, Zarin D, Cardinot G (2009) The Effects of Drought on Amazonian Rain Forests. In: Keller M, Bustamante M, Gash J, Dias PS (eds) Amazonia and Global Change pp.429-449. American Geophysical Union Publishers, Washington, USA
Mitchell P, Veneklaas E, Lambers H, Burgess S (2008) Using multiple trait associations to define hydraulic functional types in plant communities of south-western Australia. Oecologia 158:385–397
Mitchell PJ, O’Grady AP, Tissue DT, White DA, Ottenschlaeger ML, Pinkard EA (2013) Drought response strategies define the relative contributions of hydraulic dysfunction and carbohydrate depletion during tree mortality. New Phytol 197:862–872
Nadezhdina N, Steppe K, Pauw DJW, Bequet R, Cermak J, Ceulemans R (2009) Stem-mediated hydraulic redistribution in large roots on opposing sides of a Douglas-fir tree following localized irrigation. New Phytol 184:932–943
Nadezhdina N, David TS, David JS, Ferreira MA, Dohnal M, Tesa M, Gartner K, Leitgeb E, Nadezhdin V, Cermak J, Jimenez MS, Morales D (2010) Trees never rest: the multiple facets of hydraulic redistribution. Ecohydrology 3:431–444
Nardini A, Lo Gullo MA, Salleo S (2011) Refilling embolized xylem conduits: Is it a matter of phloem unloading? Plant Sci 180:604–611
Nepstad DC, Carvalho CR, Davidson EA, Jipp PH, Lefebvre PA, Negreiros GH, Silva ED, Stone TA, Trumbore SA, Vieira S (1994) The role of deep roots in the hydrological and carbon cycles of Amazonian forests and pastures. Nature 372:666–669
Neumann RB, Cardon ZG (2012) The magnitude of hydraulic redistribution by plant roots: a review and synthesis of empirical and modeling studies. New Phytol 194:337–352
O’Grady AP, Mitchell PJM, Pinkard EA, Tissue DT (2013) Thirsty roots and hungry leaves: unraveling the roles of carbon and water dynamics in tree mortality. New Phytol 200:294–297
Ogasa M, Miki NH, Murakami Y, Yoshikawa K (2013) Recovery performance in xylem hydraulic conductivity is correlated with cavitation resistance for temperate deciduous tree species. Tree Physiol 33:335–344
Oliveira RS, Dawson TE, Burgess SSO, Nepstad DC (2005a) Hydraulic redistribution in three Amazonian trees. Oecologia 145:354–363
Oliveira RS, Bezerra L, Davidson EA, Pinto F, Klink CA, Nepstad DC, Moreira A (2005b) Deep root function in soil water dynamics in cerrado savannas of central Brazil. Funct Ecol 19:574–581
Oliveira RS, Dawson TE, Burgess SSO (2005c) Evidence for direct water absorption by the shoot of the desiccation-tolerant plant Vellozia flavicans in the savannas of central Brazil. J Trop Ecol 21:585–588
Perämäki M, Nikinmaa E, Sevanto S, Ilvesniemi H, Siivola E, Hari P, Vesala T (2001) Tree stem diameter variations and transpiration in Scots pine: an analysis using a dynamic sap flow model. Tree Physiol 21:889–897
Phillips OL, Heijden GVD, Lewis SL, González GL, Aragão LEOC, Lloyd J, Malhi Y, Monteagudo A, Almeida S, Dávila EA, Amaral I, Andelman S, Andrade A, Arroyo L, Aymard G, Baker TR, Blanc L, Bonal D, Oliveira AC, Chao KJ, Cardozo ND, Costa L, Feldpausch TR, Fisher JB, Fyllas NM, Freitas MA, Galbraith D, Gloor E, Higuchi N, Honorio E, Jiménez E, Keeling H, Killeen TJ, Lovett JC, Meir P, Mendonza C, Morel A, Vargas PN, Patiño S, Peh KSH, Cruz AP, Prieto A, Quesada CA, Ramírez F, Ramírez H, Rudas A, Salamão R, Schwarz M, Silva J, Silveira M, Slik JWF, Sonké B, Thomas AS, Stopp J, Taplin JRD, Vásquez R, Vilanova E (2010) Drought–mortality relationships for tropical forests. New Phytol 187:631–646
Piper FI (2011) Drought induces opposite changes in the concentration of non-structural carbohydrates of two evergreen Nothofagus species of differential drought resistance. Ann For Sci 68:415–424
Plaut JA, Yepez EA, Hill J, Pangle R, Sperry JS, Pockman WT, McDowell NG (2012) Hydraulic limits preceding mortality in a pinon-juniper woodland under experimental drought. Plant Cell Environ 35:1601–1617
Porporato A, Laio F, Ridolfi L, Rodriguez-Iturbe I (2001) Plants in water-controlled ecosystems: active role in hydrologic processes and response to water stress III. Vegatation water stress. Adv Water Resour 24:715–744
Prieto I, Armas C, Pugnaire FI (2012) Water release through plant roots: new insights into its consequences at the plant and ecosystem level. New Phytol 193:830–841
Reynolds JF, Kemp PR, Tenhunen JD (2000) Effects of long-term rainfall variability on evapotranspiration and soil water distribution in the Chihuahuan Desert: a modeling analysis. Plant Ecol 150:145–159
Rosado BHP, Oliveira RS, Aidar MPM (2010) Is leaf water repellency related to vapor pressure deficit and crown exposure in tropical forests? Acta Oecologica 36:645–649
Ruehr NK, Offermann CA, Gessler A, Winkler JB, Ferrio JP, Buchmann N, Barnard RL (2009) Drought effects on allocation of recent carbon: from beech leaves to soil CO2 efflux. New Phytol 184:950–961
Sala A, Piper F, Hoch G (2010) Physiological mechanisms of drought-induced tree mortality are far from being resolved. New Phytol 186:274–281
Sala A, Woodruff DR, Meinzer FC (2012) Carbon dynamics in trees: feast or famine? Tree Physiol 32:764–775
Scholz FG, Bucci SJ, Goldstein G, Meinzer FC, Franco AC (2002) Hydraulic redistribution of soil water by neotropical savanna trees. Tree Physiol 22:603–612
Scholz FG, Phillips NG, Bucci SJ, Meinzer FC, Goldstein G (2011) Hydraulic capacitance: biophysics and functional significance of internal water sources in relation to tree size. In: Meinzer FC, Lachenbruch B, Dawson TE (eds) Size- and age-related changes in tree structure and function. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 36–341
Secchi F, Zwieniecki MA (2011) Sensing embolism in xylem vessels: the role of sucrose as a trigger for refilling. Plant Cell Environ 34:514–524
Şekercioğlu ÇH, Primack RB, Wormworth J (2012) The effects of climate change on tropical birds. Biol Conserv 148:1–18
Seneviratne SI, Corti T, Davin EL, Hirschi M, Jaeger EB, Lehner I, Orlowsky B, Teuling AJ (2010) Investigating soil moisture–climate interactions in a changing climate: a review. Earth Sci Rev 99:125–161
Sevanto S, McDowell NG, Dickman LT, Pangle R, Pockman WT (2013) How do trees die? A test of the hydraulic failure and carbon starvation hypotheses. Plant Cell Environ. doi:10.1111/pce.12141
Simonin KA, Santiago LS, Dawson TE (2009) Fog interception by Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) crowns decouples physiology from soil water deficit. Plant Cell Environ 32:882–892
Sperry JS, Stiller V, Hacke UG (2003) Xylem hydraulics and the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum—opportunities and unresolved issues. Agron J 95:1362–1370
Stahl C, Hérault B, Rossi V, Burban B, Bréchet C, Bonal D (2013) Depth of soil water uptake by tropical rainforest trees during dry periods: does tree dimension matter? Oecologia 173:1432–1939
Still CJ, Foster PN, Schneider SH (1999) Simulating the effects of climate change on tropical montane cloud forests. Nature 398:608–610
Tariq M, Rossiter JT, Wright DJ, Staley JT (2013) Drought alters interactions between root and foliar herbivores. Oecologia 172:1095–1104
Thornthwaite CW (1948) An Approach toward a rational classification of climate. Geogr Rev 38:55–94
Tyree MT (1988) A dynamic model for water flow in a single tree: evidence that models must account for hydraulic architecture. Tree Physiol 4:195–217
Tyree MT (2003) The ascent of water. Nature 423:923
Tyree MT, Ewers FW (1991) The hydraulic architecture of trees and other woody plants. New Phytol 119:345–360
Tyree MT, Zimmermann MH (2002) Xylem structure and the ascent of sap. Springer, New York
Vilalta MJ, Lloret F, Breshears DD (2012) Drought-induced forest decline: causes, scope and implications. Biol Lett 8:689–691
Warrick AW (2002) Soil Phys Companion. CRC Press, Boca Raton
West AG, Dawson TE, February EC, Midgley GF, Bond WJ, Aston TL (2012) Diverse functional responses to drought in a Mediterranean-type shrubland in South Africa. New Phytol 195:396–407
Zhao J, Hartmann H, Trumbore S, Ziegler W, Zhang Y (2013) High temperature causes negative whole- plant carbon balance under mild drought. New Phytol 200:330–339
Zweifel R, Häsler R (2001) Dynamics of water storage in mature subalpine Picea abies: temporal and spatial patterns of change in stem radius. Tree Physiol 21:561–569
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) (Grant number 10/17204-0 to R.S.O.), FAPESP/Microsoft Research (Grant number 11/52072-0) and Higher Education Co-ordination Agency (CAPES) (scholarship to M.M.B; F.V.B and P.L.B.).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oliveira, R.S., Christoffersen, B.O., de V. Barros, F. et al. Changing precipitation regimes and the water and carbon economies of trees. Theor. Exp. Plant Physiol 26, 65–82 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-014-0007-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40626-014-0007-1