Prolonged experimental drought reduces plant hydraulic conductance and transpiration and increases mortality in a pinon-juniper woodland.

ABSTRACT: Plant hydraulic conductance (k s) is a critical control on whole-plant water use and carbon uptake and, during drought, influences whether plants survive or die. To assess long-term physiological and hydraulic responses of mature trees to water availability, we manipulated ecosystem-scale water availability from 2007 to 2013 in a piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) woodland. We examined the relationship between k s and subsequent mortality using more than 5 years of physiological observations, and the subsequent impact of reduced hydraulic function and mortality on total woody canopy transpiration (E C) and conductance (G C). For both species, we observed significant reductions in plant transpiration (E) and k s under experimentally imposed drought. Conversely, sup

SUBMITTER: Pangle RE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4409411 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature