Responses of plant leaf economic and hydraulic traits mediate the effects of early- and late-season drought on grassland productivity.

ABSTRACT: Drought can occur at different times during the grassland growing season, likely having contrasting effects on forage production when happening early or later in the season. However, knowledge about the interacting effects of the timing of drought and the development stage of the vegetation during the growing season is still scarce, thus limiting our ability to accurately predict forage quantity losses. To investigate plant community responses to drought seasonality (early- vs. late-season), we established a drought experiment in two permanent grasslands of the Swiss Jura Mountains that are used for forage production. We measured three plant functional traits, including two leaf traits related to plant economics (specific leaf area, SLA; leaf dry matter content, LDMC) and one hydraulic tra

SUBMITTER: Vitra A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6499892 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature