Tree species richness modulates water supply in the local tree neighbourhood: evidence from wood δ¹³C signatures in a large-scale forest experiment.

ABSTRACT: Biodiversity is considered to mitigate the adverse effects of changing precipitation patterns. However, our understanding of how tree diversity at the local neighbourhood scale modulates the water use and leaf physiology of individual trees remains unclear. We made use of a large-scale tree diversity experiment in subtropical China to study eight tree species along an experimentally manipulated gradient of local neighbourhood tree species richness. Twig wood carbon isotope composition (δ¹³C_wood) was used as an indicator for immediate leaf-level responses to water availability in relation to local neighbourhood conditions and a target tree's functional traits. Across species, a target tree's δ¹³C_wood signatures decreased progressivel

SUBMITTER: Jansen K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7935011 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature