Journal
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
Volume 36, Issue 10, Pages 1812-1825Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/pce.12089
Keywords
acclimation; carbon balance; hydraulic limitation; photosynthesis; pinon-juniper woodland; precipitation manipulation; stomatal conductance; water stress
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Funding
- Department of Energy's Office of Science (BER)
- Sevilleta LTER [NSF DEB-0620482]
- UNM Sevilleta Field Station
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [1232294] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Div Of Biological Infrastructure
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1003272] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Leaf gas-exchange regulation plays a central role in the ability of trees to survive drought, but forecasting the future response of gas exchange to prolonged drought is hampered by our lack of knowledge regarding potential acclimation. To investigate whether leaf gas-exchange rates and sensitivity to drought acclimate to precipitation regimes, we measured the seasonal variations of leaf gas exchange in a mature pinon-juniper Pinus edulis-Juniperus monosperma woodland after 3 years of precipitation manipulation. We compared trees receiving ambient precipitation with those in an irrigated treatment (+30% of ambient precipitation) and a partial rainfall exclusion (-45%). Treatments significantly affected leaf water potential, stomatal conductance and photosynthesis for both isohydric pinon and anisohydric juniper. Leaf gas exchange acclimated to the precipitation regimes in both species. Maximum gas-exchange rates under well-watered conditions, leaf-specific hydraulic conductance and leaf water potential at zero photosynthetic assimilation all decreased with decreasing precipitation. Despite their distinct drought resistance and stomatal regulation strategies, both species experienced hydraulic limitation on leaf gas exchange when precipitation decreased, leading to an intraspecific trade-off between maximum photosynthetic assimilation and resistance of photosynthesis to drought. This response will be most detrimental to the carbon balance of pinon under predicted increases in aridity in the southwestern USA.
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