Root vascular anatomy predicts maximum growth rates in savanna trees and grasses

Root-based functional traits are relatively overlooked as drivers of savanna plant community dynamics, an important gap in water-limited ecosystems. Recent work has shed light on patterns of trait coordination in roots, but less is known about the relationship between root functional traits, water acquisition, and plant demographic rates. Here, we investigated how fine-root vascular and morphological traits are related in two dominant PFTs (C3 trees and C4 grasses from the savanna biome), whether root traits can predict plant relative growth rate (RGR), and whether root trait multivariate relationships differ in trees and grasses. We used root data from 21 tree and 18 grass species grown under greenhouse conditions, and quantified a suite of vascular and morphological root traits. We used a principal components analysis (PCA) to identify common axes of trait variation, compared trait correlation matrices between the two PFTs, and investigated the relationship between PCA axes and individual traits and RGR. We found that there was no clear single axis integrating vascular and morphological traits, but found that vascular anatomy predicted RGR in both trees and grasses. Trait correlation matrices differed in trees and grasses, suggesting potentially divergent patterns of trait coordination between the two functional types. Our results suggested that, despite differences in trait relationships between trees and grasses, root conductivity may constrain maximum growth rate in both PFTs, highlighting the critical role that water relations play in savanna vegetation dynamics and suggesting that root water transport capacity is an important predictor of plant performance in the savanna biome. We examine root functional traits in two very dissimilar plant functional types (C3 trees and C4 grasses) that coexist despite intense competition for soil moisture. Most savanna tree-grass rooting studies have focused on the role of rooting depth. Here we show that vessel anatomy plays a potentially critical role in constraining growth rates in both of these plant groups.image

Automated summary

Root-based functional traits play different roles in trees and grasses, but root conductivity may constrain the maximum growth rate in both types. This highlights the critical role of water relations in savanna vegetation dynamics.