Journal
OECOLOGIA
Volume 183, Issue 4, Pages 963-975Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00442-017-3827-2
Keywords
Hydraulic lift; Tallgrass prairie; Stable isotopes; Nocturnal transpiration; Water potential
Categories
Funding
- Kansas State University NSF GK-12 program [NSF DGE-0841414]
- Prairie Biotic Research Small Grant
- Konza Prairie LTER program [NSF DEB-1440484]
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [1440484] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Hydraulic lift, the passive movement of water through plant roots from wet to dry soil, is an important ecohydrological process in a wide range of water-limited ecosystems. This phenomenon may also alter plant functioning, growth, and survival in mesic grasslands, where soil moisture is spatially and temporally variable. Here, we monitored diurnal changes in the isotopic signature of soil and plant xylem water to assess (1) whether hydraulic lift occurs in woody and herbaceous tallgrass prairie species (Rhus glabra, Amorpha canescens, Vernonia baldwinii, and Andropogon gerardii), (2) if nocturnal transpiration or grazing by large ungulates limits hydraulic lift, and (3) if a dominant grass, A. gerardii, utilizes water lifted by other tallgrass prairie species. Broadly, the results shown here suggest that hydraulic lift does not appear to be widespread or common in this system, but isolated instances suggest that this process does occur within tallgrass prairie. The isolated instance of hydraulic lift did not vary by grazing treatment, nor did they result in facilitation for neighboring grasses. We suggest that the topographic complexity of this tallgrass prairie and the high rates of nocturnal transpiration observed in this study likely limit the frequency and occurrence of hydraulic lift. These results suggest that hydraulic lift can be a patchy process, particularly in heterogeneous landscapes.
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