Challenges in studying water fluxes within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum: A tracer-based perspective on pathways to progress.

Tracing and quantifying water fluxes in the hydrological cycle is crucial for understanding the current state of ecohydrological systems and their vulnerability to environmental change. Especially the interface between ecosystems and the atmosphere that is strongly mediated by plants is important to meaningfully describe ecohydrological system functioning. Many of the dynamic interactions generated by water fluxes between soil, plant and the atmosphere are not well understood, which is partly due to a lack of interdisciplinary research. This opinion paper reflects the outcome of a discussion among hydrologists, plant ecophysiologists and soil scientists on open questions and new opportunities for collaborative research on the topic "water fluxes in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum" especially focusing on environmental and artificial tracers. We emphasize the need for a multi-scale experimental approach, where a hypothesis is tested at multiple spatial scales and under diverse environmental conditions to better describe the small-scale processes (i.e., causes) that lead to large-scale patterns of ecosystem functioning (i.e., consequences). Novel in-situ, high-frequency measurement techniques offer the opportunity to sample data at a high spatial and temporal resolution needed to understand the underlying processes. We advocate for a combination of long-term natural abundance measurements and event-based approaches. Multiple environmental and artificial tracers, such as stable isotopes, and a suite of experimental and analytical approaches should be combined to complement information gained by different methods. Virtual experiments using process-based models should be used to inform sampling campaigns and field experiments, e.g., to improve experimental designs and to simulate experimental outcomes. On the other hand, experimental data are a pre-requisite to improve our currently incomplete models. Interdisciplinary collaboration will help to overcome research gaps that overlap across different earth system science fields and help to generate a more holistic view of water fluxes between soil, plant and atmosphere in diverse ecosystems.

Water Stable Isotopes in Ecohydrological Field Research: Comparison Between In Situ and Destructive Monitoring Methods to Determine Soil Water Isotopic Signatures.

Ecohydrological isotope based field research is often constrained by a lack of temporally explicit soil water data, usually related to the choice of destructive sampling in the field and subsequent analysis in the laboratory. New techniques based on gas permeable membranes allow to sample soil water vapor in situ and infer soil liquid water isotopic signatures. Here, a membrane-based in situ soil water vapor sampling method was tested at a grassland site in Freiburg, Germany. It was further compared with two commonly used destructive sampling approaches for determination of soil liquid water isotopic signatures: cryogenic vacuum extraction and centrifugation. All methods were tested under semi-controlled field conditions, conducting an experiment with dry-wet cycling and two isotopically different labeling irrigation waters. We found mean absolute differences between cryogenic vacuum extraction and in situ vapor measurements of 0.3-14.2‰ (δ18O) and 0.4-152.2‰ (δ2H) for soil liquid water. The smallest differences were found under natural abundance conditions of 2H and 18O, the strongest differences were observed after irrigation with labeled waters. Labeling strongly increased the isotopic variation in soil water: Mean soil water isotopic signatures derived by cryogenic vacuum extraction were -11.6 ± 10.9‰ (δ18O) and +61.9 ± 266.3‰ (δ2H). The in situ soil water vapor method showed isotopic signatures of -12.5 ± 9.4‰ (δ18O) and +169.3 ± 261.5‰ (δ2H). Centrifugation was unsuccessful for soil samples due to low water recovery rates. It is therefore not recommended. Our study highlights that the in situ soil water vapor method captures the temporal dynamics in the isotopic signature of soil water well while the destructive approach also includes the natural lateral isotopic heterogeneity. The different advantages and limitations of the three methods regarding setup, handling and costs are discussed. The choice of method should not only consider prevailing environmental conditions but the experimental design and goal. We see a very promising tool in the in situ soil water vapor method, capturing both temporal developments and spatial variability of soil water processes.

Investigating the root plasticity response of Centaurea jacea to soil water availability changes from isotopic analysis.

Root water uptake is a key ecohydrological process for which a physically based understanding has been developed in the past decades. However, due to methodological constraints, knowledge gaps remain about the plastic response of whole plant root systems to a rapidly changing environment. We designed a laboratory system for nondestructive monitoring of stable isotopic composition in plant transpiration of a herbaceous species (Centaurea jacea) and of soil water across depths, taking advantage of newly developed in situ methods. Daily root water uptake profiles were obtained using a statistical Bayesian multisource mixing model. Fast shifts in the isotopic composition of both soil and transpiration water could be observed with the setup and translated into dynamic and pronounced shifts of the root water uptake profile, even in well watered conditions. The incorporation of plant physiological and soil physical information into statistical modelling improved the model output. A simple exercise of water balance closure underlined the nonunique relationship between root water uptake profile on the one hand, and water content and root distribution profiles on the other, illustrating the continuous adaption of the plant water uptake as a function of its root hydraulic architecture and soil water availability during the experiment.

Nitrogen Loading Enhances Stress Impact of Drought on a Semi-natural Temperate Grassland.

Two important threats to the sustainable functioning of seminatural grasslands in temperate zones are (1) nutrient loading due to agricultural fertilization and pollution, and (2) the increase of extreme drought events due to climate change. These threats may cause substantial shifts in species diversity and abundance and considerably affect the carbon and water balance of ecosystems. The synergistic effects between those two threats, however, can be complex and are poorly understood. Here, we experimentally investigated the effects of nitrogen addition and extreme drought (separately and in combination) on a seminatural temperate grassland, located in Freiburg (South Germany). To study the grassland response, we combined eddy-covariance techniques with open gas exchange systems. Open gas exchange chambers were connected to an infrared gas analyzer and water isotope spectrometer, which allowed the partitioning of net ecosystem exchange and evapotranspiration. Vegetation parameters were described by species richness, species abundance, and leaf area index. Our results suggest that grassland communities, strongly weakened in their stress response by nitrogen loading, can substantially lose their carbon sink function during drought. While nitrogen addition caused a significant loss in forb species (-25%), precipitation reduction promoted a strong dominance of grass species at season start. Consequently, the grass-dominated and species-poor community suffered from a strong above-ground dieback during the dry summer months, likely caused by lower water use efficiency and weaker drought adaptations of the species community. Over the growing season (April-September), the carbon sequestration of the studied grassland was reduced by more than 60% as a consequence of nitrogen addition. Nitrogen addition in combination with precipitation reduction decreased carbon sequestration by 73%. Eutrophication can severely threaten the resilient functioning of grasslands, in particular when drought periods will increase as predicted by future climate scenarios. Our findings emphasize the importance of preserving high diversity of grasslands to strengthen their resistance against extreme events such as droughts.