Prolonged experimental drought reduces plant hydraulic conductance and transpiration and increases mortality in a piñon-juniper woodland.

Plant hydraulic conductance (k s) is a critical control on whole-plant water use and carbon uptake and, during drought, influences whether plants survive or die. To assess long-term physiological and hydraulic responses of mature trees to water availability, we manipulated ecosystem-scale water availability from 2007 to 2013 in a piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) woodland. We examined the relationship between k s and subsequent mortality using more than 5 years of physiological observations, and the subsequent impact of reduced hydraulic function and mortality on total woody canopy transpiration (E C) and conductance (G C). For both species, we observed significant reductions in plant transpiration (E) and k s under experimentally imposed drought. Conversely, supplemental water additions increased E and k s in both species. Interestingly, both species exhibited similar declines in k s under the imposed drought conditions, despite their differing stomatal responses and mortality patterns during drought. Reduced whole-plant k s also reduced carbon assimilation in both species, as leaf-level stomatal conductance (g s) and net photosynthesis (A n) declined strongly with decreasing k s. Finally, we observed that chronically low whole-plant k s was associated with greater canopy dieback and mortality for both piñon and juniper and that subsequent reductions in woody canopy biomass due to mortality had a significant impact on both daily and annual canopy E C and G C. Our data indicate that significant reductions in k s precede drought-related tree mortality events in this system, and the consequence is a significant reduction in canopy gas exchange and carbon fixation. Our results suggest that reductions in productivity and woody plant cover in piñon-juniper woodlands can be expected due to reduced plant hydraulic conductance and increased mortality of both piñon pine and juniper under anticipated future conditions of more frequent and persistent regional drought in the southwestern United States.

Evaluating theories of drought-induced vegetation mortality using a multimodel-experiment framework.

SUMMARY: Model-data comparisons of plant physiological processes provide an understanding of mechanisms underlying vegetation responses to climate. We simulated the physiology of a piñon pine-juniper woodland (Pinus edulis-Juniperus monosperma) that experienced mortality during a 5 yr precipitation-reduction experiment, allowing a framework with which to examine our knowledge of drought-induced tree mortality. We used six models designed for scales ranging from individual plants to a global level, all containing state-of-the-art representations of the internal hydraulic and carbohydrate dynamics of woody plants. Despite the large range of model structures, tuning, and parameterization employed, all simulations predicted hydraulic failure and carbon starvation processes co-occurring in dying trees of both species, with the time spent with severe hydraulic failure and carbon starvation, rather than absolute thresholds per se, being a better predictor of impending mortality. Model and empirical data suggest that limited carbon and water exchanges at stomatal, phloem, and below-ground interfaces were associated with mortality of both species. The model-data comparison suggests that the introduction of a mechanistic process into physiology-based models provides equal or improved predictive power over traditional process-model or empirical thresholds. Both biophysical and empirical modeling approaches are useful in understanding processes, particularly when the models fail, because they reveal mechanisms that are likely to underlie mortality. We suggest that for some ecosystems, integration of mechanistic pathogen models into current vegetation models, and evaluation against observations, could result in a breakthrough capability to simulate vegetation dynamics.

Regulation and acclimation of leaf gas exchange in a piñon-juniper woodland exposed to three different precipitation regimes.

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 piñon-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 piñon 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 piñon under predicted increases in aridity in the southwestern USA.