Differential drought tolerance of five coexisting plant species in Mediterranean lowland grasslands

Mamolos, Andreas P.; Veresoglou, D. S.; Noitsakis, V.; Gerakis, Argyrios

doi:10.1006/jare.2001.0792

Cited by 27 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…In stark contrast with our hypotheses, we found that drought most reduced both aboveground and root biomass of A. odoratum and L. hispidus -the species that we hypothesized would be least affected by drought because of their slow growth rates. Interestingly, and in contrast with earlier field-based observations (Mamolos et al 2001), in a glasshouse-based study similar in scale and duration to ours, Padilla et al (2013) found no effect of pulsed water supply on both biomass and root traits of A. odoratum. However, these authors only sampled at one time point, and might therefore have missed a dynamic change in root traits.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, we hypothesized that R. acetosa would be resistant to drought because of its high RTD and low SRL. However, and in contrast with findings from field studies on R. obtusifolius (Gilgen et al 2010) and R. acetosella (Mamolos et al 2001), drought consistently reduced both aboveground and root biomass of R. acetosa over the entire duration of our experiment. An explanation for these discrepancies might be that in the field, Rumex species take advantage of their deep taproot system to maintain water uptake and photosynthesis during drought (Gilgen et al 2010), whereas in our relatively small pots, R. acetosa was not able to fulfill its ecological niche.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

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Grassland species root response to drought: consequences for soil carbon and nitrogen availability

2016

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Background and Aims Root traits are increasingly used to predict how plants modify soil processes. Here, we assessed how drought-induced changes in root systems of four common grassland species affected C and N availability in soil. We hypothesized that drought would promote resource-conservative root traits such as high root tissue density (RTD) and low specific root length (SRL), and that these changes would result in higher soil N availability through decreased root N uptake, but lower C availability through reduced root exudation. Methods We subjected individual plants to drought under controlled conditions, and compared the response of their root biomass, root traits, and soil C and N availability, to control individuals. Results Drought affected most root traits through reducing root biomass. Only SRL and RTD displayed plasticity; drought reduced SRL, and increased RTD in small plants but decreased RTD in larger plants.Reduced root biomass and a shift towards more resource-conservative root traits increased soil inorganic N availability but did not directly affect soil C availability. Conclusions These findings identify mechanisms through which drought-induced changes in root systems affect soil C and N availability, and contribute to our understanding of how root traits modify soil processes in a changing world.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Grassland species root response to drought: consequences for soil carbon and nitrogen availability

2016

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“…Mediterranean grasslands, however, may be more resistant to increasing drought severity and frequency than predicted [174]. Scenarios of increasing drought suggest that Mediterranean grasslands could lose species diversity by affecting particular species [175]. Grazing management should be reconsidered to provide appropriate levels of grazing pressure, because the impacts of grazing on grassland biomass and diversity can be very detrimental and can endanger the capacity of grassland services, and should be reconsidered to allow further grazing, especially in a scenario of increased aridity [176,177].…”

Section: Forests Versus Shrublands and Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Global Change on Mediterranean Forests and Their Services

Peñuelas

Sardans

Filella

et al. 2017

Forests

109

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“…Knowledge of drought impact on grassland phenology is obtained through species-specific studies. For instance, Mamolos et al [30] recorded an earlier maximum aboveground biomass of early-season species in response to drought in a Mediterranean lowland grassland. A case study in Switzerland indicates that the full flowering of dandelion and cocksfoot grass was 11 days earlier under spring drought than the annual mean flowering [31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grassland Phenology Response to Drought in the Canadian Prairies

2017

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Drought is a significant climatic disturbance in grasslands, yet the impact drought caused by global warming has on grassland phenology is still unclear. Our research investigates the long-term variability of grassland phenology in relation to drought in the Canadian prairies from 1982 to 2014. Based on the start of growing season (SOG) and the end of growing season (EOG) derived from Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) NDVI3g datasets, we found that grasslands demonstrated complex phenology trends over our study period. We retrieved the drought conditions of the prairie ecozone at multiple time scales from the 1-to 12-month Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). We evaluated the correlations between the detrended time series of phenological metrics and SPEIs through Pearson correlation analysis and identified the dominant drought where the maximum correlations were found for each ecozone and each phenological metric. The dominant drought over preceding months account for 14-33% and 26-44% of the year-to-year variability of SOG and EOG, respectively, and fewer water deficits would favor an earlier SOG and delayed EOG. The drought-induced shifts in SOG and EOG were determined based on the correlation between the dominant drought and the year-to-year variability using ordinary least square (OLS) method. Our research also quantifies the correlation between precipitation and the evolution of the dominant droughts and the drought-induced shifts in grassland phenology. Every millimeter (mm) increase in precipitation accumulated over the dominant periods would cause SOG to occur 0.06-0.21 days earlier, and EOG to occur 0.23-0.45 days later. Our research reveals a complex phenology response in relation to drought in the Canadian prairie grasslands and demonstrates that drought is a significant factor in the timing of both SOG and EOG. Thus, it is necessary to include drought-related climatic variables when predicting grassland phenology response to climate change and variability.

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Differential drought tolerance of five coexisting plant species in Mediterranean lowland grasslands

Cited by 27 publications

References 23 publications

Grassland species root response to drought: consequences for soil carbon and nitrogen availability

Grassland species root response to drought: consequences for soil carbon and nitrogen availability

Impacts of Global Change on Mediterranean Forests and Their Services

Grassland Phenology Response to Drought in the Canadian Prairies

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