Morphological and moisture availability controls of the leaf area‐to‐sapwood area ratio: analysis of measurements on <scp>A</scp>ustralian trees

Togashi, Henrique Fürstenau; Prentice, Iain Colin; Evans, Bradley J.; Forrester, David I.; Drake, Paul L.; Feikema, Paul; Brooksbank, Kim; Eamus, Derek; Taylor, Daniel

doi:10.1002/ece3.1344

Cited by 37 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The range of L os / A s observed in postharvest forest in our study is similar to that observed in postharvest jarrah forest by Macfarlane, Bond, et al (), and our finding that young postmining forest has a smaller L os / A s than older postharvest forest is consistent with our earlier conclusion (Macfarlane, Bond, et al, ) that tree age and size has an important influence on L os / A s in eucalypts. Similar conclusions were reached for a broader range of angiosperms within Australia (Togashi et al, ). The smaller L os / A s of postmining forest wholly explains the high rates of E OS / L at the Lewis R postmining site; sap velocity at this site was similar to other sites.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Overstorey evapotranspiration in a seasonally dry Mediterranean eucalypt forest: Response to groundwater and mining

et al. 2018

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Groundwater levels in the northern jarrah forest have declined at rates up to 0.5 m year−1 owing to increased aridity in south‐western Australia in the last 40 years. The forest has also been mined and rehabilitated resulting in significant areas of postmining forest. We tested the impact of declining groundwater levels and mining on evapotranspiration by jarrah forest overstorey. We hypothesized that trees in jarrah forest are facultative phreatophytes (will use groundwater where available but are not reliant on it) and water use per unit overstorey leaf area index (Los) of postmining forest is the same as that of postharvest forest. We measured sapflow at 7 sites in the northern jarrah forest and measured rainfall interception by the canopy at 9 sites. Stemflow was measured at 3 sites. Shallow depth to groundwater was associated with a larger ratio of transpiration per unit leaf area (Eos/Los), but there was little difference in Eos/Los between postmining and postharvest jarrah forest. Eos/Los ranged from 250 ‐ 340 mm year−1 (m2 m−2)−1 at sites where depth to groundwater was >15 m but was up to 400–500 mm year−1 (m2 m−2)−1 at some sites with shallow groundwater. Based on relationships between transpiration, rainfall interception, and Los, it is possible to estimate overstorey evapotranspiration in jarrah forest from Los, especially if spatial layers are available for depth to groundwater. We conclude that jarrah forest is conservative in its water use and likely to be resilient to a drying climate. Management implications for the northern jarrah forest are briefly discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Overstorey evapotranspiration in a seasonally dry Mediterranean eucalypt forest: Response to groundwater and mining

et al. 2018

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“…For instance, previous work conducted in one of the focal sites showed that trees shifted their water uptake depth, sometimes to more superficial soil compartments, thereby exaggerating soil moisture constraints on sap flux (Grossiord et al, 2016b). Other key attributes impacting tree water use rates and potentially the sensitivity to VPD and soil moisture could be related to reductions in leaf area:sapwood area ratios (Mencuccini and Grace, 1995;Limousin et al, 2012;Togashi et al, 2015), and reduced hydraulic conductance (Pangle et al, 2015;Grossiord et al, 2016a;Salomón et al, 2017) resulting from…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among other underlying mechanisms, irrigation could have impacted tree allometry by shifting carbon investment between below-and above-ground compartments: plants growing in mesic regions, or subjected to artificial irrigation often develop a more dense and extended superficial rooting system relative to trees in arid regions or subjected to soil moisture reduction (e.g. Togashi et al, 2015). This belowground adjustment could have also occurred at the SEV site and could partially explain the high responsiveness of irrigated trees to daily REW and VPD variations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Manipulative experiments demonstrate how long-term soil moisture changes alter controls of plant water use

Grossiord

Sevanto

Limousin

et al. 2018

Environmental and Experimental Botany

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Tree transpiration depends on biotic and abiotic factors that might change in the future, including precipitation and soil moisture status. Although short-term sap flux responses to soil moisture and evaporative demand have been the subject of attention before, the relative sensitivity of sap flux to these two factors under long-term changes in soil moisture conditions has rarely been determined experimentally. We tested how long-term artificial change in soil moisture affects the sensitivity of treelevel sap flux to daily atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and soil moisture variations, and the generality of these effects across forest types and environments using four manipulative sites in mature forests. Exposure to relatively long-term (two to six years) soil moisture reduction decreases tree sap flux sensitivity to daily VPD and relative extractable water (REW) variations, leading to lower sap flux even under high soil moisture and optimal VPD. Inversely, trees subjected to long-term irrigation showed a significant increase in their sensitivity to daily VPD and REW, but only at the most waterlimited site. The ratio between the relative change in soil moisture manipulation and the relative change in sap flux sensitivity to VPD and REW variations was similar across sites suggesting common adjustment mechanisms to long-term soil moisture status across environments for evergreen tree species. Overall, our results show that long-term changes in soil water availability, and subsequent adjustments to these novel conditions, could play a critical and increasingly important role in controlling forest water use in the future.

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“…This was consistent with the increasing soil moisture along the succession trajectory. There is strong evidence that A L /A S plays a vital role in the water relations of plants [55][56][57]. Decreased A L /A S could increase hydraulic efficiency and reduce the xylem tensions required to supply evaporative area with water [30].…”

Section: Differences Of Economic and Hydraulic Traits Among Differentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic and Photosynthetic Traits Vary with Successional Status of Woody Plants on the Loess Plateau

Yin

Tian

et al. 2019

Forests

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Research highlights: Water transport and CO2 diffusion are two important processes that determine the CO2 assimilation efficiency in leaves. The integration of leaf economic and hydraulic traits will help to present a more comprehensive view of the succession of woody plants in arid regions. However, studies on hydraulic traits of plants from different successional stages are still rare compared to that on economic traits in arid regions. Materials and methods: We selected 31 species from shrub stage, pioneer tree stage and late successional stage on the Loess Plateau, and measured five economic traits and five hydraulic traits of these species. Results: We found species from the pioneer tree stage exhibited "fast-growing" characteristics with high maximum net photosynthesis rate (Pmax) and vein density (VD). Species from the late successional stage exhibited "slow-growing" characteristics with low Pmax and VD. Economic traits showed no significant differences among the three stages except for Pmax. Hydraulic traits, such as VD, leaf area to sapwood area ratio and vessel frequency, exhibited significant differences among different stages. Conclusions: Hydraulics may play an important role in the succession of woody plants in arid regions. Hydraulic traits and Pmax, should be combined to investigate succession of woody plants in future studies. The "fast-growing" characteristics of pioneer trees and "slow-growing" characteristics of late successional trees may induce the succession of woody plants.

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Morphological and moisture availability controls of the leaf area‐to‐sapwood area ratio: analysis of measurements on Australian trees

Cited by 37 publications

References 35 publications

Overstorey evapotranspiration in a seasonally dry Mediterranean eucalypt forest: Response to groundwater and mining

Overstorey evapotranspiration in a seasonally dry Mediterranean eucalypt forest: Response to groundwater and mining

Manipulative experiments demonstrate how long-term soil moisture changes alter controls of plant water use

Hydraulic and Photosynthetic Traits Vary with Successional Status of Woody Plants on the Loess Plateau

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