The effects of persistent drought and waterlogging on the dynamics of nonstructural carbohydrates of Robinia pseudoacacia L. seedlings in Northwest China

Abstract

Background: The nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) of plants are posited to be crucial traits for the resistance and resilience of plants to climate change-induced drought and flooding. However, the potential effects of persistent drought and waterlogging on the dynamics of the NSCs and the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. Methods: We measured the NSCs concentrations and pool size, photosynthetic rate and biomass of Robinia pseudoacacia L. seedlings for both 2015 and 2016 under five soil water treatments: 3%, 8%, 17%, 24% and 34% soil water content, representing extreme drought (ED), moderate drought (MD), the control group (CG), field capacity (FC) and waterlogging (WL) stresses, respectively. We observed the relationship between the pool size of NSCs and the survival of seedlings under water stress (drought and waterlogging) for 30 days in greenhouse. Results: Compared with CG, the net photosynthetic rate decreased 91%, 67%, 34% and 71%, and the biomass decreased by 37%, 15%, 16% and 33% under ED, MD, FC and WL, respectively. The total NSC (TNSC) concentration was significantly increased by 154% under ED after 10 days and sharply decreased by 50% under ED after 30 days. The concentrations of soluble sugars (SS) were significantly increased by 100% under MD after 10 days and sharply decreased by 60% under ED after 30 days. Compared with GC, the response of NSCs, photosynthetic rate and biomass under ED were more dramatic than that under WL. The pool sizes of fructose and sucrose were larger under ED and WL, but the maximum pool size of starch occurred under the CG. The depletion of NSCs was not observed under ED at the end of the experiments in both 2015 and 2016. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the dynamics of NSCs is an important physiological feature of plant adaptation and resistance to drought and waterlogging. In addition, high sugars concentrations are beneficial for the plants during the short-term extreme drought and the longer term mild drought or waterlogging.

Morphological and physiological responses and plasticity in Robinia pseudoacacia to the coupling of water, nitrogen and phosphorus

“…The adaptation mechanism of plants to the specific living environment is first manifested in morphology. Many studies have shown that drought stress significantly inhibits plant growth, such as the decline of plant height and biomass ( Zhang et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2019; Deng et al., 2020). Our study also reached a similar conclusion; specifically, under drought stress, the plant height, stem diameter, total biomass and biomass accumulation of roots, stems and leaves of R. pseudoacacia seedlings decreased, indicating the response of plants to drought stress.…”

Impact of Robinia pseudoacacia stand conversion on soil properties and bacterial community composition in Mount Tai, China

“…Robinia pseudoacacia (Black locust) is a leguminous tree which can rapidly fix nitrogen (N) from the atmosphere via Rhizobium (Zhang et al 2019) and further alter soil properties by increasing mineral N (Medina-Villar et al 2016). R. pseudoacacia is able to disperse quickly and colonize a broad range of xeric habitats, including steep rocks or toxic man-made substrata (Cierjacks et al 2013), and has been extensively naturalized in the temperate regions of North America, Europe, and Asia (Sabo 2000;Lee et al 2004;Vítková et al 2017;Yang et al 2019). Natural reproduction of R. pseudoacacia plantations is primarily vegetative through root suckering and stump sprouting, allowing vigorous regeneration after coppicing and disturbance (Peng et al 2003).…”

Impact of Robinia pseudoacacia stand conversion on soil bacterial communities and soil properties

“…Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is a leguminous tree which can rapidly x nitrogen (N) from the atmosphere via Rhizobium (Zhang et al 2019) and further alter soil properties by increasing mineral N (Medina-Villar et al 2016). R. pseudoacacia is able to disperse quickly and colonize a broad range of xeric habitats, including steep rocks or toxic man-made substrata (Cierjacks et al 2013), and has been extensively naturalized in the temperate regions of North America, Europe, and Asia (Sabo, 2000;Lee et al 2004;Vítková et al 2017;Yang et al 2019). Natural reproduction of R. pseudoacacia plantations is primarily vegetative through root suckering and stump sprouting, allowing vigorous regeneration after coppicing and disturbance (Peng et al 2003).…”