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Premise of research. Water deficits are a common limiting factor of plant growth. Many studies have looked at the effects of drought, but few have compared the independent and interactive effects of multiple dimensions of changing precipitation patterns (e.g., reduced rainfall frequency and reduced rainfall volume) on overall plant growth of individuals with snapshots of growth-related plant performance.Methodology. In this greenhouse experiment, we investigated responses of the legume Lupinus perennis and the C3 grass Agropyron repens to a factorial combination of 50% reductions in watering frequency and watering volume. Watering treatments were designed based on 10-yr climate records from where these species co-occur. For both species, we measured leaf senescence, above- and belowground biomass accumulation, leaf net photosynthesis, and stomatal conductance. The leaf water potential and the proportion of N derived from symbiotic N2 fixation of L. perennis were also measured.Pivotal results. Reduced wate...