1. A multi-species synthesis of physiological mechanisms in drought-induced tree mortality
- Author
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David D. Breshears, Patrick J. Hudson, Greg A. Barron-Gafford, Chonggang Xu, Melanie J. B. Zeppel, Simon M. Landhäusser, Alison K. Macalady, David A. Galvez, Arthur Gessler, Danielle A. Way, Maurizio Mencuccini, Uwe G. Hacke, Sanna Sevanto, Enrico A. Yepez, William T. Pockman, Rodrigo Hakamada, Leander D. L. Anderegg, Matthew J. Germino, Timothy J. Brodribb, Michael G. Ryan, Joe Quirk, Andy Hector, Lucía Galiano, James D. Lewis, Frida I. Piper, Travis E. Huxman, David M. Love, Henry D. Adams, Jennifer A. Plaut, David J. Beerling, Nate G. McDowell, Jean-Marc Limousin, Francesco Ripullone, Harald Bugmann, Trenton E. Franz, Brent E. Ewers, William R. L. Anderegg, J. D. Muss, Jeffrey M. Kane, Rodrigo Vargas, David T. Tissue, Michael W. Jenkins, Keith Reinhardt, Michael O'Brien, Richard Cobb, Thomas Kolb, Michel Vennetier, Monica L. Gaylord, Elizabeth A. Pinkard, Jordi Martínez-Vilalta, Núria Garcia-Forner, Anna Sala, Craig D. Allen, Darin J. Law, Patrick J. Mitchell, Robert E. Pangle, Henrik Hartmann, Honglang Duan, Adam D. Collins, Anthony P. O'Grady, L. Turin Dickman, John S. Sperry, DEPARTMENT OF PLANT BIOLOGY ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY STILLWATER USA, Partenaires IRSTEA, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA), MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE SYDNEY AUS, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SALT LAKE CITY USA, MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR BIOGEOCHEMISTRY JENA DEU, University of Alberta, Western Sydney University, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE USA, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ALBUQUERQUE USA, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN USA, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NEW MEXICO LANDSCAPES FIELD STATION LOS ALAMOS USA, UNIVERSITY OF WAHINGTON SEATTLE USA, University of Arizona, UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD GBR, UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA SCHOOL OF BIOLOGY HOBART AUS, ETH ZURICH CHE, University of California [Davis] (UC Davis), University of California (UC), LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES DIVISION LOS ALAMOS USA, INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NANCHANG CHN, UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING LARAMIE USA, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA PRT, NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY FLAGSTAFF USA, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY FOREST AND RANGELAND ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE CENTER BOISE USA, Swiss Federal Research Institute, UNIVERSIDADE DE SAO PAULO PIRACICABA BRA, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD GBR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ USA, HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY ARCATA USA, LOUIS CALDER CENTER FORDHAM UNIVERSITY ARMONK USA, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WASHINGTON USA, CREAF ESP, CSIRO HOBART AUS, ESTACIÓN EXPERIMENTAL DE ZONAS ÁRIDAS ALMERÍA ESP, CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIÓN EN ECOSISTEMAS DE LA PATAGONIA COYHAIQUE CHILE, IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY POCATELLO USA, UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI BASILICATA POTENZA ITA, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY FORT COLLINS USA, UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA MISSOULA USA, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE NEWARK USA, Risques, Ecosystèmes, Vulnérabilité, Environnement, Résilience (RECOVER), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA), DUKE UNIVERSITY NICOLAS SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT DURHAM USA, PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY RICHLAND USA, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA DEPARTMENT OF RENEWABLE RESOURCES EDMONTON CAN, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA TUCSON USA, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS USA, and Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,TREE MORTALITY ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Climate Change ,Biome ,Population Dynamics ,Climate change ,Biology ,01 natural sciences ,CARBON STARVATION ,Trees ,Magnoliopsida ,Hydraulic conductivity ,Xylem ,Stress, Physiological ,NON STRUCTURAL CARBOHYDRATES ,DROUGHT ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Ecology ,HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY ,fungi ,food and beverages ,Global change ,Plant Transpiration ,Vegetation ,15. Life on land ,XILEMA ,Carbon ,Droughts ,Plant ecology ,Tree (data structure) ,Cycadopsida ,13. Climate action ,[SDE]Environmental Sciences ,HYDRAULIC FAILURE ,010606 plant biology & botany - Abstract
[Departement_IRSTEA]Territoires [TR1_IRSTEA]SEDYVIN; International audience; Widespread tree mortality associated with drought has been observed on all forested continents and global change is expected to exacerbate vegetation vulnerability. Forest mortality has implications for future biosphere–atmosphere interactions of carbon, water and energy balance, and is poorly represented in dynamic vegetation models. Reducing uncertainty requires improved mortality projections founded on robust physiological processes. However, the proposed mechanisms of drought-induced mortality, including hydraulic failure and carbon starvation, are unresolved. A growing number of empirical studies have investigated these mechanisms, but data have not been consistently analysed across species and biomes using a standardized physiological framework. Here, we show that xylem hydraulic failure was ubiquitous across multiple tree taxa at drought-induced mortality. All species assessed had 60% or higher loss of xylem hydraulic conductivity, consistent with proposed theoretical and modelled survival thresholds. We found diverse responses in non-structural carbohydrate reserves at mortality, indicating that evidence supporting carbon starvation was not universal. Reduced non-structural carbohydrates were more common for gymnosperms than angiosperms, associated with xylem hydraulic vulnerability, and may have a role in reducing hydraulic function. Our finding that hydraulic failure at drought-induced mortality was persistent across species indicates that substantial improvement in vegetation modelling can be achieved using thresholds in hydraulic function
- Published
- 2017
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