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The article discusses an analysis of global patterns of variation in an individual tree. It examines the allocation of carbon acquired by plants from the atmosphere, studies with contradictory results regarding the causes of stand-level variation, and findings on correlation or interaction between tree size and climatic water deficit.

Plants growing in soils typically experience a mixture of loose and compact soil. The hypothesis that the proportion of a root system exposed to compact soil and/or the timing at which this exposure occurs determines shoot growth responses was tested. Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica cv. Greenbelt) seedlings were grown in pot experiments with compact, loose and localized soil compaction created by either horizontal (compact subsoils 75 or 150 mm below loose topsoil) or vertical (adjacent compact and loose columns of soil) configurations of loose (1.2 Mg m−3) and compact (1.8 Mg m−3) soil. Entirely compact soil reduced leaf area by up to 54%, relative to loose soil. When compaction was localized, only the vertical columns of compact and loose soil reduced leaf area (by 30%). Neither the proportion of roots in compact soil nor the timing of exposure could explain the differing shoot growth responses to localized soil compaction. Instead, the strong relationship between total root length and leaf area (r2=0.92) indicated that localized soil compaction reduced shoot growth only when it suppressed total root length. This occurred when isolated root axes of the same plant were exposed to vertical columns of compact and loose soil. When a single root axis grew through loose soil into either a shallow or deep compact subsoil, compensatory root growth in the loose soil maintained total root length and thus shoot growth was unaffected. These contrasting root systems responses to localized soil compaction may explain the variable shoot growth responses observed under heterogeneous conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We hypothesized that seedlings grown under water-limited conditions would develop denser wood than seedlings grown under well-watered conditions. Three Eucalyptus species (E. grandis Hill (ex Maiden), E. sideroxylon Cunn. (ex Woolls) and E. occidentalis Endl.) were grown in a temperature-controlled greenhouse for 19 weeks with watering treatments (well-watered and water-limited) applied at six weeks. The water-limitation treatment consisted of four drought cycles. Wood density increased by between 4 and 13% in the water-limited seedlings, but this increase was mainly due to extractive compounds embedded in the cell wall matrix. Once these compounds were removed, the increase was 0-9% and was significant for E. grandis only. Water-limitation significantly reduced mean vessel lumen area; however, this was balanced by a trend toward greater vessel frequency in water-limited plants, and consequently there was no difference in the proportion of stem area allocated to vessels. Conduit efficiency value was lowest in the water-limited plants, indicating that there was a cost in terms of stem hydraulic conductivity for decreasing vessel lumen area. Wood density was negatively correlated with vessel lumen fraction in well-watered plants, but this relationship broke down in the water-limited plants, possibly because of the significantly larger proportion of the stem taken up by pith in water-limited seedlings. Diurnal variation in leaf water potential was positively correlated with wood density in well-watered plants. This relationship did not hold in the water-limited plants owing to the collapse of the pressure gradient between soil and leaf. We conclude that drought periods of greater than 1 month are required to increase wood density in these species and that increases in wood density appear to result in diminished capacity to supply water to leaves.

This study investigates the putative role of thicker leaves in enhancing photosynthetic capacity and water-use efficiency (WUE) of Eucalyptus species native to xeric environments. Three Eucalyptus species, Eucalyptus grandis Hill. (ex Maiden), E. sideroxylon Cunn. (ex Woolls) and E. occidentalis (Endl.), were grown under well-watered or water-limited conditions in a single compartment of a temperature-controlled glasshouse. Eucalyptus grandis is native to a mesic environment while E. sideroxylon and E. occidentalis are native to xeric environments. Leaves of E. sideroxylon and E. occidentalis were thicker and contained more nitrogen (N) on a leaf-area basis than E. grandis. Leaf gas-exchange measurements indicated that the photosynthetic capacity of E. sideroxylon and E.occidentalis was greater than E. grandis and that stomatal conductance and WUE were negatively correlated. Whole-plant, gas-exchange and carbon-isotope measurements showed that E. sideroxylon and E. occidentalis had lower WUE than E. grandis under both well-watered and water-limited conditions. However, there was no difference in N-use efficiency between species. We suggest that stomatal conductance and leaf N content are functionally linked in these seedlings and conclude that thick leaves can, in some conditions, result in low WUE.