Direct characterization of deep soil water depletion reveals hydraulic adjustment of apple trees to edaphic changes

Abstract

Deep soil water is important for trees to survive droughts in arid and semiarid regions, but often irreversibly decrease as tree age due to limitations in soil infiltration rates and precipitation. How adaptable is the hydraulic system of trees undergoing the depletion of deep soil moisture reserves? To answer this question, we examined 12 traits characterizing the hydraulic structure of apple tree branches along a plantation age gradient (7 - 26 years) under uniform soil and climatic conditions. We found that almost all deep soil available water was consumed (reduced by up to 98%) as apple trees aged, as a result, the fraction of roots located in water deficit layers increased by up to 70%. Reduced water availability in deep soil significantly increased xylem embolism resistance (P50) by 8%, without altering xylem-specific hydraulic conductivity, vessel diameter, or vessel density. A distinct adaptive response to permanently reduced deep soil water availability seems to occur primarily by increasing tree hydraulic safety with no reductions in hydraulic efficiency, through which mechanism trees may acclimatize to deep soil water reduction.