Abstract
Abstract Turgor loss point (πtlp) has been suggested to be a key trait for drought resistance in woody species. In herbaceous grassland species, the role of πtlp for species drought survival has not yet been tested, although grasslands are projected to experience more frequent and intense droughts with climate change. To gain insights into the role of πtlp for drought resistance of temperate perennial grassland species, we assessed πtlp of 41 species common in Germany (20 forbs, 21 grasses). We directly related them to the species’ comparative whole‐plant drought survival and midday leaf water potentials under drought (ΨMD) assessed in a common garden drought experiment, and to species moisture association. Species drought survival increased with increasing πtlp across all species as well as within forbs or grasses separately. ΨMD was positively related to πtlp and drought survival. Our results imply that high πtlp promotes drought survival of common perennial European temperate mesic grassland species by enabling them to maintain high leaf water potentials under drought, that is, a desiccation avoidance strategy. However, πtlp was not related to species moisture association. The positive relationship between πtlp and drought survival in herbaceous grassland species was opposite to the negative relationship previously established in woody plants, implying that mechanisms of drought resistance differ between woody and herbaceous species. Our results highlight the necessity of directly testing the relationship of functional traits to whole‐plant drought survival in different plant life forms, before using trait assessments for predicting plant responses to drought. A free plain language summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Highlights
Grasslands worldwide are influenced by drought (Gibson, 2009)
The positive relationship between πtlp and drought survival in herbaceous grassland species was opposite to the negative relationship previously established in woody plants, implying that mechanisms of drought resistance differ between woody and herbaceous species
The trend we found in herbaceous grassland species, that is, a high πtlp associated with high drought survival, was opposite to woody species where a low πtlp was associated with high survival under natural drought (Zhu, He, et al, 2018)
Summary
Grasslands worldwide are influenced by drought (Gibson, 2009). Drought resistance—the capacity to survive periods of low water availability—varies widely among species within and across plant communities, including in grasslands (e.g. Buckland, Grime, Hodgson, & Thompson, 1997). A low πtlp has been shown to be related to high survival under natural drought (Zhu, He, et al, 2018), and to increasing species associations with habitat dryness at global (Bartlett, Scoffoni, & Sack, 2012), regional (Mitchell, Veneklaas, Lambers, & Burgess, 2008; Zhu, Chen, et al, 2018) and local scales (Lenz, Wright, & Westoby, 2006; Maréchaux et al, 2015) Together, these studies provide strong evidence that in woody species a low πtlp promotes drought resistance as a mechanism of desiccation tolerance. We assessed πtlp for 41 temperate perennial grassland species and related them to comparative species whole-plant drought survival and ΨMD assessed in a common garden drought experiment, and to their moisture association
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