How drought tolerant are tropical woody crop species – turgor loss points for the five most common species in the emerging landscapes on the Malaysian Peninsular

Abstract

Drought events are increasing with climate change and threaten the future of industrial plantations in Southeast Asia. Drought tolerance has been well investigated for oil palm plantations. A comparative study on the tolerance of different woody crop species is still missing. We assessed the leaf turgor loss point of five common woody crop species using osmometry. The aim was to assess possible future risks in terms of the species´ drought tolerance. The research was carried out in Simpang Pertang, Malaysia. We collected botanical material from five species, namely Acacia mangium, Hevea brasiliensis, Tectona grandis, Mangifera indica, and Elaeis guineensis. To assess the adaptation of the local tree species pool, we measured the turgor loss point of the 65 most abundant tree species in the Pasoh forest reserve for comparison. Measured species showed a wide range of drought tolerance, ranging from -2.56 MPa to -1.15 MPa and -2.46 MPa to -0.88 MPa for crop species and forest species, respectively. Under the current precipitation regime, there is less concern about the cultivation success of these species in the study area. With the predicted changes in rainfall intensity and frequency, a reduction in the productivity of woody crop plantations can be expected.