Abstract
Xylem anatomical traits can provide insights regarding the mechanisms affecting the distribution of vascular plants across environmental gradients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the hypothesis that lianas occurring in semiarid environments have characteristics that maximize the xylem resistance to tension-induced cavitation along the root-stem-branch continuum. To gather information regarding the hydraulic architecture of the lianas, we analyzed several anatomical traits of wood: cross-sectional area occupied by the parenchyma (AP), fibers (AF), and vessels (AV); average vessel diameter (d); wood density (WD); pit diameter in the vessel wall (dpit); pit density (Npit), and potential hydraulic conductivity (Kp) in branches, stems, and roots of three congeneric species of lianas that occur in two vegetation types of the semiarid regions of Brazil. We found that lianas in these semiarid environments possess a number of the following xylem traits that may allow resistance to tension-induced cavitation:1) lower vessel diameter, lower Kp, and higher hydraulic safety in roots and branches; 2) Dimorphic vessels, ensuring both hydraulic efficiency and safety; and 3) small diameter of pits (potentially associated with a decrease in the membrane area of the vessel pits). This suite of traits may provide insight into mechanisms allowing lianas to occur in semiarid environments.
Highlights
Plant hydraulic architecture can be defined as the set of parenchyma, fibers, and vessel elements or tracheids that are involved in water transport through the soil-plantatmosphere continuum (Hacke & Sperry 2001)
We aimed to investigate the hypothesis that lianas occurring in semiarid environments have characteristics that maximize the xylem resistance to tension-induced cavitation along the root-stem-branch continuum
To gather information regarding the hydraulic architecture of the lianas, we analyzed several anatomical traits of wood: cross-sectional area occupied by the parenchyma (AP), fibers (AF), and vessels (AV); average vessel diameter (d); wood density (WD); pit diameter in the vessel wall; pit density (Npit), and potential hydraulic conductivity (Kp) in branches, stems, and roots of three congeneric species of lianas that occur in two vegetation types of the semiarid regions of Brazil
Summary
Plant hydraulic architecture can be defined as the set of parenchyma, fibers, and vessel elements or tracheids that are involved in water transport through the soil-plantatmosphere continuum (Hacke & Sperry 2001). Wood density (WD) has been shown to influence hydraulic conductivity (Bucci et al 2004) as well as the resistance to drought-induced embolism and water storage capacity in the xylem (Pratt et al 2007; Jacobsen et al 2008; Chave et al 2009; Zanne et al 2010). Species with high WD have narrow vessels, high proportion of fibers, and a low amount of parenchyma (Zanne et al 2010) These characters should reduce the hydraulic conductivity and increase the xylem resistance against embolism in comparison to species with low WD (Choat et al 2005; McCulloh et al 2011)
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