Abstract
While the fundamental trade-off in leaf traits related to carbon capture as described by the leaf economics spectrum is well-established among plant species, the relationship of the leaf economics spectrum to stem hydraulics is much less known. Since carbon capture and transpiration are coupled, a close connection between leaf traits and stem hydraulics should be expected. We thus asked whether xylem traits that describe drought tolerance and vulnerability to cavitation are linked to particular leaf traits. We assessed xylem vulnerability, using the pressure sleeve technique, and anatomical xylem characteristics in 39 subtropical tree species grown under common garden conditions in the BEF-China experiment and tested for correlations with traits related to the leaf economics spectrum as well as to stomatal control, including maximum stomatal conductance, vapor pressure deficit at maximum stomatal conductance and vapor pressure deficit at which stomatal conductance is down-regulated. Our results revealed that specific xylem hydraulic conductivity and cavitation resistance were closely linked to traits represented in the leaf economic spectrum, in particular to leaf nitrogen concentration, as well as to log leaf area and leaf carbon to nitrogen ratio but not to any parameter of stomatal conductance. The study highlights the potential use of well-known leaf traits from the leaf economics spectrum to predict plant species' drought resistance.
Highlights
The worldwide leaf economics spectrum (LES) represents an important framework of trade-offs between key functional leaf traits [1]
We found xylem vulnerability to be significantly related to numerous traits (Table 3, Fig. 7 & 8)
We found a large variation in specific xylem hydraulic conductivity and xylem vulnerability among our study species, which points to different complementary
Summary
The worldwide leaf economics spectrum (LES) represents an important framework of trade-offs between key functional leaf traits [1]. It describes different strategies of carbon capture among vascular land plants, from that of short-lived leaves with high photosynthetic capacity per leaf mass, to long-lived leaves with low mass-based carbon assimilation rates. Krober & Bruelheide [7] have demonstrated that there are additional dimensions to plants’ functional traits that are orthogonal to the LES. They found parameters of stomatal regulation (derived from stomatal conductance - vapor pressure deficit relationships), stomatal density and stomatal size to be independent from the LES
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