Responses to Root-zone Water Content of Shrub Congeners from Eastern North America and Mediterranean California

Abstract

Numerous genera of plants are distributed in both eastern North America and in portions of California with the dry summers of Mediterranean climates. We compared effects of flooding and drought on relative growth rate (RGR), photosynthesis, and biomass of seedlings of two genera, Sambucus L. and Ptelea L., with congeners in both regions. Ptelea crenulata Greene and Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea (Raf.) R. Bolli from the San Francisco Bay area and Ptelea trifoliata L. and Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis (L.) R. Bolli from mesic, deciduous forests in eastern North America were studied. Potted seedlings were subjected to six treatments, three extents of root-zone inundation and three severities of drought (irrigation when soil moisture by volume decreased to 5%, 10%, and 20%). After 5 weeks, deleterious effects of inundation were more pronounced among plants from the West than among their eastern congeners. For example, RGR of western and eastern Sambucus with completely inundated root zones was reduced 116% and 25%, respectively. All western and eastern Ptelea died when root zones were completely inundated, but inundating the lower half of the root zone killed all western plants but only reduced RGR among eastern plants. Photosynthesis of Sambucus from the West was lowest with complete inundation and was similar across the remaining treatments. In contrast, photosynthesis of eastern Sambucus was lowest during severe drought but otherwise similar. Photosynthesis of Ptelea was sensitive to both drought and flooding, and moderate root-zone water content led to the highest rates for both western and eastern plants. For both genera, maximal photosynthesis per unit leaf area was greater among western than eastern plants, but eastern plants had greater total leaf area and biomass. Root-to-shoot ratios of western Sambucus were greater than ratios of plants from the East after all treatments, whereas western Ptelea had greater root-to-shoot ratios than eastern Ptelea only under severe drought. Although comparative sensitivity to drought of plants from California and eastern North America varied in these genera, Mediterranean Sambucus and Ptelea both showed greater sensitivity to root-zone inundation than did their eastern congeners.