Abstract
Short‐term physiological plasticity allows plants to thrive in highly variable environments such as the Mediterranean ecosystems. In such context, plants that maximize physiological performance under favorable conditions, such as Cistus spp., are generally reported to have a great cost in terms of plasticity (i.e., a high short‐term physiological plasticity) due to the severe reduction of physiological performance when stress factors occur. However, Cistus spp. also show a noticeable resilience ability in response to stress factors. We hypothesized that in Cistus species the short‐term physiological response to stress and that to subsequent recovery can show a positive trade‐off to offset the costs of the photosynthetic decline under drought. Gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, and water relations were measured in C. salvifolius, C. monspeliensis, and C. creticus subsp. eriocephalus during an imposed experimental drought and subsequent recovery. Plants were grown outdoor in common garden conditions from seeds of different provenances. The short‐term physiological response to stress and that to recovery were quantified via phenotypic plasticity index (PIstress and PIrecovery, respectively). A linear regression analysis was used to identify the hypothesized trade‐off PIstress–PIrecovery. Accordingly, we found a positive trade‐off between PIstress and PIrecovery, which was consistent across species and provenances. This result contributes in explaining the profit, more than the cost, of a higher physiological plasticity in response to short‐term stress imposition for Cistus spp because the costs of a higher PIstress are payed back by an as much higher PIrecovery. The absence of leaf shedding during short‐term drought supports this view. The trade‐off well described the relative variations of gas exchange and water relation parameters. Moreover, the results were in accordance with the ecology of this species and provide the first evidence of a consistent trade‐off between the short‐term physiological responses to drought and recovery phases in Mediterranean species.
Highlights
As the rate of climate change is increasing, it might occur faster than the capacity of plant species to adapt (Ramírez-Valiente, Valladares, Gil, & Aranda, 2009)
A relatively high short-term plasticity was highlighted in the three species independent of the provenance
The investigated provenances show a similar magnitude of decrease in the physiological leaf traits in response to drought as well as a similar increase in reaching the maximum recovery
Summary
As the rate of climate change is increasing, it might occur faster than the capacity of plant species to adapt (Ramírez-Valiente, Valladares, Gil, & Aranda, 2009). The plant capacity to face drought stress may depend as much as on the photosynthetic recovery (Varone & Gratani, 2015), which in turn depends on the degree and velocity of photosynthesis decline during water depletion (Chaves, Flexas, & Pinheiro, 2009). Such responses rely on short-term physiological plasticity to contrasting environmental conditions. Short-term physiological plasticity is important for widely distributed Mediterranean plant species, which represent a good model to investigate whether different provenances respond differently to water stress and recovery due to their short-term physiological plasticity (Santiso & Retuerto, 2017). Shrubs’ potential resilience to environmental changes deserves particular attention in those areas characterized by pronounced seasonal dynamics and threatened by climate change, such as the Mediterranean ones
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