Effect Of Drought Treatment Research Articles

Effects of drought treatment on photosystem II activity in the ephemeral plant Erodium oxyrhinchum

Effects of drought treatment on photosystem II activity in the ephemeral plant Erodium oxyrhinchum

Drought Impact on Leaf Phenology and Spring Frost Susceptibility in a Quercus robur L. Provenance Trial

Research highlights: The susceptibility of oaks to late spring and early autumn frosts is directly related to their leaf phenology. Drought may alter the leaf phenology and therefore frost tolerance of oaks. However, the effects of drought on oak leaf phenology and frost resistance have not been thoroughly studied. Background and objectives: One of the consequences of climate change is an increase in the frequency of dry episodes during the vegetation period. Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) is an economically and ecologically important forest tree species that prefers humid habitats. Therefore, knowledge of the impact of drought on this species is of great importance for the adaptation of forestry strategies and practices to altered environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of drought on leaf phenology and spring frost susceptibility in nine provenances. Materials and methods: One-year-old saplings originating from nine European provenances were used in the trial. The saplings were exposed to experimental drought and then re-watered in two subsequent years. Spring and autumn leaf phenology were scored. The trial was impacted by a late spring frost in the third year, and the resulting leaf frost injury was scored. The effects of drought treatment on the phenology and frost susceptibility of plants from the provenances were analysed. Results: Leaf phenology of plants from most of the studied provenances was significantly influenced by the drought treatment (p < 0.001). Drought induced a carry-over effect on flushing phenology, which was observed as delayed bud burst (from 0.6 to 2.4 days) in the second year and as advanced bud burst (from 0.1 to 6.3 days) in the third year. Therefore, opposite shifts in flushing phenology may be induced as a result of differences in the time span when plants sense water deficits. In contrast to flushing, autumn leaf phenology was unambiguously delayed following the drought treatments for all studied provenances (from 2.1 to 25.8 days). Differences in late frost susceptibility were predominantly caused by among-provenance differences in flushing phenology. However, the drought treatment significantly increased frost susceptibility in the plants (the rate of frost-injured plants per provenance increased from 3% to 78%). This higher susceptibility to spring frost was most likely caused by the advanced flushing phenology that resulted from the drought treatment in the previous year.

Reduction in primary production followed by rapid recovery of plant biomass in response to repeated mid-season droughts in a semiarid shrubland

The frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including droughts, are expected to increase due to the climate change. Climate manipulation field experiments are widely used tools to study the response of key parameters like primary production to the treatments. Our study aimed to detect the effect of drought on the aboveground biomass and primary production both during the treatments as well as during the whole growing seasons in semiarid vegetation. We estimated aboveground green biomass of vascular plants in a Pannonian sand forest-steppe ecosystem in Hungary. We applied non-destructive field remote sensing method in control and drought treatments. Drought treatment was carried out by precipitation exclusion in May and June, and was repeated in each year from 2002. We measured NDVI before the drought treatment, right after the treatment, and at the end of the summer in 2011 and 2013. We found that the yearly biomass peaks, measured in control plots after the treatment periods, were decreased or absent in drought treatment plots, and consequently, the aboveground net primary production was smaller than in the control plots. At the same time, we did not find general drought effects on all biomass data. The studied ecosystem proved resilient, as the biomass in the drought-treated plots recovered by the next drought treatment. We conclude that the effect of drought treatment can be overestimated with only one measurement at the time of the peak biomass, while multiple within-year measurements better describe the response of biomass.

Contrasting impacts of continuous moderate drought and episodic severe droughts on the aboveground-biomass increment and litterfall of three coexisting Mediterranean woody species.

Climate change is predicted to increase the aridity in the Mediterranean Basin and severely affect forest productivity and composition. The responses of forests to different timescales of drought, however, are still poorly understood because extreme and persistent moderate droughts can produce nonlinear responses in plants. We conducted a rainfall-manipulation experiment in a Mediterranean forest dominated by Quercus ilex, Phillyrea latifolia, and Arbutus unedo in the Prades Mountains in southern Catalonia from 1999 to 2014. The experimental drought significantly decreased forest aboveground-biomass increment (ABI), tended to increase the litterfall, and decreased aboveground net primary production throughout the 15 years of the study. The responses to the experimental drought were highly species-specific. A. unedo suffered a significant reduction in ABI, Q. ilex experienced a decrease during the early experiment (1999-2003) and in the extreme droughts of 2005-2006 and 2011-2012, and P. latifolia was unaffected by the treatment. The drought treatment significantly increased branch litterfall, especially in the extremely dry year of 2011, and also increased overall leaf litterfall. The drought treatment reduced the fruit production of Q. ilex, which affected seedling recruitment. The ABIs of all species were highly correlated with SPEI in early spring, whereas the branch litterfalls were better correlated with summer SPEIs and the leaf and fruit litterfalls were better correlated with autumn SPEIs. These species-specific responses indicated that the dominant species (Q. ilex) could be partially replaced by the drought-resistant species (P. latifolia). However, the results of this long-term study also suggest that the effect of drought treatment has been dampened over time, probably due to a combination of demographic compensation, morphological and physiological acclimation, and epigenetic changes. However, the structure of community (e.g., species composition, dominance, and stand density) may be reordered when a certain drought threshold is reached.

Dampening effects of long‐term experimental drought on growth and mortality rates of a Holm oak forest

Forests respond to increasing intensities and frequencies of drought by reducing growth and with higher tree mortality rates. Little is known, however, about the long-term consequences of generally drier conditions and more frequent extreme droughts. A Holm oak forest was exposed to experimental rainfall manipulation for 13 years to study the effect of increasing drought on growth and mortality of the dominant species Quercus ilex, Phillyrea latifolia, and Arbutus unedo. The drought treatment reduced stem growth of A. unedo (-66.5%) and Q. ilex (-17.5%), whereas P. latifolia remained unaffected. Higher stem mortality rates were noticeable in Q. ilex (+42.3%), but not in the other two species. Stem growth was a function of the drought index of early spring in the three species. Stem mortality rates depended on the drought index of winter and spring for Q. ilex and in spring and summer for P. latifolia, but showed no relation to climate in A. unedo. Following a long and intense drought (2005-2006), stem growth of Q. ilex and P. latifolia increased, whereas it decreased in A. unedo. Q. ilex also enhanced its survival after this period. Furthermore, the effect of drought treatment on stem growth in Q. ilex and A. unedo was attenuated as the study progressed. These results highlight the different vulnerabilities of Mediterranean species to more frequent and intense droughts, which may lead to partial species substitution and changes in forest structure and thus in carbon uptake. The response to drought, however, changed over time. Decreased intra- and interspecific competition after extreme events with high mortality, together with probable morphological and physiological acclimation to drought during the study period, may, at least in the short term, buffer forests against drier conditions. The long-term effects of drought consequently deserve more attention, because the ecosystemic responses are unlikely to be stable over time.Nontechnical summaryIn this study, we evaluate the effect of long-term (13 years) experimental drought on growth and mortality rates of three forest Mediterranean species, and their response to the different intensities and durations of natural drought. We provide evidence for species-specific responses to drought, what may eventually lead to a partial community shift favoring the more drought-resistant species. However, we also report a dampening of the treatment effect on the two drought-sensitive species, which may indicate a potential adaptation to drier conditions at the ecosystem or population level. These results are thus relevant to account for the stabilizing processes that would alter the initial response of ecosystem to drought through changes in plant physiology, morphology, and demography compensation.

Study and evaluation of drought resistance of different genotype maize inbred lines

Using cultivating experiments in fields under drought stress, yields and characteristics in morphology, growth and development of different genotype maize inbred lines were studied systematically. We evaluated and classified the drought resistance of these materials based on the needed indexes, including subordinate function values of drought resistance (SV), drought coefficient (DC) and drought index (DI) of yield by fuzzy function method and cluster analysis. We also analyzed the correlations between parameters and tested values of traits. The effective parameters and indexes of comprehensive evaluation for drought resistance were selected with principal component analysis. The results showed that under drought stress, the yield of maize inbred lines obviously decreased. The anthesis and silking interval (ASI) was prolonged compared with the control, with a smaller leaf area, thinner stalk, shorter and smaller ears, lengthened barren ear tip, a decline in plant height and ear position, reduced grain number per ear and grain weight, which led to a yield decline. Effects of drought treatment on different maize inbred lines were significantly different. 79-1E, Jiao51, Su1-1 and 18599 were found to be highly resistant to drought, while 1125 and 5311 performed the worst. DI and SV were significantly correlated with drought resistance. Our results indicated that DI, SV, yield and leaf area could be used as parameters and indexes to effectively evaluate the drought resistance of maize. Meanwhile, DC, plant height, ASI, grain number per ear or row, ear length and diameter could be taken as auxiliary parameters and indexes. An applied scientific method for the comprehensive evaluation of drought resistance was offered in this paper.

Effects of simulated drought stress on the fine roots of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) in a plantation forest on the Kanto Plain, eastern Japan

Drought stress was simulated in a 28-year-old Japanese cedar plantation (Kanto Plain, Japan) between April and October 2004 by removing throughfall using rain shelters. Changes in fine-root parameters caused by this drought treatment were examined by sequential soil coring. Drought effects on fine roots were analyzed separately for particular soil depths (0–5, 5–15, and 15–25 cm) and root diameters (<1 and 1–2 mm). Generally, fine-root biomass and root tip numbers decreased by the drought treatment. Drought stress was most intense for fine roots in the topsoil and weakest for fine roots in the deepest soil layer. Fine roots less than 1 mm in diameter were affected more severely than 1- to 2-mm roots. The effect of drought treatment was most remarkable for the number of white root tips, which decreased to 17% of the control at the soil depth of 0–5 cm. These results suggest that white root tip is the most suitable indicator of drought stress. Simulated drought reduced production of fine roots less than 1 mm and 1–2 mm in diameter. Fine-root mortality was stimulated for roots less than 1 mm, but not for 1- to 2-mm roots. These results suggest that fine roots with larger diameters can survive drought stress at a level simulated in this study, but processes of fine-root production were inhibited regardless of the diameter classes. The duration of drought stress and phenology of fine roots should also be considered in diagnosing the effects of drought on fine-root parameters.