Climate and functional traits jointly mediate tree water‐use strategies

• DOI: 10.1111/nph.17404
• Publication Date: 2021-04-24T00:41:13Z
• Authors: Victor Flo; Jordi Martínez‐Vi...; Maurizio Mencuccini; Victor Granda; William R. L. And...; Rafael Poyatos
• Keywords: Turgor pressure; Water Transport; Trait; Stomatal Conductance; Water use; Canopy conductance; Tree (set theory); Drought Tolerance

Tree water use is central to plant function and ecosystem fluxes. However, it still unknown how organ-level water-relations traits are coordinated determine whole-tree water-use strategies in response drought, whether this coordination depends on climate. Here we used a global sap flow database (SAPFLUXNET) study the of use, terms canopy conductance (G), vapour pressure deficit (VPD) soil content (SWC) for 142 tree species. We investigated individual effect six (vulnerability embolism, Huber value, hydraulic conductivity, turgor-loss point, rooting depth leaf size) parameters, also accounting height climate (mean annual precipitation, MAP). Reference G its sensitivity VPD were tightly with rather than MAP. Species efficient xylem transport had higher but VPD. Moreover, found that angiosperms reference did gymnosperms. Our results highlight need consider trait integration reveal complications challenges defining single, whole-plant resource spectrum ranging from 'acquisitive' 'conservative'.