Functional Traits and Water Transport Strategies in Lowland Tropical Rainforest Trees
0106 biological sciences
Leaves
Water resources
Rainforest
Science
Climate Change
Flow rate
Models, Biological
01 natural sciences
Trees
Rainforests
Tropical Climate
Phylogenetic analysis
Drought
Plant Stems
Q
R
Australia
Water
Plant Transpiration
15. Life on land
6. Clean water
Droughts
Plant Leaves
13. Climate action
Medicine
Research Article
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0130799
Publication Date:
2015-06-18T18:12:03Z
AUTHORS (9)
ABSTRACT
Understanding how tropical rainforest trees may respond to the precipitation extremes predicted in future climate change scenarios is paramount for their conservation and management. Tree species clearly differ in drought susceptibility, suggesting that variable water transport strategies exist. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, we examined the hydraulic variability in trees in a lowland tropical rainforest in north-eastern Australia. We studied eight tree species representing broad plant functional groups (one palm and seven eudicot mature-phase, and early-successional trees). We characterised the species' hydraulic system through maximum rates of volumetric sap flow and velocities using the heat ratio method, and measured rates of tree growth and several stem, vessel, and leaf traits. Sap flow measures exhibited limited variability across species, although early-successional species and palms had high mean sap velocities relative to most mature-phase species. Stem, vessel, and leaf traits were poor predictors of sap flow measures. However, these traits exhibited different associations in multivariate analysis, revealing gradients in some traits across species and alternative hydraulic strategies in others. Trait differences across and within tree functional groups reflect variation in water transport and drought resistance strategies. These varying strategies will help in our understanding of changing species distributions under predicted drought scenarios.
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