Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Anisohydric water use behavior links growing season evaporative demand to ring-width increment in conifers from summer-dry environments

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Trees Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Key message

Compared to isohydric Pinaceae, anisohydric Cupressaceae exhibited: (1) a threefold larger hydroscape area; (2) growth at lower pre-dawn water potentials that extended longer into the growing season; and (3) stronger coupling of growth to growing season atmospheric moisture demand in summer-dry environments.

Abstract

Conifers in the Pinaceae and Cupressaceae from dry environments have been shown to broadly differ in their stomatal sensitivity to soil drying that result in isohydric versus anisohydric water use behavior, respectively. Here, we first employ a series of drought experiments and field observations to confirm the degree of isohydric versus anisohydric water use behavior in species of these two families that are representative of the Interior West of the United States. We then use experimental soil drying to demonstrate how growth of anisohydric Juniperus osteosperma was more closely tied to pre-dawn water potentials than isohydric Pinus monophylla. Finally, we confirm that measured leaf gas-exchange and growth responses to drying hold real-world consequences for conifers from the Interior West. More specifically, across the past ~ 100 years of climate variation, pairwise comparisons of annual ring-width increment responses indicate that growth of Cupressaceae species (J. osteosperma and J. scopulorum) was more strongly coupled to growing season evaporative demand than co-occurring Pinaceae species (Pinus monophylla, P. edulis, P. flexilis, P. longaeva, P. ponderosa, and Pseudotsuga menziesii). Overall, these experimental and observational results suggest that an a priori distinction based on family and associated hydric water use behavior should lead to more accurate and mechanistically correct dendrochronological reconstructions of growing season evaporative demand (i.e., Cupressaceae) versus antecedent precipitation (i.e., Pinaceae) in summer-dry environments. Moreover, these differences in growth sensitivity to evaporative demand among these groups suggest that incorporating hydric water use behavior into models of forest responses to global warming can provide more accurate projections of future forest composition and functioning.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams HD, Collins AD, Briggs SP et al (2015) Experimental drought and heat can delay phenological development and reduce foliar and shoot growth in semiarid trees. Glob Change Biol 21:4210–4220. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13030

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen EB, Rittenour TM, DeRose RJ et al (2013) A tree-ring based reconstruction of Logan River streamflow, northern Utah. Water Resour Res 49:8579–8588. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013WR014273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderegg WRL, Hicke JA, Fisher RA et al (2015) Tree mortality form drought, insects, and their interactions in a changing climate. New Phytol 208:674–683

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett MK, Klein T, Choat B, Sack L (2016) The correlations and sequence of plant stomatal, hydraulic, and wilting responses to drought. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113:13098–13103

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Beeson RC (2011) Weighing lysimeter systems for quantifying water use and studies of controlled water stress for crops grown in low bulk density substrates. Agricult Water Man 98:967–976

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biondi F, Waikul K (2004) DENDROCLIM2002: a C++ program for statistical calibration of climate signals in tree-ring chronologes. Comput Geosci 30:303–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breshears DD, Myers OB, Meyer CW et al (2009) Tree die-off in response to global change-type drought: mortality insights from a decade of water potential measurements. Front Ecol Environ 7:185–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breshears DD, Adams HD, Eamus D et al (2013) The critical amplifying role of increasing atmospheric moisture demand on tree mortality and associated regional die-off. Front Plant Sci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2013.00266

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Brodribb TJ, McAdam SAM, Jordan GJ, Martins SCV (2014) Conifer species adapt to low-rainfall climates by following one of two divergent pathways. Proc Natl Acad Sci 111:14489–14493. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1407930111

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bowker MA, Muñoz A, Martinez T, Lau MK (2012) Rare drought-induced mortality of juniper is enhanced by edaphic stressors and influenced by stand density. J Arid Environ 76:9–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER (1985) A time series analysis approach to tree ring standardization (dendrochronology, forestry, dendroclimatology, autoregressive process). The University of Arizona, Tucson

  • Cook ER, Seager R, Cane MA, Stahle DW (2007) North American drought: reconstructions, causes, and consequences. Earth Sci Rev 81:93–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daly C, Halbleib M, Smith JI, Gibson WP, Doggett MK, Taylor GH, Curtis J, Pasteris PP (2008) Physiographically sensitive mapping of climatological temperatuer and precipitation across the conterminous United States. Int J Climatol 28:2031–2064

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis KJ (2005) Comparison of the water relations characteristics of woody plants in western Oregon. M.S. Thesis submitted to Oregon State University, p 110

  • DeRose RJ, Wang S-Y, Buckley BM, Bekker MF (2014) Tree-ring reconstruction of the level of Great Salt Lake, USA. Holocene 24:805–813. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683614530441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeRose RJ, Bekker MF, Wang S-Y et al (2015) A millennium-length reconstruction of Bear River stream flow, Utah. J Hydrol 529:524–534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.01.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeRose RJ, Bekker MF, Kjelgren R et al (2016) Dendrochronology of Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma (Torr.) Little). Tree Ring Res 72:1–14. https://doi.org/10.3959/1536-1098-72.01.01

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eamus D, Boulain N, Cleverly J, Breshears DD (2013) Global change-type drought-induced tree mortality: vapor pressure deficit is more important than temperature per se in causing decline in tree health. Ecol Evol 3:2711–2729. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.664

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Eissenstat DM, Mitchell JE (1983) Effects of seeding grass and clover on growth and water potential of Douglas-fir seedlings. For Sci 29:166–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Farquhar GD, Ehleringer JR, Hubick KT (1989) Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Annu Rev Plant Biol 40:503–537

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franks PJ, Drake PL, Froend RH (2007) Anisohydric but isohydrodynamic: seasonally constant plant water potential gradient explained by a stomatal control mechanism incorporating variable plant hydraulic conductance. Plant Cell Environ 30:19–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2006.01600.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fritts HC (1976) Tree rings and climate. Academic Press, New York, 567

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Forner N, Sala A, Biel C et al (2016) Individual traits as determinants of time to death under extreme drought in Pinus sylvestris L. Tree Physiol 36:1196–1209. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpw040

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gaylord ML, Kolb TE, Pockman WT, Plaut JA, Yepez EA, Macalady AK, Pangle RE (2013) Drought predisposes piñon-juniper woodlands to insect attacks and mortality. New Phytol 198:567–578

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin D, Meko DM, Touchan R et al (2011) Latewood chronology development for summer-moisture reconstruction in the U.S. southwest. Tree-Ring Res 67:87–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin D, Woodhouse CA, Meko DM et al (2013) North American monsoon precipitation reconstructed from tree-ring latewood. Geophys Res Lett 40:954–958. https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves GH, Samani ZA (1985) Reference crop evapotranspiration from temperature. Appl Eng Agric 1:96–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes RL (1983) Computer-assisted quality control in tree-ring dating and measurement. Tree-Ring Bull 43:69–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein T (2014) The variability of stomatal sensitivity to leaf water potential across tree species indicates a continuum between isohydric and anisohydric behaviours. Funct Ecol 28:1313–1320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski TT (1964) Shoot growth in woody plants. Bot Rev 30:335–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lajtha K, Barnes FJ (1991) Carbon gain and water use in pinyon pine-juniper woodlands of northern New Mexico: field versus phytotron chamber measurements. Tree Physiol 9:59–67

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Limousin J-M, Bickford CP, Dickman LT et al (2013) Regulation and acclimation of leaf gas exchange in a piñon–juniper woodland exposed to three different precipitation regimes. Plant Cell Environ 36:1812–1825. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12089

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Linton MJ, Sperry JS, Williams DG (1998) Limits to water transport in Juniperus osteosperma and Pinus edulis: implications for drought tolerance and regulation of transpiration. Funct Ecol 12:906–911. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2435.1998.00275.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez-Vilalta J, Poyatos R, Aguade D, Retana J, Mencuccini M (2014) A new look at water transport regulation in plants. New Phytol 204:105–115

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Matheny AM, Fiorella RP, Bohrer G et al (2017) Contrasting strategies of hydraulic control in two codominant temperate tree species. Ecohydrol 10:e1815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell RS, Hessl AE, Cook ER, Buckley BM (2012) A multicentury reconstruction of May precipitation for the mid-Atlantic region using Juniperus virginiana tree rings. J Clim 25:1045–1056. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00017.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell N, Pockman WT, Allen CD et al (2008) Mechanisms of plant survival and mortality during drought: why do some plants survive while others succumb to drought? New Phytol 178:719–739. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02436.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell NG, Ryan MG, Zeppel MJB, Tissue DT (2013) Feature: Improving our knowledge of drought-induced forest mortality through experiments, observations, and modeling. New Phytol 200:289–293. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12502

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meinzer FC, McCulloh KA, Lachenbruch B, Woodruff DR, Johnson DM (2010) The blind men and the elephant: the impact of context and scale in evaluating conflicts between plant hydraulic safety and efficiency. Oecologia 164:287–296

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meinzer FC, Woodruff DR, Eisenstat DM et al (2013) Above- and belowground controls on water use by trees of different wood types in an eastern US deciduous forest. Tree Physiol 33:345–356

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meinzer FC, Woodruff DR, Marias DE et al (2014) Dynamics of leaf water relations components in co-occurring iso- and anisohydric conifer species. Plant Cell Environ 37:2577–2586. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12327

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meinzer FC, Woodruff DR, Marias DE et al (2016) Mapping “hydroscapes” along the iso- to anisohydric continuum of stomatal regulation of plant water status. Ecol Lett 19:1343–1352. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12670

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meinzer FC, Smith DD, Woodruff DR et al (2017) Stomatal kinetics and photosynthetic gas exchange along a continuum of isohydric to anisohydric regulation of plant water status. Plant Cell Environ 40:1618–1628. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12970

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell TD, Jones PD (2005) An improved method of constructing a database of monthly climate observations and associated high-resolution outputs. Int J Climatol 25:693–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mock CJ (1996) Climatic controls and spatial variations of precipitation in the western United States. J Clim 9:1111–1125. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1996)009<1111:CCASVO>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton M, Preest DS (1988) Growth and water relations of douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) seedlings under different weed control regimes. Weed Sci 36:653–662

    Google Scholar 

  • Oren R, Sperry JS, Katul GG et al (1999) Survey and synthesis of intra- and interspecific variation in stomatal sensitivity to vapour pressure deficit. Plant Cell Environ 22:1515–1526. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3040.1999.00513.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plaut JA, Yepez EA, Hill J et al (2012) Hydraulic limits preceding mortality in a piñon–juniper woodland under experimental drought. Plant Cell Environ 35:1601–1617. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2012.02512.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R. Development Core Team (2012) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Riddle J, Pederson N, Stella JC, Leopold DJ (2014) Shifting climate sensitivity and contrasting growth trends in Juniperus species growing together at opposite range margins. Tree-Ring Res 70:101–111. https://doi.org/10.3959/1536-1098-70.2.101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruehr NK, Law BE, Quandt D, Williams M (2014) Effects of heat and drought on carbon and water dynamics in a regenerating semi-arid pine forest: a combined experimental andmodeling approach. Biogeosciences 11:4139–4156

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Running SW (1976) Environmental control of leaf water conductance in conifers. Can J For Res 6:104–112. https://doi.org/10.1139/x76-013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sevanto S, McDowell NG, Dickman LT et al (2014) How do trees die? a test of the hydraulic failure and carbon starvation hypotheses. Plant Cell Environ 37:153–161. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12141

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Speer JH (2010) Fundamentals of tree-ring research. University of Arizona Press, Tucson

    Google Scholar 

  • Spond MD, van de Gevel SL, Grissino-Mayer HD (2014) Climate-growth relationships for Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.) on the volcanic badlands of western New Mexico, USA. Dendrochronologia 32:137–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2014.03.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taneda H, Sperry JS (2008) A case-study of water transport in co-occurring ring- versus diffuse-porous trees: contrasts in water-status, conducting capacity, cavitation and vessel refilling. Tree Physiol 28:1641–1651. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/28.11.1641

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tardieu F, Simonneau T (1998) Variability among species of stomatal control under fluctuating soil water status and evaporative demand: modelling isohydric and anisohydric behaviours. J Exp Bot 49:419–432. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/49.Special_Issue.419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang S-Y, Gillies RR, Tackle ES, Gutowski WJ Jr (2009) Evaluation of precipitation in the Intermountain Region as simulated by the NARCCAP regional climate models

  • Wang T, Hamann A, Spittlehouse DL, Carrol C (2016) Locally downscaled and spatially customizable climate data for historical and future periods for North America. PLoS One 11:e0156720

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • West AG, Hultine KR, Jackson TL, Ehleringer JR (2007) Differential summer water use by Pinus edulis and Juniperus osteosperma reflects contrasting hydraulic characteristics. Tree Physiol 27:1711–1720. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/27.12.1711

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams DG, Ehleringer JR (2000) Intra- and interspecific variation for summer precipitation use in pinyonjuniper woodlands. Ecol Monogr 70:517–537

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams AP, Allen CD, Macalady AK et al (2013) Temperature as a potent driver of regional forest drought stress and tree mortality. Nat Clim Change 3:292–297. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willson CJ, Manos PS, Jackson RB (2008) Hydraulic traits are influenced by phylogenetic history in the drought-resistant, invasive genus Juniperus (Cupressaceae). Am J Bot 95:299–314. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.95.3.299

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wise EK (2012) Hydroclimatology of the US Intermountain West. Prog Phys Geogr 1–22

  • Woodruff DR, Meinzer FC, Marias DE et al (2015) Linking nonstructural carbohydrate dynamics to gas exchange and leaf hydraulic behavior in Pinus edulis and Juniperus monosperma. New Phytol 206:411–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13170

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zang C, Biondi F (2013) Dendroclimatic calibration in R: the bootRes package for response and correlation function analysis. Dendrochronologia 31:68–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2012.08.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The Wasatch Dendroclimatology Research Group (WADR) was responsible for this project. This paper was greatly improved by the helpful comments of Joshua Leffler. We would like to thank Le Canh Nam, Slaton Wheeler, Eric Allen, Shawn Wortham, Roxy Hedges, Shauna Mecham, and Jackson Deere, Hannah Gray and Jessika Pettit for their contributions to field and laboratory data collection. For access to sampling sites we also would like to thank: Jennefer Parker, Logan Ranger District, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest; Karl Fuelling, Minidoka Ranger District, Sawtooth National Forest; and Del Barnhurst, Fillmore Ranger District, Fishlake National Forest. We acknowledge Marlee Beers and BYU Think Spatial for cartographic work. This paper was prepared in part by an employee of the US Forest Service as part of official duties and is, therefore, in the public domain.

Funding

This research was funded by a Bureau of Reclamation WaterSmart Grant, No. R13AC80039, the Utah State University Center for Water Efficient Landscaping (CWEL), and Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Project 1304.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate, Utah State University, 4800 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Steve L. Voelker

  2. USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 507 25th Street, Ogden, UT, 84401, USA

    R. Justin DeRose

  3. Department of Geography, Brigham Young University, 690 SWKT, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    Matthew F. Bekker

  4. Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate, Utah State University, 4800 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Chalita Sriladda & Nisa Leksungnoen

  5. Mid Florida Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 2725 S Binion Rd, Apopka, FL, 32703, USA

    Roger K. Kjelgren

Authors
  1. Steve L. Voelker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Justin DeRose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Matthew F. Bekker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chalita Sriladda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Nisa Leksungnoen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Roger K. Kjelgren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steve L. Voelker.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Communicated by R. Guy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Voelker, S.L., DeRose, R.J., Bekker, M.F. et al. Anisohydric water use behavior links growing season evaporative demand to ring-width increment in conifers from summer-dry environments. Trees 32, 735–749 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-018-1668-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-018-1668-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation