The temporal dynamics of water transport and storage in plants have major implications for plant functioning and survival. In trees, stress on the conductive tissue can be moderated by water storage. Yet, trees can survive high percent loss of conductivity (PLC, up to 80%), suggesting efficient recovery. We assess the role of tree water storage and PLC recovery based on simultaneous measurements of leaf transpiration, branch hydraulic conductivity, and stem sap-flow from different seasons in three study years in mature Pinus halepensis (Miller) trees in a semi-arid forest. During the wet season the rates of transpiration (T) and sap flow (SF) peaked at high morning and through the mid-day. During the dry season T peaked at ~9:00 and then decreased, whereas SF lagged T and fully compensated for it only in the evening, resulting in a mid-day water deficit of ~5 kg tree-1, and with up to 33% of daily T derived from storage. PLC of 30-40% developed during mid-day and subsequently recovered to near zero within 2-3 hr in the dry season (May, June, and September), but not in the wet season (January). The observed temporal decoupling between leaf water loss and soil water recharge is consistent with optimization of the trees’ water and gas exchange economy, while apparently facilitating their survival in the semi-arid conditions.
Keywords
, , , ,
Citation
Klein T, Cohen S, Paudel I, Preisler Y, Rotenberg E, Yakir D (2016). Diurnal dynamics of water transport, storage and hydraulic conductivity in pine trees under seasonal drought. iForest 9: 710-719. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2046-009
Academic Editor
Silvano Fares
Paper history
Received: Mar 08, 2016
Accepted: Jul 19, 2016
First online: Aug 21, 2016
Publication Date: Oct 13, 2016
Publication Time: 1.10 months
© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2016
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Breakdown by View Type
(Waiting for server response...)
Article Usage
Total Article Views: 21538
(from publication date up to now)
Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 15765
Abstract Page Views: 992
PDF Downloads: 3729
Citation/Reference Downloads: 60
XML Downloads: 992
Web Metrics
Days since publication: 2799
Overall contacts: 21538
Avg. contacts per week: 53.86
Article Citations
Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Nov 2020)
Total number of cites (since 2016): 13
Average cites per year: 2.60
Publication Metrics
by Dimensions ©
Articles citing this article
List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.
(1)
Borghetti M, Edwards WRN, Grace J, Jarvis PG, Raschi A (1991)The refilling of embolized xylem in
Pinus sylvestris L. Plant, Cell and Environment 14: 357-369.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(2)
Borghetti M, Cinnirella S, Magnani F, Saracino A (1998)Impact of long-term drought on xylem embolism and growth in
Pinus halepensis Mill. Trees 12: 187-195.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(3)
Brodersen CR, McElrone AJ (2013)Maintenance of xylem network transport capacity: a review of embolism repair in vascular plants. Frontiers in Plant Science 4: 1-11.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(4)
Brodersen CR, McElrone AJ, Choat B, Matthews MA, Shackel KA (2010)The dynamics of embolism repair in xylem:
in vivo visualizations using high-resolution computed tomography. Plant Physiology 154: 1088-1095.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(5)
Brodribb TJ, Cochard H (2009)Hydraulic failure defines the recovery and point of death in water-stressed conifers. Plant Physiology 149: 575-84.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(6)
Brodribb TJ, McAdam SA, Jordan GJ, Martins SC (2014)Conifer species adapt to low-rainfall climates by following one of two divergent pathways. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 111: 14489-14493.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(7)
Choat B, Jansen S, Brodribb TJ, Cochard H, Delzon S, Bhaskar R, Bucci SJ, Feild TS, Gleason SM, Hacke UG, Jacobsen AL, Lens F, Maherali H, Martínez-Vilalta J, Mayr S, Mencuccini M, Mitchell PJ, Nardini A, Pittermann J, Pratt RB, Sperry JS, Westoby M, Wright IJ, Zanne AE (2012)Global convergence in the vulnerability of forests to drought. Nature 491: 752-755.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(8)
Choat B, Brodersen CR, McElrone AJ (2014)Synchrotron X-ray microtomography of xylem embolism in
Sequoia sempervirens saplings during cycles of drought and recovery. New Phytologist.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(9)
Cohen S, Cohen Y (1983)Field studies of leaf conductance response to environmental variables in citrus. Journal of Applied Ecology 20: 561-570.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(10)
Cohen Y, Cohen S, Cantuarias-Aviles T, Schiller G (2008)Variations in the radial gradient of sap velocity in trunks of forest and fruit trees. Plant and Soil 305: 49-59.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(11)
Cruiziat P, Cochard H, Ameglio T (2002)Hydraulic architecture of trees: main concepts and results. Annals of Forest Science 59: 723-752.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(12)
Delzon S, Douthe C, Sala A, Cochard H (2010)Mechanism of water-stress induced cavitation in conifers: bordered pit structure and function support the hypothesis of seal capillary-seeding. Plant, Cell and Environment 33: 2101-2111.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(13)
Dzikiti S, Steppe K, Lemeur R, Milford JR (2007)Whole-tree level water balance and its implications on stomatal oscillations in orange trees (
Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) under natural climatic conditions. Journal of Experimental Botany 58: 1893-1901.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(14)
Espino S, Schenk HJ (2011)Mind the bubbles: achieving stable measurements of maximum hydraulic conductivity through woody plant samples. Journal of Experimental Botany 62: 1119-32.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(15)
Esteban LG, Martin JA, De Palacios P, Fernandez FG, Lopez R (2010)Adaptive anatomy of
Pinus halepensis trees from different Mediterranean environments in Spain. Trees 24: 19-30.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(16)
Fisher JB, Baldocchi DD, Misson L, Dawson TE, Goldstein AH (2007)What the towers don’t see at night: nocturnal sap flow in trees and shrubs at two AmeriFlux sites in California. Tree Physiology 27: 597-610.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(17)
Granier A, Loustau D (1994)Measuring and modeling the transpiration of a maritime pine canopy from sap-flow data. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 71: 61-81.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(18)
Grünzweig JM, Gelfand I, Yakir D (2007)Biogeochemical factors contributing to enhanced carbon storage following afforestation of a semi-arid shrubland. Biogeosciences 4: 891-904.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(19)
Hacke UG, Stiller V, Sperry JS, Pittermann J, McCulloh KA (2001)Cavitation fatigue. Embolism and refilling cycles can weaken cavitation resistance of xylem. Plant Physiology 125: 779-786.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(20)
Holbrook NM, Zwieniecki MA (1999)Embolism repair and xylem tension: do we need a miracle? Plant Physiology 120: 7-10.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(21)
Hölttä T, Nikinmaa E, Mencuccini M (2009)Linking phloem function to structure: analysis with a coupled xylem-phloem transport model. Journal of Theoretical Biology 259: 325-337.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(22)
Kanety T, Naor A, Gips A, Dicken U, Lemcoff JH, Cohen S (2014)Irrigation influences on growth, yield, and water use of persimmon trees. Irrigation Science 32: 1-3.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(23)
Klein T, Cohen S, Yakir D (2011)Hydraulic adjustments underlying drought resistance of Pinus halepensis. Tree Physiology 31: 637-648.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(24)
Klein T, Di Matteo G, Rotenberg E, Cohen S, Yakir D (2012)Differential ecophysiological response of a major Mediterranean pine species across a climatic gradient. Tree Physiology 33: 26-36.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(25)
Klein T, Hoch G, Körner C, Yakir D (2014a)Drought stress, growth, and nonstructural carbohydrate dynamics of pine trees in a semi-arid forest. Tree Physiology 34: 981-992.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(26)
Klein T, Rotenberg E, Cohen-Hilaleh E, Raz-Yaseef N, Tatarinov F, Ogée J, Cohen S, Yakir D (2014b)Quantifying transpirable soil water and its relations to tree water use dynamics in a water-limited pine forest. Ecohydrology 7: 409-419.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(27)
Maseyk KS, Lin T, Rotenberg E, Grünzweig JM, Schwartz A, Yakir D (2008)Physiology-phenology interactions in a productive semi-arid pine forest. New Phytologist 178: 603-16.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(28)
McCulloh K, Johnson DM, Meinzer FC, Lachenbruch B (2011)An annual pattern of native embolism in upper branches of four tall conifer species. American Journal of Botany 98: 1007-1015.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(29)
McLaughlin SB, Wullschleger SD, Nosal M (2003)Diurnal and seasonal changes in stem increment and water use by yellow poplar trees in response to environmental stress. Tree Physiology 23: 1125-36.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(30)
Meinzer FC, McCulloh KA (2013)Xylem recovery from drought-induced embolism: where is the hydraulic point of no return? Tree physiology 33: 331-334.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(31)
Meinzer FC, James SA, Goldstein G, Woodruff D (2003)Whole-tree transport scales with sapwood capacitance in tropical forest canopy trees. Plant, Cell and Environment 26: 1147-55.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(32)
Meinzer FC, Johnson DM, Lachenbruch B, McCulloh KA, Woodruff DR (2009)Xylem hydraulic safety margins in woody plants: coordination of stomatal control of xylem tension with hydraulic capacitance. Functional Ecology 23: 922-930.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(33)
Melcher PJ, Holbrook NM, Burns MJ, Zwieniecki MA, Cobb AR, Brodribb TJ, Choat B, Sack L (2012)Measurements of stem xylem hydraulic conductivity in the laboratory and field. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 3: 685-694.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(34)
Nardini A, Salleo S (2000)Limitation of stomatal conductance by hydraulic traits: sensing or preventing xylem cavitation? Trees 15: 14-24.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(35)
Ogasa M, Miki NH, Murakami Y, Yoshikawa K (2013)Recovery performance in xylem hydraulic conductivity is correlated with cavitation resistance for temperate deciduous tree species. Tree Physiology 33: 335-344.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(36)
Oishi AC, Oren R, Novick KA, Palmroth S, Katul GG (2010)Interannual invariability of forest evapotranspiration and its consequence to water flow downstream. Ecosystems 13: 421-436.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(37)
Oliveras IJ, Martínez-Vilalta J, Jimenez-Ortiz MJ, Lledó A, Escarré A, Piñol J (2003)Hydraulic properties of
Pinus halepensis,
Pinus pinea and
Tetraclinis articulata in a dune ecosystem of Eastern Spain. Plant Ecology 169: 131-41.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(38)
Oren R, Sperry JS, Katul GG, Pataki DE, Ewers BE, Phillips N, Schaefer KVR (1999)Survey and synthesis of intra- and interspecific variation in stomatal sensitivity to vapour pressure deficit. Plant, Cell and Environment 22: 1515-1526.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(39)
Paudel I, Kanety T, Cohen S (2013)Inactive xylem can explain differences in calibration factors for thermal dissipation probe sap flow measurements. Tree Physiology 33: 986-1001.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(40)
Secchi F, Zwieniecki MA (2011)sensing embolism in xylem vessels: the role of sucrose as a trigger for refilling. Plant, Cell and Environment 34: 514-524.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(41)
Steppe K, De Pauw DJW, Doody TM, Teskey RO (2010)A comparison of sap flux density using thermal dissipation, heat pulse velocity and heat field deformation methods. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 150: 1046-56.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(42)
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 Physiology 28: 1641-1651.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(43)
Trifilò P, Barbera PM, Raimondo F, Nardini A, Lo Gullo MA (2014)Coping with drought-induced xylem cavitation: coordination of embolism repair and ionic effects in three Mediterranean evergreens. Tree Physiology 34: 109-122.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(44)
Tyree MT, Alexander JD (1993)Hydraulic conductivity of branch junctions in three temperate tree species. Trees 7: 156-9.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(45)
Tyree MT, Sperry JS (1988)Do woody plants operate near the point of catastrophic xylem dysfunction caused by dynamic water stress? Answers from a model. Plant Physiology 88: 574-580.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(46)
Tyree MT, Salleo S, Nardini A, Lo Gullo MA, Mosca R (1999)Refilling of embolized vessels in young stems of Laurel. Do we need a new paradigm? Plant Physiology 120: 11-21.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(47)
Waring RH, Silvester WB (1994)Variation in foliar δ
13C values within the crowns of
Pinus radiata trees. Tree physiology 14: 1203-13.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(48)
Wheeler JK, Huggett BA, Tofte AN, Rockwell FE, Holbrook NM (2013)Cutting xylem under tension or supersaturated with gas can generate PLC and the appearance of rapid recovery from embolism. Plant, Cell and Environment 36: 1938-1949.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(49)
Yang S-J, Zhang Y-J, Sun M, Goldstein G, Cao K-F (2012)Recovery of diurnal depression of leaf hydraulic conductance in a subtropical woody bamboo species: embolism refilling by nocturnal root pressure. Tree Physiology 32 (4): 414-422.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(50)
Zufferey V, Cochard H, Ameglio T, Spring J-L, Viret O (2011)Diurnal cycles of embolism formation and repair in petioles of grapevine (
Vitis vinifera cv.
Chasselas). Journal of Experimental Botany 62: 3885-3894.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
(51)
Zweifel R, Item H, Haesler R (2001)Link between diurnal stem radius and tree water relations. Tree Physiology 21: 869-877.
CrossRef |
Gscholar
