Water-use efficiency and whole-plant performance of nine tropical tree species at two sites with contrasting water availability in Panama

Abstract AimsPrediction of whole-plant short-term water use efficiency (WUEs,P) is essential to indicate plant performance and facilitates comparison across different temporal and spatial scales. Here, the isotope model for WUEs,P was scaled-up from the leaf to the whole-plant level.MethodsFor WUEs,P modelling, leaf gas exchange information, plant respiration and “unproductive” water loss were taken into account. Specifically, in shaping the expression of the WUEs,P, we emphasized the role of both stomatal (gsw) and mesophyll conductance (gm). ResultsThe verification showed that estimates of gsw from the coupled photosynthesis (Pn,L)-gsw model accounting for the effect of soil water stress slightly outperformed the model neglecting the soil water status effect, and the established coupled Pn,L-gm model proved more effective in the estimation of gm than the previously proposed model. Introducing the two diffusion control functions into the whole-plant model, the developed model for WUEs,P effectively captured its response pattern to different CO2 concentration (Ca) and soil water content (SWC) conditions. ConclusionsOverall, this study confirmed that accurate estimation of WUEs,P requires an improved predictive accuracy of gsw and gm. These results have important implications for predicting how plants respond to climate change.

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Growth, leaf nutrient concentration and photosynthetic nutrient use efficiency in tropical tree species planted in degraded areas in central Amazonia

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2006.01.042 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 226 (1-3) ◽

pp. 299-309 ◽

Cited By ~ 59

Author(s):

Ulysses Moreira dos Santos ◽

José Francisco de Carvalho Gonçalves ◽

Ted R. Feldpausch

Keyword(s):

Tree Species ◽

Nutrient Concentration ◽

Nutrient Use Efficiency ◽

Tropical Tree ◽

Tropical Tree Species ◽

Nutrient Use ◽

Central Amazonia ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Leaf Nutrient Concentration

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Dry matter yield and water use efficiency of five perennial subtropical grasses at four levels of water availability

African Journal of Range and Forage Science ◽

10.2989/10220110609485900 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 165-169 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D Marais ◽

N Rethman ◽

J Annandale

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Availability ◽

Dry Matter ◽

Dry Matter Yield ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Four Levels

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Apparent Tolerance of Low Water Availability in Temperate Asian Bamboos1

Journal of Environmental Horticulture ◽

10.24266/jeh-d-17-00009.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 7-13

Author(s):

Melissa C. Smith ◽

Richard N. Mack

Keyword(s):

Stomatal Conductance ◽

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Water Use ◽

North American ◽

Water Availability ◽

Irrigation Treatment ◽

Bamboo Species ◽

Intrinsic Water Use Efficiency ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Pleioblastus Chino

Abstract Suitable plant water dynamics and the ability to withstand periods of low moisture input facilitate plant establishment in seasonally arid regions. Temperate bamboos are a major constituent of mixed evergreen and deciduous forests throughout temperate East Asia but play only an incidental role in North American forests and are altogether absent in the Pacific Northwest forest. Many bamboo species are classified as mesic or riparian, but none are considered drought tolerant. To assess their ability to withstand low water, we subjected five Asian temperate and one North American temperate bamboo species to three irrigation treatments: 100%, 50%, and 10% replacement of water lost through evapotranspiration. Plants were irrigated every four days over a 31-day period. Plant response to treatments was measured with stomatal conductance, leaf xylem water potentials, and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE). Pleioblastus distichus and Pseudosasa japonica showed significant reductions in conductance between high and low irrigation treatments. Sasa palmata had significantly lower stomatal conductance in all treatments. Pleioblastus chino displayed significantly higher iWUE in the mid irrigation treatment and Arunindaria gigantea displayed significantly lower iWUE than P. chino and S. palmata in the low irrigation treatment. The Asian bamboo species examined here tolerate low water availability and readily acclimate to different soil moisture conditions. Index words: Temperate bamboos, irrigation response, stomatal conductance, intrinsic water use efficiency. Species used in this study: Giant Cane [Arundinaria gigantea (Walt.) Muhl.]; Pleioblastus chino (Franchet & Savatier) Makino; Pleioblastus distichus (Mitford) Nakai; Pseudosasa japonica (Makino); Sasa palmata (Bean) Nakai.

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