Ecophysiological plasticity of Amazonian trees to long-term drought

Episodic multi-year droughts fundamentally alter the dynamics, functioning, and structure of Amazonian forests. However, the capacity of individual plant species to withstand intense drought regimes remains unclear. Here, we evaluated ecophysiological responses from a forest community where we sampl...

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Veröffentlicht in:Oecologia Jg. 187; H. 4; S. 933 - 940
Hauptverfasser: Domingues, Tomas Ferreira, Ometto, Jean Pierre Henry Balbaud, Nepstad, Daniel C., Brando, Paulo M., Martinelli, Luiz Antonio, Ehleringer, James R.
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Science + Business Media 01.08.2018
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Schlagworte:
Acclimation
Acclimatization
Biomedical and Life Sciences
canopy
Capacity
carbon
carbon nitrogen ratio
climate
Communities
Drought
Dynamics
Ecology
Ecophysiology
Flora
Flowers & plants
Forest communities
Forests
Hydrology/Water Resources
Investment
Leaves
Life Sciences
Metabolites
Nitrogen
nitrogen content
Photosynthesis
Plant biochemistry
Plant cover
Plant Sciences
Plant species
Plants
Plastic properties
Plasticity
Ratios
Secondary metabolites
SPECIAL TOPIC
Species
stable isotopes
Statistical analysis
Throughfall
trees
Uptake
Water use
water use efficiency
Woody plants
Nutrient
Stable isotope
Primary productivity
Global change
Functional group
ISSN:0029-8549, 1432-1939, 1432-1939
Online-Zugang:Volltext
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Zusammenfassung:Episodic multi-year droughts fundamentally alter the dynamics, functioning, and structure of Amazonian forests. However, the capacity of individual plant species to withstand intense drought regimes remains unclear. Here, we evaluated ecophysiological responses from a forest community where we sampled 83 woody plant species during 5 years of experimental drought (throughfall exclusion) in an eastern Amazonian terra firme forest. Overall, the experimental drought resulted in shifts of some, but not all, leaf traits related to photosynthetic carbon uptake and intrinsic water-use efficiency. Leaf δ¹³C values increased by 2–3‰ within the canopy, consistent with increased diffusional constraints on photosynthesis. Decreased leaf C:N ratios were also observed, consistent with lower investments in leaf structure. However, no statistically significant treatment effects on leaf nitrogen content were observed, consistent with a lack of acclimation in photosynthetic capacity or increased production of nitrogen-based secondary metabolites. The results of our study provide evidence of robust acclimation potential to drought intensification in the diverse flora of an Amazonian forest community. The results reveals considerable ability of several species to respond to intense drought and challenge commonly held perspectives that this flora has attained limited adaptive plasticity because of a long evolutionary history in a favorable and stable climate.
Bibliographie:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:0029-8549
1432-1939
1432-1939
DOI:10.1007/s00442-018-4195-2