Journal article

A multi-species synthesis of physiological mechanisms in drought-induced tree mortality.

  • Adams HD Department of Plant Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA. henry.adams@okstate.edu.
  • Zeppel MJB Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
  • Anderegg WRL Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
  • Hartmann H Biogeochemical Processes, Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, 7745, Germany.
  • Landhäusser SM Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada.
  • Tissue DT Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, 2751, Australia.
  • Huxman TE Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
  • Hudson PJ Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
  • Franz TE School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA.
  • Allen CD U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, New Mexico Landscapes Field Station, Los Alamos, NM, 87544, USA.
  • Anderegg LDL Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
  • Barron-Gafford GA B2 EarthScience, Biosphere 2, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
  • Beerling DJ Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
  • Breshears DD School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
  • Brodribb TJ School of Biology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
  • Bugmann H Forest Ecology, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland.
  • Cobb RC Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
  • Collins AD Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA.
  • Dickman LT Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA.
  • Duan H Institute of Ecology and Environmental Science, Nanchang Institute of Technology, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330099, China.
  • Ewers BE Department of Botany and Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA.
  • Galiano L Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, 75007, Sweden.
  • Galvez DA Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada.
  • Garcia-Forner N Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, 3000-456, Portugal.
  • Gaylord ML School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA.
  • Germino MJ U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Boise, ID, 83702, USA.
  • Gessler A Forest Dynamics, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, 8903, Switzerland.
  • Hacke UG Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E3, Canada.
  • Hakamada R Department of Forest Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, 13418900, Brazil.
  • Hector A Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK.
  • Jenkins MW Environmental Studies Department, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA.
  • Kane JM Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA, 95521, USA.
  • Kolb TE School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA.
  • Law DJ School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
  • Lewis JD Louis Calder Center - Biological Field Station and Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Armonk, NY, 10504, USA.
  • Limousin JM Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, Montpellier, 34293, France.
  • Love DM Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
  • Macalady AK U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, DC, 20001, USA.
  • Martínez-Vilalta J CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, 8193, Spain.
  • Mencuccini M CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, 8193, Spain.
  • Mitchell PJ CSIRO Land and Water, Hobart, Tasmania, 7005, Australia.
  • Muss JD Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA.
  • O'Brien MJ Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, La Cañada, Almería, E-04120, Spain.
  • O'Grady AP CSIRO Land and Water, Hobart, Tasmania, 7005, Australia.
  • Pangle RE Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
  • Pinkard EA CSIRO Land and Water, Hobart, Tasmania, 7005, Australia.
  • Piper FI Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia, Coyhaique, 5951822, Chile.
  • Plaut JA Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
  • Pockman WT Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
  • Quirk J Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
  • Reinhardt K Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, 83209, USA.
  • Ripullone F School of Agricultural, Forest, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Potenza, 85100, Italy.
  • Ryan MG Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
  • Sala A Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA.
  • Sevanto S Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA.
  • Sperry JS Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
  • Vargas R Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
  • Vennetier M Irstea, UR RECOVER, Aix en Provence, 13182, France.
  • Way DA Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
  • Xu C Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA.
  • Yepez EA Departamento de Ciencias del Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, 85000, Mexico.
  • McDowell NG Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
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  • 2017-10-20
Published in:
  • Nature ecology & evolution. - 2017
English Widespread tree mortality associated with drought has been observed on all forested continents and global change is expected to exacerbate vegetation vulnerability. Forest mortality has implications for future biosphere-atmosphere interactions of carbon, water and energy balance, and is poorly represented in dynamic vegetation models. Reducing uncertainty requires improved mortality projections founded on robust physiological processes. However, the proposed mechanisms of drought-induced mortality, including hydraulic failure and carbon starvation, are unresolved. A growing number of empirical studies have investigated these mechanisms, but data have not been consistently analysed across species and biomes using a standardized physiological framework. Here, we show that xylem hydraulic failure was ubiquitous across multiple tree taxa at drought-induced mortality. All species assessed had 60% or higher loss of xylem hydraulic conductivity, consistent with proposed theoretical and modelled survival thresholds. We found diverse responses in non-structural carbohydrate reserves at mortality, indicating that evidence supporting carbon starvation was not universal. Reduced non-structural carbohydrates were more common for gymnosperms than angiosperms, associated with xylem hydraulic vulnerability, and may have a role in reducing hydraulic function. Our finding that hydraulic failure at drought-induced mortality was persistent across species indicates that substantial improvement in vegetation modelling can be achieved using thresholds in hydraulic function.
Language
  • English
Open access status
green
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https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/223535
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