| Title | Savanna Plants Have a Lower Hydraulic Efficiency than Co-Occurring Species in a Rainforest |
| Author | Peng, Xiaorong |
| Publication | FORESTS |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Corresponding Author | Yang, D |
| Abstract | A plant species can have diverse hydraulic strategies to adapt to different environments. However, the water transport divergence of co-occurring species in contrasting habitats remains poorly studied but is important for understanding their ecophysiology adaptation to their environments. Here, we investigated whole-branch, stem and leaf water transport strategies and associated morphology traits of 11 co-occurring plant species in Yuanjiang valley-type savanna (YJ) with dry-hot habitats and Xishuangbanna tropical seasonal rainforest (XSBN) with wet-hot habits and tested the hypothesis that plants in YJ have a lower water transport efficiency than co-occurring species in XSBN. We found high variation in whole-branch, stem and leaf hydraulic conductance (Kshoot; Kstem and Kleaf) between YJ and XSBN, and that Kstem was significantly higher than Kleaf in these two sites (Kstem/Kleaf: 16.77 in YJ and 6.72 in XSBN). These plants in YJ with significantly lower Kshoot and Kleaf but higher sapwood density (WD) and leaf mass per area (LMA) showed a lower water transport efficiency regarding less water loss and the adaptation to the dry-hot habitat compared to co-occurring species in XSBN. In contrast, these co-occurring plants in XSBN with higher Kshoot and Kleaf but lower WD and LMA tended to maximize water transport efficiency and thus growth potential in the wet-hot habitat. Our findings suggest that these co-occurring species employ divergent hydraulic efficiency across YJ and XSBN so that they can benefit from the contrasting hydraulic strategies in adaptation to their respective habitats. |
