Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in plant tissue are frequently quantified to make inferences about plant responses to environmental conditions. Laboratories publishing estimates of NSC of woody plants use many different methods to evaluate NSC. We asked whether NSC estimates in the recent literature could be quantitatively compared among studies. We also...
First-year tree seedlings represent a particularly vulnerable life stage and successful seedling establishment is crucial for forest regeneration. We investigated the extent to which Pinus ponderosa P. & C. Lawson populations from different climate zones exhibit differential expression of functional traits that may facilitate their establishment. Seeds from two populations...
Leaf hydraulics, gas exchange and carbon storage in Pinus edulis and Juniperus monosperma, two tree species on opposite ends of the isohydry–anisohydry spectrum, were analyzed to examine relationships between hydraulic function and carbohydrate dynamics. Leaf hydraulic vulnerability, leaf water potential (Wl), leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf), photosynthesis (A), stomatal conductance (gs)...
Because iso- and anisohydric species differ in stomatal regulation
of the rate and magnitude of fluctuations in shoot
water potential, they may be expected to show differences in
the plasticity of their shoot water relations components, but
explicit comparisons of this nature have rarely been made.
We subjected excised shoots...
Stored non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) could play an important role in tree survival in the face of a changing climate and associated stress-related mortality. We explored the effects of the stomata-blocking and defoliating fungal disease called Swiss needle cast on Douglas-fir carbohydrate reserves and growth to evaluate the extent to which...
Recent work has suggested that plants differ in their relative reliance on structural avoidance of embolism versus maintenance of the xylem water column through dynamic traits such as capacitance, but we still know little about how and why species differ along this continuum. It is even less clear how or...
Stomata control tree transpiration by sensing and integrating environmental signals originating in the atmosphere and soil, and co-occurring species may differ in inherent stomatal sensitivity to these above- and belowground signals and in the types of signals to which they respond. Stomatal responsiveness to environmental signals is likely to differ...
• Premise of the Study: Tropical liana abundance has been increasing over the past 40 yr, which has been associated with reduced
rainfall. The proposed mechanism allowing lianas to thrive in dry conditions is deeper root systems than co-occurring trees,
although we know very little about the fundamental hydraulic physiology...