1. Woody species with higher hydraulic efficiency or lower photosynthetic capacity discriminate more against 13 C at the global scale.
- Author
-
Hu Y, Schäfer KVR, Hu S, Zhou W, Xiang D, Zeng Y, Ouyang S, Chen L, Lei P, Deng X, Zhao Z, Fang X, and Xiang W
- Subjects
- Phylogeny, Plant Leaves, Water, Wood, Xylem
- Abstract
Leaf carbon isotope composition (δ
13 C) provides an integrative record on the carbon and water balance of plants over long periods. Photosynthetic ability and hydraulic traits which are highly associated with stomatal behavior could affect leaf δ13 C. Association between photosynthetic ability and leaf δ13 C has been examined, however, how hydraulic traits influence leaf δ13 C has not been fully understood. To fill this gap, we investigated the variations in leaf δ13 C among 2591 woody species (547 shrub and 2044 tree species), and analyzed the link of leaf δ13 C with leaf photosynthetic and xylem hydraulic traits. Our result showed that leaf δ13 C was positively correlated to leaf photosynthetic ability and capacity. For hydraulic traits, leaf δ13 C was negatively related to hydraulic conductivity (Ks ), xylem pressure inducing 50 % loss of hydraulic conductivity (P50 ) and vessel diameter (Vdia ). Associations of leaf δ13 C with xylem hydraulic traits indicate woody species with stronger hydraulic safety discriminated less against13 C, while woody species with higher hydraulic efficiency had more negative leaf δ13 C. Shrub species, which showed a lower Vdia and P50 , had a significant less negative leaf δ13 C than tree species. Furthermore, woody species inhabiting in dry regions discriminated less against13 C than those growing in humid regions. Moreover, leaf δ13 C displayed a low phylogenetic signal based on Blomberg's K statistic. Overall, woody species with a higher leaf photosynthetic ability or stronger hydraulic safety system discriminated less against13 C and adopt the provident water use strategy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF