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While variation in mean annual precipitation (MAP) of the native habitat of a species has been shown to determine the ability of a species to resist a hydraulic decrease during drought, it remains unknown whether these variations in MAP also influence the ability of a species to recover and survive drought. Leaf hydraulic and gas exchange recovery following drought and the underlying mechanisms of these responses in six Caragana species from habitats along a large precipitation gradient were investigated during rehydration in a common garden. The gas exchange of species from arid habitats recovered more rapidly during rehydration after mild, moderate and severe drought stress treatments than species from humid habitats. The recovery of gas exchange was not associated with foliar abscisic acid concentration, but tightly related to the recovery of leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf). The recovery of Kleaf was associated with the loss of Kleaf during dehydration under mild and moderate drought stress, and to leaf xylem embolism formation under severe drought stress. Results pointed to the different ability to recover in gas exchange in six Caragana species post‐drought is associated with the MAP of the species in its native habitat. Summary Statement: Mean annual precipitation (MAP) has been shown to shape species' ability to resist a hydraulic dysfunction during drought. Our findings suggest that the ability to recover in gas exchange post‐drought as a strong driver in shaping species' distribution along a MAP gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a cyclical phenomenon in natural environments. During dehydration, stomatal closure is mainly regulated by abscisic acid (ABA) dynamics that limit transpiration in seed plants, but following rehydration, the mechanism of gas exchange recovery is still not clear. In this study, leaf water potential (ψleaf), stomatal conductance (gs), leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf), foliar ABA level, ethylene emission rate in response to dehydration and rehydration were investigated in four Caragana species with isohydric (Caragana spinosa and C. pruinosa) and anisohydric (C. intermedia and C. microphylla) traits. Two isohydric species with ABA‐induced stomatal closure exhibited more sensitive gs and Kleaf to decreasing ψleaf than two anisohydric species which exhibited a switch from ABA to water potential‐driven stomatal closure during dehydration. Following rehydration, the recovery of gas exchange was not associated with a decrease in ABA level but was strongly limited by the degradation of the ethylene emission rate in all species. Furthermore, two anisohydric species with low drought‐induced ethylene production exhibited more rapid recovery in gas exchange upon rehydration. Our results indicated that ethylene is a key factor regulating the drought‐recovery ability in terms of gas exchange, which may shape species adaptation to drought and potential species distribution. Drought is a cyclical phenomenon in natural environments. During dehydration, stomatal closure is mainly regulated by abscisic acid (ABA) dynamics that limit transpiration in seed plants, but the mechanisms of gas exchange recovery are still not clear following rehydration. The results in this study indicate that ethylene is a key factor regulating the drought‐recovery ability in terms of gas exchange, which may shape species adaptation to drought and potential species distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]