TY - JOUR
T1 - Physiological responses of two contrasting desert plant species to precipitation variability are differentially regulated by soil moisture and nitrogen dynamics
AU - Patrick, Lisa D.
AU - Ogle, Kiona
AU - Bell, Colin W.
AU - Zak, John
AU - Tissue, David
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Alterations in global and regional precipitation patterns are expected to affect plant and ecosystem productivity, especially in water-limited ecosystems. This study examined the effects of natural and supplemental (25% increase) seasonal precipitation on a sotol grassland ecosystem in Big Bend National Park in the Chihuahuan Desert. Physiological responses - leaf photosynthesis at saturating light (Asat), stomatal conductance (g s), and leaf nitrogen [N] - of two species differing in their life form and physiological strategies (Dasylirion leiophyllum, a C3 shrub; Bouteloua curtipendula, a C4 grass) were measured over 3 years (2004-2006) that differed greatly in their annual and seasonal precipitation patterns (2004: wet, 2005: average, 2006: dry). Precipitation inputs are likely to affect leaf-level physiology thro0ugh the direct effects of altered soil water and soil nitrogen. Thus, the effects of precipitation, watering treatment, soil moisture, and nitrogen were quantified via multivariate hierarchical Bayesian models that explicitly linked the leaf and soil responses. The two species differed in their physiological responses to precipitation and were differentially controlled by soil water vs. soil nitrogen. In the relatively deeply rooted C3 shrub, D. leiophyllum, Asat was highest in moist periods and was primarily regulated by deep (16-30 cm) soil water. In the shallow-rooted C4grass, B. curtipendula, Asat was only coupled to leaf [N], both of which increased in dry periods when soil [N] was highest. Supplemental watering during the wet year generally decreased Asat and leaf [N] in D. leiophyllum, perhaps due to nutrient limitation, and physiological responses in this species were influenced by the cumulative effects of 5 years of supplemental watering. Both species are common in this ecosystem and responded strongly, yet differently, to soil moisture and nitrogen, suggesting that changes in the timing and magnitude of precipitation may have consequences for plant carbon gain, with the potential to alter community composition.
AB - Alterations in global and regional precipitation patterns are expected to affect plant and ecosystem productivity, especially in water-limited ecosystems. This study examined the effects of natural and supplemental (25% increase) seasonal precipitation on a sotol grassland ecosystem in Big Bend National Park in the Chihuahuan Desert. Physiological responses - leaf photosynthesis at saturating light (Asat), stomatal conductance (g s), and leaf nitrogen [N] - of two species differing in their life form and physiological strategies (Dasylirion leiophyllum, a C3 shrub; Bouteloua curtipendula, a C4 grass) were measured over 3 years (2004-2006) that differed greatly in their annual and seasonal precipitation patterns (2004: wet, 2005: average, 2006: dry). Precipitation inputs are likely to affect leaf-level physiology thro0ugh the direct effects of altered soil water and soil nitrogen. Thus, the effects of precipitation, watering treatment, soil moisture, and nitrogen were quantified via multivariate hierarchical Bayesian models that explicitly linked the leaf and soil responses. The two species differed in their physiological responses to precipitation and were differentially controlled by soil water vs. soil nitrogen. In the relatively deeply rooted C3 shrub, D. leiophyllum, Asat was highest in moist periods and was primarily regulated by deep (16-30 cm) soil water. In the shallow-rooted C4grass, B. curtipendula, Asat was only coupled to leaf [N], both of which increased in dry periods when soil [N] was highest. Supplemental watering during the wet year generally decreased Asat and leaf [N] in D. leiophyllum, perhaps due to nutrient limitation, and physiological responses in this species were influenced by the cumulative effects of 5 years of supplemental watering. Both species are common in this ecosystem and responded strongly, yet differently, to soil moisture and nitrogen, suggesting that changes in the timing and magnitude of precipitation may have consequences for plant carbon gain, with the potential to alter community composition.
KW - Bouteloua curtipendula
KW - Chihuahuan Desert
KW - Climate change
KW - Dasylirion leiophyllum
KW - Hierarchical Bayesian modeling
KW - Photosynthesis
KW - Precipitation manipulation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=64849100131&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01750.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01750.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:64849100131
SN - 1354-1013
VL - 15
SP - 1214
EP - 1229
JO - Global Change Biology
JF - Global Change Biology
IS - 5
ER -