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Coordination of rooting depth and leaf hydraulic traits defines drought-related strategies in the campos rupestres, a tropical montane biodiversity hotspot

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Abstract

Background and aims

The survival and coexistence of plants in water-limited environments are related to their ability to coordinate water acquisition and regulation of water loss. To assess the coordination among below and aboveground hydraulic traits and the diversity of water-use strategies, we evaluated rooting depth and several leaf hydraulic traits of 15 species in campos rupestres, a seasonally-dry biodiversity hotspot in central Brazil.

Methods

We assessed the depth of plant water acquisition by excavating roots and analyzing the stable isotope composition of hydrogen (δD) and oxygen (δ18O) in the xylem and soil water. We also measured mid-morning stomatal conductance, leaf-water potential at turgor loss point (ѰTLP) and pre-dawn leaf water potentials (ѰPD) during wet and dry seasons.

Results

We demonstrated that rooting depth is a good predictor of seasonal variations in stomatal conductance and ѰPD. Shallow-rooted plants had greater variation in stomatal conductance and ѰPD than deep-rooted plants. Woody plants with shallower roots also had lower ѰTLP than deep-rooted plants, revealing higher drought resistance.

Conclusion

We demonstrate that shallow-rooted species, more exposed to variation in water availability, have mechanisms to confer drought resistance through turgor maintenance. Our results support the theory of hydrological niche segregation and its underlying trade-offs related to drought resistance.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge CAPES agency for the scholarships granted to MB and AA; financial support by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) with a scholarship to GST (2010/50327-8 and 2012/21015-3) and grant to RSO (2010/10204-0; 2011/52072-0). We thank Dr. Lucy Rowland for reviewing the manuscript; Caroline S. Muller and José Carmelo for helping in the field work, Dr. Plinio B. de Camargo, Dr. Marcelo Z. Moreira and Mr. Geraldo de Arruda for allowing the use of laboratory facilities at CENA-USP, ICMBio for allowing this study at PNSC, and Canastra Adventure and Dona Vicentina for the logistic support. The authors confirm do not have conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas – UNICAMP, P.O. Box: 6109, Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

    Mauro Brum, Grazielle Sales Teodoro, Anna Abrahão & Rafael Silva Oliveira

  2. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil

    Grazielle Sales Teodoro

  3. School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

    Anna Abrahão & Rafael Silva Oliveira

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  1. Mauro Brum
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  2. Grazielle Sales Teodoro
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  3. Anna Abrahão
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  4. Rafael Silva Oliveira
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Correspondence to Mauro Brum or Rafael Silva Oliveira.

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Brum, M., Teodoro, G.S., Abrahão, A. et al. Coordination of rooting depth and leaf hydraulic traits defines drought-related strategies in the campos rupestres, a tropical montane biodiversity hotspot. Plant Soil 420, 467–480 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3330-x

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