Gas exchange responses of a desert herbaceous perennial to variable sunlight in contrasting microhabitats

Over the course of a day, aridland plants experience a range of incident photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) spanning three orders of magnitude. Rapid photosynthetic responses to changes in PPF have large effects on individual plant carbon gain and water use patterns, hence are important to plant distribution and success. We investigated the response over time of photosynthesis (A), stomatal conductance (g), and inter-cellular CO₂ concentration (C_i) to step changes in PPF in a long-lived aridland perennial that typically occurs in two contrasting microhabitats, shade under shrubs of other species and unshaded inter-shrub spaces. An initial rapid response in A and C_i for plants in both microhabitats occurred after abrupt changes in PPF. This was followed by slower changes in these parameters during the rest of the light or dark period. Stomatal conductance responded more gradually to step changes in PPF. The initial increase in A after a dark cycle was significantly greater for plants under shrubs than for plants in inter-shrub spaces, but other changes in A, g and C_i did not differ. We attribute the similar responses in plants from different microhabitats to natural variations in solar radiation and limited selection for differentiation due to population gene pools dominated by plants in the open. Our results support the hypothesis that variable light regimes select for photosynthetic gas exchange processes that closely track changes in incident PPF. Our data also support the hypothesis that gas exchange responses to variable light regimes in aridland plants minimize trade-offs between carbon gain and water loss.     

Nutrient status of Populus euphratica growing in desert riparian forests of northwestern China

Seasonal and microhabitat variations of chemical constituents of foliar organic carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), and total potassium (K), in Populus euphratica growing in desert riparian forests in northwestern China and their correlations were studied. Results show that ranges of C, N, P and K contents in the leaves of P. euphratica were 39.08%?46.16%, 0.28%?2.81%, 0.05%?0.18% and 0.35%?2.03%, with means of 43.51%, 1.49%, 0.102% and 1.17%, respectively. The ratio of C/N, C/P and N/P changed from 16.26 to 146.61, from 258.08 to 908.67 and from 2.89 to 26.67; the mean was 37.24, 466.27 and 15.14, respectively. The mean N content was significantly lower than of deciduous trees in China, but the mean P content was nearly equivalent. The ratio of C/N was remarkably higher than of global land plants. The ratio of N/P indicated that growth of P. euphratica was jointly limited by N and P nutrient deficiency. During the growth season, total trends of leaf C, N, P and K contents decreased. The maximum appeared in May, and the minimum in September. Among microhabitats, C, N and K contents gradually increased from riparian lowland, flatland, sandpile, Gobi and dune, but C/N ratio was opposite, and P content was not apparent. Foliar C content was extremely, significantly and positively correlated with N and K contents, respectively. The relationships of N-K and P-K were both significantly positive.     

Competition as a barrier to establishment of a native perennial grass (Elymus elymoides) in alien annual grass (Bromus tectorum) communities

The alien grass Bromus tectorum dominates stable annual-plant communities that have replaced native shrub-perennial grass communities over much of the semi-arid western United States. We conducted field competition experiments between B. tectorum and a native grass, Elymus elymoides, on two sites to determine the effects of B. tectorum competition on perennial grasses, and the role of B. tectorum competition in the stability of B. tectorum-dominated communities. B. tectorum competition acting on seedling-stage E. elymoides plants greatly reduced first-year relative growth rates and biomass which, in turn, reduced second-year survival, biomass, and flowering. However, B. tectorum competition acting on older E. elymoides plants had much less effect, which may help to explain why intact perennial-plant communities are resistant to B. tectorum invasion. At the drier site, direct effects of B. tectorum competition were less, but competition and drier habitat combined to produce greater E. elymoides mortality.     

Effect of plant species on shrub fertile island at an oasis–desert ecotone in the South Junggar Basin, China

Shrub fertile islands are a common feature in arid ecosystems. To examine the effect of plant species on the spatial patterns of soil chemical and physical properties surrounding individual shrubs, two deciduous shrub species with different morphologies (Tamarix spp. and Haloxylon ammodendron Bge.) were studied at an oasis–desert ecotone in South Junggar Basin. Soil samples were collected under the shrub crown (canopy), at the vertically projected limit of shrub crown margin (periphery), and in the space between shrub crowns (interspace) at two depths, 0–10 and 10–20 cm, to analyze their physical and chemical properties. The results show that the fertile islands of Tamarix spp. are enriched with more soil nutrients (significantly higher, P<0.05; soil organic matter (SOM); total nitrogen (TN) and available nitrogen (AN); to a deeper depth (>20 cm) and in a larger area (beyond the canopied area) compared to that of H. ammodendron (significantly higher, P<0.05, soil nutrients detected only for AN; <20 cm in depth; smaller than the canopied area). Soil texture patterns surrounding the shrubs of the two species are even more different, with more coarse particles under the Tamarix spp. canopies compared to the interspace between shrubs but fewer under the H. ammodendron canopies compared to the interspaces. These variations are attributed to the difference in morphology of the two studied species: the Y-shaped crowns of H. ammodendron are less capable of capturing and maintaining litter under them than the hemispheroidal crowns of Tamarix spp., which leads to the less well developed fertile islands surrounding H. ammodendron shrubs.     

Hydrogeomorphic control on tree growth responses in the Elton area of the Cheshire Saltfield, UK

Increment cores were sampled from oak (Quercus robur) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior) growing at Elton, an area of the Cheshire Saltfield that has experienced significant subsidence and damage to the natural and built environments in the latter part of the twentieth century. Ring-width measurements for Elton trees permitted the construction of one main site chronology (Elton) and four sub chronologies (Elton A, Elton B, Elton C, Elton ASH). Ring-width difference between these and a control chronology identified periods of sustained growth reduction in oak trees commencing in AD 1859/1861, 1886 and 1934. Growth reductions after 1934 are related to watertable draw down caused by brine pumping from a concentration of nine boreholes at Elton, up to 2 km from tree sampling locations. Growth reductions in 1859/1861 and 1886 are likely to be the result of earlier phases of brine pumping in the Wheelock Valley, up to 5 km to the east of Elton, and these reductions correlate well with historic records of subsidence and pumping activity. Cessation of pumping in 1977 led to a lagged growth recovery in oak trees between 1981 and 1986, indicating that an artificial drought had been imposed on the Elton area for a period in excess off 100-y. This research demonstrates a hydrological separation of surface water and groundwater in an area where salt beds are overlain by till and that ring-width records of Q. robur can be used to reconstruct watertable variability and also the spatial impact of solution mining.     

Ecophysiology of the saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) in the Saguaro National Monument: relationship to symptoms of decline

The purpose of this study was to examine physiological correlates to the phenomenon of epidermal browning and saguaro decline in Saguaro National Monument. Gas exchange characteristics, surface temperatures, and the extent of epidermal browning in tissues of both healthy and declining saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea) at different solar orientations were examined in eight long-term monitoring plots in the Rincon Mountain District of the Saguaro National Monument near Tucson, Arizona during both wet and dry seasons and years.Daily maximum surface temperatures were greatest on west-oriented tissues, as predicted by a simple model. However, south- and south-west-oriented tissues showed the highest browning indices, suggesting that browning may be more related to cumulative thermal loading than to extreme late afternoon temperature events. During the wet season, maximum nocturnal CO₂uptake rates and total nocturnal CO₂uptake were negatively correlated with browning index. Uptake rates during dry seasons and dry years was minimal, and not related to browning indices. However, healthy tissues of saguaros that also had tissues with high browning indices had wet-season maximum CO₂uptake rates as high as saguaros without damaged tissues, suggesting that the browning is not systemic but rather is tissue- and angle-specific. Instantaneous measures of water-use efficiency did not vary significantly or predictably by angle, but rather were greatest during night-time and in tissues when CO₂uptake was greatest. We suggest that browning symptoms on cacti are most likely due to natural abiotic stress, and are unrelated to systemic pollution stress or increased UV-B radiation.     

Photosynthetic responses of Larrea tridentata to a step-increase in atmospheric CO2at the Nevada Desert FACE Facility

Of all terrestrial ecosystems, the productivity of deserts has been suggested to be the most responsive to increasing atmospheric CO₂. The extent to which this prediction holds will depend in part on plant responses to elevated CO₂under the highly variable conditions characteristic of arid regions. The photosynthetic responses ofLarrea tridentata , an evergreen shrub, to a step-increase in atmospheric CO₂(to 550 μmolmol⁻¹) were examined in the field using Free-Air CO₂Enrichment (FACE) under seasonally varying moisture conditions. Elevated CO₂substantially increased net assimilation rate (A_net) in Larrea during both moist and dry periods of the potential growing season, while stomatal conductance (g_s) did not differ between elevated and ambient CO₂treatments. Seasonal and diurnal gas exchange dynamics in elevated CO₂mirrored patterns in ambient CO₂, indicating that elevated CO₂did not extend photosynthetic activity longer into the dry season or during more stressful times of the day. Net assimilation vs. internal CO₂(A/C_i) responses showed no evidence of photosynthetic down-regulation during the dry season. In contrast, after significant autumn rains, A_max(the CO₂saturated rate of photosynthesis) and CE (carboxylation efficiency) were lower in Larrea under elevated CO₂. In situ chlorophyll fluorescence estimation ofLarrea Photosystem II efficiency (F_v/F_m) responded more to water limitation than to elevated CO₂. These findings suggest that predictions regarding desert plant responses to elevated CO₂should account for seasonal patterns of photosynthetic regulatory responses, which may vary across species and plant functional types.     

Differential responses of zooplankton populations (Bosmina longirostris) to fish predation and nutrient-loading in an introduced and a natural sockeye salmon nursery lake on Kodiak Island, Alaska, USA

Stratigraphic changes in the remains of Bosmina longirostris from a lake with an introduced sockeye salmon population and a lake with a natural salmon run on Kodiak Island demonstrated markedly different responses to past fluctuations in salmon populations. In both lakes, there was a positive correlation between the density of Bosmina microfossils and the abundance of sockeye salmon. However, opposite size trends were observed in the two lakes. In Karluk Lake, which has a native sockeye salmon population, Bosmina mean carapace lengths were largest at high salmon densities, and mean mucro and antennule lengths were also large, suggesting strong predation pressure from cyclopoid copepods, and less intense pressure from juvenile sockeye salmon. As salmon-derived nutrients are important in driving primary productivity in this system, changes in zooplankton productivity track salmon escapement, but grazing pressure on Bosmina from juvenile salmon is less important than that from cyclopoid copepods. In Frazer Lake, a lake with an introduced salmon population, Bosmina morphologies were smallest during periods of high sockeye salmon in the lake, suggesting much stronger predation effects from sockeye salmon due to the suppression of Cyclops columbianus. Latent development of compensatory mechanisms and the delayed recovery of copepod populations to salmon introductions has resulted in zooplankton populations that are still recovering from shifts in fish populations that occurred decades earlier. The differential response of Bosmina populations between the natural and manipulated lakes suggests that care must be taken when attempting to extrapolate results from whole-lake manipulations and short-term experiments to natural systems.     

Sap-flow measurement and scale transferring from sample trees to entire forest stand of Populus euphratica in desert riparian forest in extreme arid region

Understanding how the transpiration of this vegetation type responds to environmental stress is important for determining the wa-ter-balance dynamics of the riparian ecosystem threatened by groundwater depletion. Transpiration and sap flow were measured using the heat-pulse technique. The results were then projected up to the stand level to investigate the stand’s water-use in relation to climate forcing in the desert riparian forest in an extreme arid region. This study took place from April through October 2003 and from May through October 2004. The experimental site was selected in the Populus euphratica Forest Reserve (101o10’ E, 41o59’ N) in Ejina county, in the lower Heihe River basin, China. The sapwood area was used as a scalar to extrapolate the stand-water consumption from the whole trees’ water consumption measured by the heat-pulse velocity recorder (HPVR). Scale transferring from a series of individual trees to a stand was done according to the existing natural variations between trees under given environmental conditions. The application of the biometric parameters available from individual tree and stand levels was proved suitable for this purpose. A significant correlation between the sapwood area and tree diameter at breast height (DBH) was found. The prediction model is well fitted by the power model. On the basis of the prediction model, the sapwood area can be cal-culated by DBH. The sap-flow density can then be used to extrapolate the stand-water use by means of a series of mathematical models.     

Adaptation to living in an open arid environment: lessons from the burrow structure of the two southern African whistling rats, Parotomys brantsii and P. littledalei

This study examines interspecific differences in the architecture and field characteristics of the burrow systems of Brants' whistling rat, Parotomys brantsii, and Littledale's whistling rat, Parotomys littledalei. The two rodents are endemic to the arid west region of southern Africa. Both build complex burrow systems with numerous nest chambers and associated interconnecting tunnels, as well as a number of entrances. Burrow systems of P. littledalei are restricted to areas of good plant cover, whilst many P. brantsii burrows are situated in open locations with only limited plant cover. Further, the burrows of P. brantsii cover a much larger area than those of P. littledalei, with many more entrances. As P. brantsii feed predominantly within the boundaries of their burrows and not in the open veld, their burrow systems effectively serve as a predator refuge, into which this diurnal rodent can quickly run in the event of danger. Thus, by building large multi-holed burrow systems, P. brantsii have become independent of the protection offered by bush cover and can exist within relatively open areas within their distributional range. On the other hand, the reduced number of entrances to P. littledalei burrow systems may largely restrict this species to areas with adequate cover, including coastal and riverine bush, with which it is often associated.     

Germination of Callitris seeds in relation to temperature, water stress, priming, and hydration–dehydration cycles

The effects of temperature, water stress, hydration–dehydration cycles and seed priming on the germination of Callitris verrucosa and Callitris preissii, two Australian semi-arid coniferous tree species, were investigated. Optimum germination occurred at 18°C, with a minimum germination time of 8–9 days for both species. At this temperature, germination was inhibited at osmotic potentials lower than −1·0 MPa, but the capacity to germinate at low osmotic stress increased as the temperature decreased. Seed priming and hydration–dehydration cycles did not reduce seed viability, and Callitris seeds appear to retain the physiological changes induced by short-term hydration, as the time to the onset of germination was decreased to about 3 days. The capacity of Callitris seeds for incremental germination is likely to increase overall germination success in a low rainfall environment.