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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Water Management and Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #325427
Title: Toward an index of desiccation times to tree mortality under drought

Author
item BLACKMAN, CHRIS - Western Sydney University
item PFAUTSCH, SEBASTIAN - Western Sydney University
item CHOAT, BRENDAN - Western Sydney University
item DELZON, SYLVAIN - University Of Bordeaux
item Gleason, Sean
item DUURSMA, REMKO - Western Sydney University

Submitted to: Plant, Cell & Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/7/2016
Publication Date: 6/16/2016
Citation: Blackman, C.J., Pfautsch, S., Choat, B., Delzon, S., Gleason, S.M., Duursma, R.A. 2016. Toward an index of desiccation times to tree mortality under drought. Plant, Cell & Environment. doi:10.1111/pce.12758.

Interpretive Summary: Research has provided important insights into how plants transport water and respond to drought. However our ability to predict when plants will die under extreme drought is limited by our knowledge of how quickly they lose water and where this water comes from (e.g., soil, plant storage tissues). We argue that plant characteristics (traits) that influence the rate of water loss or the amount of water stored in plant tissues are important in determining when plants die under extreme drought. Thus, we develop a simple model that incorporates key aspects of plant size, shape, rate of water loss, and drought mortality threshold in order to define species differences in the time it takes plants to die from drought stress.

Technical Abstract: Research in plant hydraulics has provided important insights into plant responses to drought and species absolute drought tolerance. However our ability to predict when plants will die under extreme drought may be limited by a lack of knowledge with regards to the dynamics of plant desiccation from full hydration through to lethal levels of drought stress. We argue that in combination with vulnerability to drought-induced embolism, traits involved in the reduction of water loss or their influence on water storage reservoirs after stomatal closure will be important in determining when plants die under extreme drought as a result of catastrophic hydraulic failure. Thus, we develop a simple model that incorporates key aspects of plant allometry, rates of water loss, and drought mortality thresholds in order to define species differences in the time it takes plants to desiccate from full hydration to lethal levels of drought stress.