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After more than a decade of soil moisture deficit, tropical rainforest trees maintain photosynthetic capacity, despite increased leaf respiration.

Rowland, L ; Lobo-do-Vale, R L ; Christoffersen, B O ; Melém, E A ; Kruijt, B ; Vasconcelos, S S ; Domingues, T ; Binks, O J ; Oliveira, A A R and Metcalfe, Dan LU , et al. (2015) In Global Change Biology 21(12). p.4662-4672
Abstract
Determining climate change feedbacks from tropical rainforests requires an understanding of how carbon gain through photosynthesis and loss through respiration will be altered. One of the key changes that tropical rainforests may experience under future climate change scenarios is reduced soil moisture availability. In this study we examine if and how both leaf photosynthesis and leaf dark respiration acclimate following more than 12 years of experimental soil moisture deficit, via a through-fall exclusion experiment (TFE) in an eastern Amazonian rainforest. We find that experimentally drought-stressed trees and taxa maintain the same maximum leaf photosynthetic capacity as trees in corresponding control forest, independent of their... (More)
Determining climate change feedbacks from tropical rainforests requires an understanding of how carbon gain through photosynthesis and loss through respiration will be altered. One of the key changes that tropical rainforests may experience under future climate change scenarios is reduced soil moisture availability. In this study we examine if and how both leaf photosynthesis and leaf dark respiration acclimate following more than 12 years of experimental soil moisture deficit, via a through-fall exclusion experiment (TFE) in an eastern Amazonian rainforest. We find that experimentally drought-stressed trees and taxa maintain the same maximum leaf photosynthetic capacity as trees in corresponding control forest, independent of their susceptibility to drought-induced mortality. We hypothesise that photosynthetic capacity is maintained across all treatments and taxa to take advantage of short-lived periods of high moisture availability, when stomatal conductance (gs ) and photosynthesis can increase rapidly, potentially compensating for reduced assimilate supply at other times. Average leaf dark respiration (Rd ) was elevated in the TFE-treated forest trees relative to the control by 28.2±2.8% (mean ± one standard error). This mean Rd value was dominated by a 48.5±3.6% increase in the Rd of drought-sensitive taxa, and likely reflects the need for additional metabolic support required for stress-related repair, and hydraulic or osmotic maintenance processes. Following soil moisture deficit that is maintained for several years, our data suggest that changes in respiration drive greater shifts in the canopy carbon balance, than changes in photosynthetic capacity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
exclusion, tropical rainforest, through-fall, photosynthetic capacity, leaf dark respiration, drought
in
Global Change Biology
volume
21
issue
12
pages
4662 - 4672
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:26179437
  • wos:000364777400031
  • scopus:84947035914
  • pmid:26179437
ISSN
1354-1013
DOI
10.1111/gcb.13035
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3bd92933-853a-410f-8df7-52846fb08cf9 (old id 7743901)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:18:15
date last changed
2022-04-27 20:33:43
@article{3bd92933-853a-410f-8df7-52846fb08cf9,
  abstract     = {{Determining climate change feedbacks from tropical rainforests requires an understanding of how carbon gain through photosynthesis and loss through respiration will be altered. One of the key changes that tropical rainforests may experience under future climate change scenarios is reduced soil moisture availability. In this study we examine if and how both leaf photosynthesis and leaf dark respiration acclimate following more than 12 years of experimental soil moisture deficit, via a through-fall exclusion experiment (TFE) in an eastern Amazonian rainforest. We find that experimentally drought-stressed trees and taxa maintain the same maximum leaf photosynthetic capacity as trees in corresponding control forest, independent of their susceptibility to drought-induced mortality. We hypothesise that photosynthetic capacity is maintained across all treatments and taxa to take advantage of short-lived periods of high moisture availability, when stomatal conductance (gs ) and photosynthesis can increase rapidly, potentially compensating for reduced assimilate supply at other times. Average leaf dark respiration (Rd ) was elevated in the TFE-treated forest trees relative to the control by 28.2±2.8% (mean ± one standard error). This mean Rd value was dominated by a 48.5±3.6% increase in the Rd of drought-sensitive taxa, and likely reflects the need for additional metabolic support required for stress-related repair, and hydraulic or osmotic maintenance processes. Following soil moisture deficit that is maintained for several years, our data suggest that changes in respiration drive greater shifts in the canopy carbon balance, than changes in photosynthetic capacity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Rowland, L and Lobo-do-Vale, R L and Christoffersen, B O and Melém, E A and Kruijt, B and Vasconcelos, S S and Domingues, T and Binks, O J and Oliveira, A A R and Metcalfe, Dan and L da Costa, A C and Mencuccini, M and Meir, P}},
  issn         = {{1354-1013}},
  keywords     = {{exclusion; tropical rainforest; through-fall; photosynthetic capacity; leaf dark respiration; drought}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{4662--4672}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Global Change Biology}},
  title        = {{After more than a decade of soil moisture deficit, tropical rainforest trees maintain photosynthetic capacity, despite increased leaf respiration.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13035}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/gcb.13035}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}