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Tree Physiology Advance Access published online on January 30, 2009
Tree Physiology, doi:10.1093/treephys/tpn053
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The hydraulic conductance of Fraxinus ornus leaves is constrained by soil water availability and coordinated with gas exchange rates

Emmanuelle Gortan1, Andrea Nardini1,2, Antonio Gascó3 and Sebastiano Salleo1

1 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste, Italy
2 Corresponding author (nardini{at}units.it)
3 Centro de Investigación Forestal (CIFOR), Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), 28040 Madrid, Spain


  Abstract

Leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf) is known to be an important determinant of plant gas exchange and photosynthesis. Little is known about the long-term impact of different environmental factors on the hydraulic construction of leaves and its eventual consequences on leaf gas exchange. In this study, we investigate the impact of soil water availability on Kleaf of Fraxinus ornus L. as well as the influence of Kleaf on gas exchange rates and plant water status. With this aim, Kleaf, leaf conductance to water vapour (gL), leaf water potential ({Psi}leaf) and leaf mass per area (LMA) were measured in F. ornus trees, growing in 21 different sites with contrasting water availability. Plants growing in arid sites had lower Kleaf, gL and {Psi}leaf than those growing in sites with higher water availability. On the contrary, LMA was similar in the two groups. The Kleaf values recorded in sites with two different levels of soil water availability were constantly different from each other regardless of the amount of precipitation recorded over 20 days before measurements. Moreover, Kleaf was correlated with gL values. Our data suggest that down-regulation of Kleaf is a component of adaptation of plants to drought-prone habitats. Low Kleaf implies reduced gas exchange which may, in turn, influence the climatic conditions on a local/regional scale. It is concluded that leaf hydraulics and its changes in response to resource availability should receive greater attention in studies aimed at modelling biosphere–atmosphere interactions.

Keywords: leaf, leaf water potential, water stress

Received October 27, 2008; Accepted December 16, 2008


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