Hydraulic architecture and the evolution of shoot allometry in contrasting climates

We used pairs of congeneric shrub species from contrasting habitats to test for repeated evolutionary divergence in leaf-stem allometry and shoot hydraulic architecture in response to water availability. Allometric relationships and mean ratios between leaf size (individual and total area and mass per shoot) and stem cross-sectional area were compared between habitats using six species pairs representing three genera (Arctostaphylos, Baccharis, Ceanothus). We measured correlations among evolutionary changes in allometric, morphological, and physiological traits using phylogenetic independent contrasts. Allometric analysis revealed habitat differences: slopes were homogeneous among species (=1.46), but the more mesic-adapted species generally supported more leaf area at a common stem cross-sectional area. Reducing bivariate allometry to a ratio obscured this pattern because ratios varied with stem size, which was unrelated to habitat. Mean individual leaf size also was not correlated with either water availability or leaf-stem allometry. Stem hydraulic conductivity was generally lower in the xeric-adapted species of each pair, and its evolution mirrored changes in shoot allometry. This study provides evidence for repeated evolutionary divergence in shoot allometry and hydraulic architecture associated with water availability and demonstrates the importance of shoot allometry to water relations, independent of leaf size.