The hydraulic efficiency-safety trade-off differs between lianas and trees
Masha T van der Sande1,2,3,4,5, Lourens Poorter3, Stefan A Schnitzer6,7
1Department of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Theodor-Lieser-Straße 4, 06120, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Ecology
|February 26, 2019
Summary
Lianas exhibit decoupled hydraulic efficiency and safety, unlike trees, allowing them to potentially outperform trees in drier tropical forest conditions. This hydraulic trait coordination impacts species abundance and ecological strategies.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Plant Physiology
- Tropical Biology
Background:
- Hydraulic traits are crucial for woody plant survival and distribution.
- Understanding trait coordination is key, but less is known for lianas compared to trees.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the coordination among hydraulic efficiency, hydraulic safety, morphological/physiological traits, and species abundance in tropical lianas and trees.
- To identify differences in trait coordination between lianas and trees.
Main Methods:
- Studied saplings of 24 liana and 27 tree species in Panamanian wet tropical forests.
- Assessed hydraulic conductivity, cavitation resistance, eight other traits, and species abundance.
- Analyzed correlations between hydraulic traits and other plant characteristics.
Main Results:
- Trees showed a trade-off between hydraulic efficiency and safety; lianas did not.
- Hydraulic efficiency correlated with acquisitive traits in both groups.
- Hydraulic safety correlated with traits in trees but not lianas, suggesting different anchor traits.
- Shade tolerance traits linked to tree abundance, but not liana abundance.
Conclusions:
- Lianas possess a unique hydraulic trait coordination, decoupling efficiency and safety.
- This decoupling may enable lianas to achieve high growth rates and drought resistance, potentially outperforming trees in drier conditions.
- Different mechanisms likely govern hydraulic safety and abundance in lianas versus trees.
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