Starch storage capacity of sapwood is related to dehydration avoidance during drought

The xylem tissue of plants performs three principal functions: transport of water, support of the plant body, and nutrient storage. Tradeoffs may arise because different structural requirements are associated with different functions or because suites of traits are under selection that relate to resource acquisition, use, and turnover. The structural and functional basis of xylem storage is not well established. We hypothesized that greater starch storage would be associated with greater sapwood parenchyma and reduced fibers, which would compromise resistance to xylem tensions during dehydration.

We measured cavitation resistance, minimum water potential, starch content, and sapwood parenchyma and fiber area in 30 species of southern California chaparral shrubs (evergreen and deciduous).

We found that species storing greater starch within their xylem tended to avoid dehydration and were less cavitation resistant, and this was supported by phylogenetic independent contrasts. Greater sapwood starch was associated with greater parenchyma area and reduced fiber area. For species without living fibers, the associations with parenchyma were stronger, suggesting that living fibers may expand starch storage capacity while also contributing to the support function of the vascular tissue. Drought-deciduous species were associated with greater dehydration avoidance than evergreens.

Evolutionary forces have led to an association between starch storage and dehydration resistance as part of an adaptive suite of traits. We found evidence for a tradeoff between tissue mechanical traits and starch storage; moreover, the evolution of novel strategies, such as starch-storing living fibers, may mitigate the strength of this tradeoff.