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Summary Populus fremontiiis among the most dominant, and ecologically important riparian tree species in the western United States and can thrive in hyper‐arid riparian corridors. Yet,P. fremontiiforests have rapidly declined over the last decade, particularly in places where temperatures sometimes exceed 50°C.We evaluated high temperature tolerance of leaf metabolism, leaf thermoregulation, and leaf hydraulic function in eightP. fremontiipopulations spanning a 5.3°C mean annual temperature gradient in a well‐watered common garden, and at source locations throughout the lower Colorado River Basin.Two major results emerged. First, despite having an exceptionally highTcrit(the temperature at which Photosystem II is disrupted) relative to other tree taxa, recent heat waves exceededTcrit, requiring evaporative leaf cooling to maintain leaf‐to‐air thermal safety margins. Second, in midsummer, genotypes from the warmest locations maintained lower midday leaf temperatures, a higher midday stomatal conductance, and maintained turgor pressure at lower water potentials than genotypes from more temperate locations.Taken together, results suggest that under well‐watered conditions,P. fremontiican regulate leaf temperature belowTcritalong the warm edge of its distribution. Nevertheless, reduced Colorado River flows threaten to lower water tables below levels needed for evaporative cooling during episodic heat waves.
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Does plant ecosystem thermoregulation occur? An extratropical assessment at different spatial and temporal scales
Summary To what degree plant ecosystems thermoregulate their canopy temperature (Tc) is critical to assess ecosystems' metabolisms and resilience with climate change, but remains controversial, with opinions from no to moderate thermoregulation capability.With global datasets ofTc, air temperature (Ta), and other environmental and biotic variables from FLUXNET and satellites, we tested the ‘limited homeothermy’ hypothesis (indicated byTc&Taregression slope < 1 orTc < Taaround midday) across global extratropics, including temporal and spatial dimensions.Across daily to weekly and monthly timescales, over 80% of sites/ecosystems have slopes ≥1 orTc > Taaround midday, rejecting the above hypothesis. For those sites unsupporting the hypothesis, theirTc–Tadifference (ΔT) exhibits considerable seasonality that shows negative, partial correlations with leaf area index, implying a certain degree of thermoregulation capability. Spatially, site‐mean ΔTexhibits larger variations than the slope indicator, suggesting ΔTis a more sensitive indicator for detecting thermoregulatory differences across biomes. Furthermore, this large spatial‐wide ΔTvariation (0–6°C) is primarily explained by environmental variables (38%) and secondarily by biotic factors (15%).These results demonstrate diverse thermoregulation patterns across global extratropics, with most ecosystems negating the ‘limited homeothermy’ hypothesis, but their thermoregulation still occurs, implying that slope < 1 orTc < Taare not necessary conditions for plant thermoregulation.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2140428
- PAR ID:
- 10404597
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- New Phytologist
- Volume:
- 238
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0028-646X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1004-1018
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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