Differential effects of drought on nonstructural carbohydrate storage in seedlings and mature trees of four species in a subtropical forest

Peipei Zhang; Xuhui Zhou; Yuling Fu; Junjiong Shao; Lingyan Zhou; Songsong Li; Guiyao Zhou; Zhenhong Hu; Jiaqi Hu; Shahla Hosseini Bai; Nate G McDowell

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118159

Back

Differential effects of drought on nonstructural carbohydrate storage in seedlings and mature trees of four species in a subtropical forest

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Differential effects of drought on nonstructural carbohydrate storage in seedlings and mature trees of four species in a subtropical forest

Peipei Zhang, Xuhui Zhou, Yuling Fu, Junjiong Shao, Lingyan Zhou, Songsong Li, Guiyao Zhou, Zhenhong Hu, Jiaqi Hu, Shahla Hosseini Bai, …

Forest Ecology and Management, Vol.469, 118159

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118159

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118159View

Published Version

Abstract

NSC

subtropical evergreen trees

throughfall exclusion

tree life stages

understory seedlings

Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) play important roles in forest vulnerability to climate change, especially under increasing drought intensity and frequency. Understanding NSC dynamics is essential for accurately predicting the resistance and resilience of forests in response to drought. However, our knowledge of NSC responses to drought is still limited due to the lack of research in trees of different life stages. In this study, we conducted a throughfall exclusion experiment (TFE) with four subtropical evergreen tree species to examine drought effects on NSC in mature trees and understory seedlings. Our results showed the differential effects of drought on NSC dynamics of understory seedlings and mature trees. In the TFE experiment, mature trees of all four species were relatively homoeostatic with the insignificantly changed NSC pools, photosynthesis, and growth under the drought treatment compared to the control. In contrast, understory seedlings displayed significant decreases in total NSC and soluble sugars (-14.70±3.66% and -16.93±3.85%, respectively) with the exception of Lithocarpus glaber (L. glaber). The seedlings of L. glaber with the highest hydraulic resistance maintained or slightly increased NSC and its components in response to drought. Our study highlights the importance of life stage in assessing drought effects of trees on NSC storage and then forest C cycling, which could be incorporated into the dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) to better understand drought effects on forest C balance in the future.

Details

Title: Differential effects of drought on nonstructural carbohydrate storage in seedlings and mature trees of four species in a subtropical forest
Authors: Peipei Zhang (Author) - East China Normal University, China
Xuhui Zhou (Author) - East China Normal University, China
Yuling Fu (Author) - East China Normal University, China
Junjiong Shao (Author) - East China Normal University, China
Lingyan Zhou (Author) - East China Normal University, China
Songsong Li (Author) - East China Normal University, China
Guiyao Zhou (Author) - East China Normal University, China
Zhenhong Hu (Author) - South China Agricultural University, China
Jiaqi Hu (Author) - East China Normal University, China
Shahla Hosseini Bai (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Nate G McDowell (Author) - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, United States
Publication details: Forest Ecology and Management, Vol.469, 118159
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date published: 2020
DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118159
ISSN: 0378-1127
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451339402621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

47 Record Views

43 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Forestry

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites