Hot drought reduces the effects of elevated CO2 on tree water-use efficiency and carbon metabolism
Open Access
- 1 June 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in New Phytologist
- Vol. 226 (6), 1607-1621
- https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16471
Abstract
Trees are increasingly exposed to hot droughts due to CO2-induced climate change. However, the direct role of [CO2] in altering tree physiological responses to drought and heat stress remains ambiguous. Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) trees were grown from seed under ambient (421 ppm) or elevated (867 ppm) [CO2]. The 1.5-yr-old trees, either well watered or drought treated for 1 month, were transferred to separate gas-exchange chambers and the temperature gradually increased from 25 degrees C to 40 degrees C over a 10 d period. Continuous whole-tree shoot and root gas-exchange measurements were supplemented by primary metabolite analysis. Elevated [CO2] reduced tree water loss, reflected in lower stomatal conductance, resulting in a higher water-use efficiency throughout amplifying heat stress. Net carbon uptake declined strongly, driven by increases in respiration peaking earlier in the well-watered (31-32 degrees C) than drought (33-34 degrees C) treatments unaffected by growth [CO2]. Further, drought altered the primary metabolome, whereas the metabolic response to [CO2] was subtle and mainly reflected in enhanced root protein stability. The impact of elevated [CO2] on tree stress responses was modest and largely vanished with progressing heat and drought. We therefore conclude that increases in atmospheric [CO2] cannot counterbalance the impacts of hot drought extremes in Aleppo pine.Funding Information
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SCHM 2736/2‐1, YA 274/1‐1, RU 1657/2‐1)
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
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