Hydraulically integrated or modular? Comparing whole‐plant‐level hydraulic systems between two desert shrub species with different growth forms

Summary•  Hydraulic systems of shrubs vary between hydraulically integrated and modular architectures; the latter divide the shrub into independent hydraulic units. Hydraulic systems of two common North American desert shrub species, the multi‐branched Ambrosia dumosa and the single‐stemmed Encelia farinosa (both Asteraceae), were compared to test for division into independent hydraulic units and the implications of such a division for water loss through leaves and roots. •  Hydraulic systems of mature shrubs in the field were characterized using dye tracers and by documenting the degree of stem segmentation. Young pot‐grown shrubs were subjected to heterogeneous and homogeneous watering. Spatial within‐canopy variation of leaf water potentials and stomatal conductances, as well as soil water contents, were measured in response to manipulated soil water heterogeneity. •  Results show that young Ambrosia shrubs are divided into independent hydraulic units long before they physically split into separate ramets as mature shrubs, and that young and mature Encelia shrubs possess integrated hydraulic systems. No hydraulic redistribution was detected for eitherspecies. •  Our study shows that functional segmentation into independent hydraulic units precedes physical axis splitting, rather than being the consequence of split axes, and suggests that mature shrubs with round basal stems are likely to be hydraulically integrated.