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Across climates and species, higher vapour pressure deficit is associated with wider vessels for plants of the same height
Author(s) -
Olson Mark E.,
Anfodillo Tommaso,
Rosell Julieta A.,
MartínezMéndez Norberto
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/pce.13884
Subject(s) - vapour pressure deficit , xylem , climate change , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , resistance (ecology) , ecology , biology , botany , transpiration , geology , photosynthesis
Abstract While plant height is the main driver of variation in mean vessel diameter at the stem base ( VD ) across angiosperms, climate, specifically temperature, does play an explanatory role, with vessels being wider with warmer temperature for plants of the same height. Using a comparative approach sampling 537 species of angiosperms across 19 communities, we rejected selection favouring freezing‐induced embolism resistance as being able to account for wider vessels for a given height in warmer climates. Instead, we give reason to suspect that higher vapour pressure deficit ( VPD ) accounts for the positive scaling of height‐standardized VD (and potential xylem conductance) with temperature. Selection likely favours conductive systems that are able to meet the higher transpirational demand of warmer climates, which have higher VPD , resulting in wider vessels for a given height. At the same time, wider vessels are likely more vulnerable to dysfunction. With future climates likely to experience ever greater extremes of VPD , future forests could be increasingly vulnerable.