Groundwater extraction reduces tree vitality, growth and xylem hydraulic capacity in Quercus robur during and after drought events

Abstract Climate change is expected to pose major direct and indirect threats to groundwater-dependent forest ecosystems. Forests that concurrently experience increased rates of water extraction may face unprecedented exposure to droughts. Here, we examined differences in stem growth and xylem hydra...

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Autores principales: Georgios Skiadaresis, Julia Schwarz, Kerstin Stahl, Jürgen Bauhus
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Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/2d0ad05153de443dbec2d61fd6ee732b
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:2d0ad05153de443dbec2d61fd6ee732b2021-12-02T13:33:45ZGroundwater extraction reduces tree vitality, growth and xylem hydraulic capacity in Quercus robur during and after drought events10.1038/s41598-021-84322-62045-2322https://doaj.org/article/2d0ad05153de443dbec2d61fd6ee732b2021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84322-6https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Climate change is expected to pose major direct and indirect threats to groundwater-dependent forest ecosystems. Forests that concurrently experience increased rates of water extraction may face unprecedented exposure to droughts. Here, we examined differences in stem growth and xylem hydraulic architecture of 216 oak trees from sites with contrasting groundwater availability, including sites where groundwater extraction has led to reduced water availability for trees over several decades. We expected reduced growth and xylem hydraulic capacity for trees at groundwater extraction sites both under normal and unfavourable growing conditions. Compared to sites without extraction, trees at sites with groundwater extraction showed reduced growth and hydraulic conductivity both during periods of moderate and extremely low soil water availability. Trees of low vigour, which were more frequent at sites with groundwater extraction, were not able to recover growth and hydraulic capacity following drought, pointing to prolonged drought effects. Long-term water deficit resulting in reduced CO2 assimilation and hydraulic capacity after drought are very likely responsible for observed reductions in tree vitality at extraction sites. Our results demonstrate that groundwater access maintains tree function and resilience to drought and is therefore important for tree health in the context of climate change.Georgios SkiadaresisJulia SchwarzKerstin StahlJürgen BauhusNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Georgios Skiadaresis
Julia Schwarz
Kerstin Stahl
Jürgen Bauhus
Groundwater extraction reduces tree vitality, growth and xylem hydraulic capacity in Quercus robur during and after drought events
description Abstract Climate change is expected to pose major direct and indirect threats to groundwater-dependent forest ecosystems. Forests that concurrently experience increased rates of water extraction may face unprecedented exposure to droughts. Here, we examined differences in stem growth and xylem hydraulic architecture of 216 oak trees from sites with contrasting groundwater availability, including sites where groundwater extraction has led to reduced water availability for trees over several decades. We expected reduced growth and xylem hydraulic capacity for trees at groundwater extraction sites both under normal and unfavourable growing conditions. Compared to sites without extraction, trees at sites with groundwater extraction showed reduced growth and hydraulic conductivity both during periods of moderate and extremely low soil water availability. Trees of low vigour, which were more frequent at sites with groundwater extraction, were not able to recover growth and hydraulic capacity following drought, pointing to prolonged drought effects. Long-term water deficit resulting in reduced CO2 assimilation and hydraulic capacity after drought are very likely responsible for observed reductions in tree vitality at extraction sites. Our results demonstrate that groundwater access maintains tree function and resilience to drought and is therefore important for tree health in the context of climate change.
format article
author Georgios Skiadaresis
Julia Schwarz
Kerstin Stahl
Jürgen Bauhus
author_facet Georgios Skiadaresis
Julia Schwarz
Kerstin Stahl
Jürgen Bauhus
author_sort Georgios Skiadaresis
title Groundwater extraction reduces tree vitality, growth and xylem hydraulic capacity in Quercus robur during and after drought events
title_short Groundwater extraction reduces tree vitality, growth and xylem hydraulic capacity in Quercus robur during and after drought events
title_full Groundwater extraction reduces tree vitality, growth and xylem hydraulic capacity in Quercus robur during and after drought events
title_fullStr Groundwater extraction reduces tree vitality, growth and xylem hydraulic capacity in Quercus robur during and after drought events
title_full_unstemmed Groundwater extraction reduces tree vitality, growth and xylem hydraulic capacity in Quercus robur during and after drought events
title_sort groundwater extraction reduces tree vitality, growth and xylem hydraulic capacity in quercus robur during and after drought events
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/2d0ad05153de443dbec2d61fd6ee732b
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AT juliaschwarz groundwaterextractionreducestreevitalitygrowthandxylemhydrauliccapacityinquercusroburduringandafterdroughtevents
AT kerstinstahl groundwaterextractionreducestreevitalitygrowthandxylemhydrauliccapacityinquercusroburduringandafterdroughtevents
AT jurgenbauhus groundwaterextractionreducestreevitalitygrowthandxylemhydrauliccapacityinquercusroburduringandafterdroughtevents
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