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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

The effects of spring versus summer heat events on two arid zone plant species under field conditions

K. V. Milner https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8458-6253 A * , K. French https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6938-2017 B , D. W. Krix https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0733-1254 A , S. M. Valenzuela https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5934-6047 A and A. Leigh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3568-2606 A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.

B Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions, School of Earth, Atmospherics and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.

* Correspondence to: Kirsty.Milner@uts.edu.au

Handling Editor: Suleyman Allakhverdiev

Functional Plant Biology 50(6) 455-469 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP22135
Submitted: 21 September 2021  Accepted: 15 March 2023   Published: 21 April 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Heatwaves are increasingly occurring out-of-season, which may affect plants not primed for the event. Further, heat stress often coincides with water and/or nutrient stress, impairing short-term physiological function and potentially causing downstream effects on reproductive fitness. We investigated the response of water-stressed arid-zone Solanum oligacanthum and Solanum orbiculatum to spring vs summer heat stress under differing nutrient conditions. Heat stress events were imposed in open-topped chambers under in situ desert conditions. To assess short-term impacts, we measured leaf photosystem responses (Fv/Fm) and membrane stability; long-term effects were compared via biomass allocation, visible damage, flowering and fruiting. Plants generally fared more poorly following summer than spring heat stress, with the exception of Fv/Fm. Summer heat stress caused greater membrane damage, reduced growth and survival compared with spring. Nutrient availability had a strong influence on downstream effects of heat stress, including species-specific outcomes for reproductive fitness. Overall, high temperatures during spring posed a lower threat to fitness than in severe arid summer conditions of high temperature and low water availability, which were more detrimental to plants in both the short and longer term. Our study highlights the importance of considering ecologically relevant, multiple-stressor events to understand different species responses to extreme heat.

Keywords: chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm), desert species, fitness, heat stress, heatwaves, membrane stability, Solanum species, thermal tolerance.


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