Do wide crowns in arid woodland trees reflect hydraulic limitation and reduction of self-shading?
Martín Escoto-Rodríguez A B C , José M. Facelli A and Jennifer R. Watling A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, DP312, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
B Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, C.P. 78321, San Luis Potosí, México.
C Corresponding author. Email: martin.escoto@uaslp.mx
Functional Plant Biology 41(12) 1221-1229 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP14022
Submitted: 17 January 2014 Accepted: 21 May 2014 Published: 23 July 2014
Abstract
In arid regions many tree species develop broad crowns. A number of hypotheses involve trade-offs between growth in height and horizontal spreading, but there is no explanation for the switch from vertical to horizontal growth during development. Using Acacia papyrocarpa Benth as a model, we measured tree height and crown shape across different sites and topographic positions. We also measured δ13C of phyllodes from crown tops and lateral spreading branches. Trees were significantly taller at the base of a hill, where water availability is typically greater, than on the adjacent steep hillslope. In contrast, δ13C from the treetops was not significantly different across this topographic gradient, despite variation in tree height. In addition, δ13C was higher at treetops than in lower, lateral branches. These observations are consistent with hydraulic limitation to tree height. The shape of mature and young crowns in open environments was not symmetrical. At all sites, branches were shortest, but tree crowns tallest, on south-facing (i.e. shadiest) aspect of crowns. This suggests that light limitation may also affect crown development. If upper branches become water-limited and lower branches light-limited, then middle lateral branches become the less-stressed part of the crown and may grow more, producing a broad crown.
Additional keywords: broad crown, carbon isotopes composition, crown orientation, hydraulic limitation hypothesis, stable carbon isotopes, Western myall.
References
Alexander ME, Cruz MG (2012) Interdependencies between flame length and fireline intensity in predicting crown fire initiation and crown scorch height. International Journal of Wildland Fire 21, 95–113.| Interdependencies between flame length and fireline intensity in predicting crown fire initiation and crown scorch height.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Archibald S, Bond WJ (2003) Growing tall vs growing wide: tree architecture and allometry of Acacia karroo in forest, savanna, and arid environments. Oikos 102, 3–14.
| Growing tall vs growing wide: tree architecture and allometry of Acacia karroo in forest, savanna, and arid environments.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Backhouse SL, Pegg RK (1984) The effects of the prevailing wind on trees in a small area of south-west Hampshire. Journal of Biogeography 11, 401–411.
| The effects of the prevailing wind on trees in a small area of south-west Hampshire.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Barnard HR, Ryan MG (2003) A test of the hydraulic limitation hypothesis in fast-growing Eucalyptus saligna. Plant, Cell & Environment 26, 1235–1245.
| A test of the hydraulic limitation hypothesis in fast-growing Eucalyptus saligna.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Barthélémy D, Caraglio Y (2007) Plant architecture: a dynamic, multilevel and comprehensive approach to plant form, structure and ontogeny. Annals of Botany 99, 375–407.
| Plant architecture: a dynamic, multilevel and comprehensive approach to plant form, structure and ontogeny.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 17218346PubMed |
Batschelet E (1981) ‘Circular statistics in biology.’ (Academic Press Inc.: London)
Bloom AJ, Chapin FS, Mooney HA (1985) Resource limitation in plants-an economic analogy. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 16, 363–392.
Boyce SG (1954) The salt spray community. Ecological Monographs 24, 29–67.
| The salt spray community.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaG2cXkvF2gtg%3D%3D&md5=7a115a16d47442ea35b626ab7d7078ceCAS |
Cullen S (2002) Trees and wind: wind scales and speeds. Journal of Arboriculture 28, 237–242.
Ehleringer JR, Werk KS (1986) Modifications of solar-radiation absorption patterns and implications for carbon gain at the leaf level. In ‘On the economy of plant form and function’. (Ed. TJ Givnish) pp. 57–82. (Cambridge University Press: New York)
Escoto-Rodríguez M (2011) Broad crowned trees and the hydraulic limitation hypothesis, PhD Thesis, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide.
Facelli JM, Brock DJ (2000) Patch dynamics in arid lands: localized effects of Acacia Papyrocarpa on soils and vegetation of open woodlands of South Australia. Ecography 23, 479–491.
| Patch dynamics in arid lands: localized effects of Acacia Papyrocarpa on soils and vegetation of open woodlands of South Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Falster DS, Westoby M (2003) Leaf size and angle vary widely across species: what consequences for light interception? New Phytologist 158, 509–525.
| Leaf size and angle vary widely across species: what consequences for light interception?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Farquhar GD, Ehleringer JR, Hubick KT (1989) Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 40, 503–537.
| Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DyaL1MXktlKmu70%3D&md5=1b7b578571b22881f7134e65a1c8f68dCAS |
Gibson AC (1998) Photosynthetic organs of desert plants. Bioscience 48, 911–920.
| Photosynthetic organs of desert plants.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hallé F, Oldeman RAA, Tomlinson PB (1978) ‘Tropical trees and forests: an architectural analysis.’ (Springer-Verlag: Berlin)
Holbrook NM, Whitbeck JL, Mooney HA (1995). Drought responses of neotropical dry forest trees. In ‘Seasonally dry tropical forests’. (Eds SH Bullock, HA Mooney, E Medina) pp. 243–276. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)
Horn HS (1971) ‘The adaptive geometry of trees.’ (Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ)
Iwasa Y, Cohen D, Leon JA (1985) Tree height and crown shape, as results of competitive games. Journal of Theoretical Biology 112, 279–297.
| Tree height and crown shape, as results of competitive games.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Jessop JP, Toelken HR (1986) ‘Flora of South Australia. Part II, Leguminosae-Rubiaceae.’ (State of South Australia: Adelaide)
King DA (1990) The adaptive significance of tree height. American Naturalist 135, 809–828.
| The adaptive significance of tree height.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Koch GW, Sillett SC, Jennings GM, Davis SD (2004) The limits to tree height. Nature 428, 851–854.
| The limits to tree height.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2cXjt1Crt78%3D&md5=d9c6b1061d60b123148413e3dd082818CAS | 15103376PubMed |
Ladiges PY, Ashton DH (1974) Variation in some central Victorian population of Eucalyptus viminalis Labill. Australian Journal of Botany 22, 81–102.
| Variation in some central Victorian population of Eucalyptus viminalis Labill.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lange R, Purdie R (1976) Western myall (Acacia sowdenii), its survival prospects and management needs. The Australian Rangeland Journal 1, 64–69.
| Western myall (Acacia sowdenii), its survival prospects and management needs.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Maconochie JR, Lange R (1970) Canopy dynamics of trees and shrubs with a particular reference to arid-zone topfeed species. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 94, 243–248.
McDowell NG, Phillips N, Lunch C, Bond BJ, Ryan MG (2002) An investigation of hydraulic limitation and compensation in large, old Douglas-fir trees. Tree Physiology 22, 763–774.
| An investigation of hydraulic limitation and compensation in large, old Douglas-fir trees.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD38Xmt12lsrc%3D&md5=78a5e1f6e1153ed40a3a378b48b831dbCAS | 12184980PubMed |
Midgley JJ, McLean P, Botha M, Balfour D (2001) Why do some African thorn trees (Acacia spp.) have a flat-top: a grazer-plant mutualism hypothesis? African Journal of Ecology 39, 226–228.
| Why do some African thorn trees (Acacia spp.) have a flat-top: a grazer-plant mutualism hypothesis?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Neufeld HS, Meinzer FC, Wisdom CS, Sharifi MR, Rundel PW, Neufeld MS, Goldring Y, Cunningham GL (1988) Canopy architecture of Larrea tridentata (DC.) Cov., a desert shrub: foliage orientation and direct beam radiation interception. Oecologia 75, 54–60.
| Canopy architecture of Larrea tridentata (DC.) Cov., a desert shrub: foliage orientation and direct beam radiation interception.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nobel PS (1986) Form and orientation in relation to PAR interception by cacti and agaves. In ‘On the economy of plant form and function’. (Ed. TJ Givnish) pp. 83–103. (Cambridge University Press: New York)
Noguchi Y (1979) Deformation of trees in Hawaii and its relation to wind. Journal of Ecology 67, 611–628.
| Deformation of trees in Hawaii and its relation to wind.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Rambal S, Leterme J (1987) Changes in aboveground structure and resistances to water uptake in Quercus coccifera along a rainfall gradient. In ‘Plant responses to stress: functional analysis in mediterranean ecosystems’. (Eds JD Tenhunen, FM Catarino, OL Lange, WC Oechel) pp. 191–200. (Springer-Verlag: Berlin)
Rasmuson KE, Anderson JE, Huntly N (1994) Coordination of branch orientation and photosynthetic physiology in the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia). The Great Basin Naturalist 54, 204–211.
Ryan MG, Yoder BJ (1997) Hydraulic limits to tree height and tree growth: what keeps trees from growing beyond a certain height? Bioscience 47, 235–242.
| Hydraulic limits to tree height and tree growth: what keeps trees from growing beyond a certain height?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Ryan MG, Phillips N, Bond BJ (2006) The hydraulic limitation hypothesis revisited. Plant, Cell & Environment 29, 367–381.
| The hydraulic limitation hypothesis revisited.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sachs T (2004) Self-organization of tree form: a model for complex social systems. Journal of Theoretical Biology 230, 197–202.
| Self-organization of tree form: a model for complex social systems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 15302551PubMed |
Simpson JE (1994) ‘Sea breeze and local winds.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)
Sprugel DG (2002) When branch autonomy fails: Milton’s law of resource availability and allocation. Tree Physiology 22, 1119–1124.
| When branch autonomy fails: Milton’s law of resource availability and allocation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 12414371PubMed |
Stromberg JC, Tress JA, Wilkins SD, Clark SD (1992) Response of velvet mesquite to groundwater decline. Journal of Arid Environments 23, 45–58.
Telewski FW (1995) Wind-induced physiological and developmental responses in trees. In ‘Wind and trees’. (Eds MP Coutts, J Grace) pp. 237–263. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)
Tennakoon KU, Pate JS (1996) Effects of parasitism by a mistletoe on the structure and functioning of branches of its host. Plant, Cell & Environment 19, 517–528.
| Effects of parasitism by a mistletoe on the structure and functioning of branches of its host.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Thomas P (2000) ‘Trees: their natural history.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)
Vogel S (2009) Leaves in the lowest and highest winds: temperature, force and shape. New Phytologist 183, 13–26.
| Leaves in the lowest and highest winds: temperature, force and shape.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 19413689PubMed |
Wade JE, Hewson EW (1979) Trees as local climatic wind indicator. Journal of Applied Meteorology 18, 1182–1187.
| Trees as local climatic wind indicator.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Westoby M, Falster DS, Moles AT, Vesk PA, Wright IJ (2002) Plant ecological strategies: Some leading dimensions of variation between species. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33, 125–159.
| Plant ecological strategies: Some leading dimensions of variation between species.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Whibley DJE, Symon DE (1992) ‘Acacias of South Australia.’(Government Printer: Adelaide)
Woodruff DR, Bond BJ, Meinzer FC (2004) Does turgor limit growth in tall trees? Plant, Cell & Environment 27, 229–236.
| Does turgor limit growth in tall trees?Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Yoder BJ, Ryan MG, Waring RH, Schoettle AW, Kaufmann MR (1994) Evidence of reduced photosynthetic rates in old trees. Forest Science 40, 513–527.
Zar JH (1999) ‘Biostatistical analysis.’ (4th edn) (Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA)
