Intra-Specific Variability in Plant Hydraulic Parameters Inferred From Model Inversion of Sap Flux Data

Yaojie Lu, Brandon Sloan, Sally E. Thompson, Alexandra G. Konings, Gil Bohrer, Ashley Matheny, Xue Feng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Understanding plant hydraulic regulation is critical for predicting plant and ecosystem responses to projected increases in drought stress. Plant hydraulic regulation is controlled by observable, diverse plant hydraulic traits that can vary as much across individuals of the same species as they do across different species. Direct measurements of plant hydraulic traits from a range of ecosystems remain limited in comparison to other, more readily measured traits (e.g., specific leaf area). Furthermore, plant hydraulic trait measurements, often made at leaf or branch levels, are not easily scaled to whole-plant values that are typically used to predict plant and ecosystem fluxes. In this study, multiple whole-plant hydraulic parameters are inferred from observations of plant water use (i.e., sap flow), soil properties, and meteorological data. We use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo model inversion approach to obtain the best estimates and uncertainty of plant hydraulic parameters that capture whole-plant effective embolism resistance and stomatal sensitivity to decreasing plant water potential. We then use the inferred values in the model to estimate whole-tree water use and isohydricity. This approach reliably infers whole-plant parameter values with enough specificity to resolve inter- and intra-specific differences, and thus supplements time- and labor-intensive direct measurements of traits.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2021JG006777
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Volume127
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • MCMC
  • model inversion
  • plant hydraulics
  • sap flow
  • xylem vulnerability

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