Transpiration of Dominant Tree Species Varies in Response to Projected Changes in Climate: Implications for Composition and Water Balance of Temperate Forest Ecosystems

Harrison, Jamie L.; Reinmann, Andrew B.; Maloney, Anne Socci; Phillips, Nathan; Juice, Stephanie M.; Webster, Alex J.; Templer, Pamela H.

doi:10.1007/s10021-020-00490-y

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…In addition, there was a positive relationship between daily rates of sap flow with mean daily air temperatures, maximum daily air temperatures, and VPD throughout the growing season in both years across all three treatments. These results are consistent with other studies showing a positive relationship between soil or air temperature and sap flow rates in mature red oak, Norway spruce, red maple, and sugar maple trees (Bergh and Linder 1999, Juice et al 2016, Harrison et al 2020). It is possible that rates of water uptake increased with warmer soil temperatures because of other changes in the forest that we did not measure, such as viscosity of water, which decreases up to 13% with an increase of 5°C temperature (Kestin et al 1978).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Our results are consistent with past studies showing positive relationships between rates of sap flow with VPD in mixed hardwood forests (Bovard et al 2005, Juice et al 2016, Harrison et al 2020), Chinese pine (Sun et al 2000), eucalyptus (Yin et al 2004), and white spruce (Day et al 1990) trees. Also, as expected, trees that experienced growing‐season warming experienced higher rates of sap flow throughout the growing season compared to the reference plots.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Our findings at Hubbard Brook are similar to our past study at Hubbard Brook and Harvard Forest that demonstrated a positive response of growing‐season sap flow to increased frequency of heat‐stress days (Harrison et al 2020). Our projections are larger than the projected maximum increase of 38% reported in another study that only examined the effects of a smaller winter snowpack and greater depth and duration of soil freezing in winter (Harrison et al 2020), once again highlighting the effects of growing‐season soil temperatures on sap flow rates. The higher rates of projected sap flow in red maple trees based on our measurements with rising heat‐stress days demonstrate that the positive effect of growing‐season soil warming compounds the positive effect of increased heat‐stress days on sap flow rates, thus resulting in even higher rates than previously reported.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…VPD was not integrated into this analysis because it is not expected to change during the growing season over the next century for the northeastern United States (Ficklin and Novick 2017). Our projections are based on the number of heat‐stress days (as defined above, Reinmann and Hutyra 2017, Harrison et al 2020) during the growing season between 2001 and 2017 and those projected under low and high emissions scenarios for the years 2080–2099. The growing‐season dates were limited to the same growing‐season dates used to measure sap flow (DOY 130–311).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although warmer soils have been shown to increase rates of sap flow in some temperate tree species such as red oak ( Quercus rubra ; Juice et al 2016), soil freezing‐induced damage to roots (Tierney et al 2001, Comerford et al 2013) impairs the ability of some tree species, such as sugar maple ( Acer saccharum ) and red maple ( Acer rubrum ), to take up water during the following growing season (Robitaille et al 1995, Harrison et al 2020). However, soil freezing in winter has also been shown to increase growing‐season rates of sap flow in other species such as red oaks (Harrison et al 2020). In addition to direct root damage, winter soil freeze/thaw cycles have been shown to increase the occurrence of embolisms in xylem, which reduces conductivity and increases crown dieback in red spruce, birch, and many other diffuse‐porous tree species (Sperry et al 1994, Schaberg et al 1996, Cox and Malcolm 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Growing‐season warming and winter soil freeze/thaw cycles increase transpiration in a northern hardwood forest

Harrison

Sanders‐DeMott

Reinmann

et al. 2020

Ecology

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Climate models project higher growing‐season temperatures and a decline in the depth and duration of winter snowpack throughout many north temperate ecosystems over the next century. A smaller snowpack is projected to induce more frequent soil freeze/thaw cycles in winter in northern hardwood forests of the northeastern United States. We measured the combined effects of warmer growing‐season soil temperatures and increased winter freeze/thaw cycles on rates of leaf‐level photosynthesis and transpiration (sap flow) of red maple (Acer rubrum) trees in a northern hardwood forest at the Climate Change Across Seasons Experiment at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. Soil temperatures were warmed 5°C above ambient temperatures during the growing season and soil freeze/thaw cycles were induced in winter to mimic the projected changes in soil temperature over the next century. Relative to reference plots, growing‐season soil warming increased rates of leaf‐level photosynthesis by up to 85.32 ± 4.33%, but these gains were completely offset by soil freeze/thaw cycles in winter, suggesting that increased freeze/thaw cycles in winter over the next 100 yr will reduce the effect of warming on leaf‐level carbon gains. Soil warming in the growing season increased rates of transpiration per kilopascal of vapor pressure deficit (VPD) by up to 727.39 ± 0.28%, even when trees were exposed to increased frequency of soil freeze/thaw cycles in the previous winter, which could influence regional hydrology in the future. Using climate projections downscaled from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, we project increased rates of whole‐season transpiration in these forests over the next century by 42–61%. We also project 52–77 additional days when daily air temperatures will be above the long‐term average daily maximum during the growing season at Hubbard Brook. Together, these results show that projected changes in climate across both the growing season and winter are likely to cause greater rates of water uptake and have no effect on rates of leaf‐level carbon uptake by trees, with potential ecosystem consequences for hydrology and carbon cycling in northern hardwood forests.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Growing‐season warming and winter soil freeze/thaw cycles increase transpiration in a northern hardwood forest

Harrison

Sanders‐DeMott

Reinmann

et al. 2020

Ecology

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Water sources for red maple trees in a northern hardwood forest under a changing climate

et al. 2020

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Climate models project increased growing season air temperatures and decreased depth and duration of winter snowpack for the northeastern United States, leading to greater frequency of soil freeze/thaw cycles in winter over the next century. We utilized the Climate Change Across Seasons Experiment (CCASE) at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire to determine how projected changes in climate in this region affect the depth from which trees take up water, which to our knowledge has yet to be determined. We determined the stable isotopic composition of water in soils and branch xylem three times throughout the growing season to partition potential sources of water for red maple (Acer rubrum) trees. Using a Bayesian mixing model approach, we determined that all trees used similar water sources in the early (June) and mid (July) growing season. However, in the late growing season (August), trees exposed to ambient and warmer growing season soil temperatures took up more than 40% of their water from between 90-and 100-cm soil depth, likely due to greater water availability at this depth. In contrast, those trees exposed to soil freeze/thaw cycles in winter utilized water from all depths (0-100 cm) evenly (8-10%), possibly due to soil freezing causing compensatory root growth in the following growing season, compared with trees in the reference and warmed plots. These results demonstrate that the projected changes in climate for the northeastern United States are likely to alter the depth from which trees access water, especially in the late growing season.

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Slope-aspect induced climate differences influence how water is exchanged between the land and atmosphere

Bilir

Fung

Dawson

2020

Preprint

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Solar radiation differences generate different microclimates across adjacent northand south-facing slopes in the midlatitudes.• High-frequency measurements document microclimate and covarying tree water use across a hillslope divide over a dry Mediterranean summer.• Transpiration of a single tree species is higher on the drier, sunnier south-facing slope, suggesting different water use strategies.

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Transpiration of Dominant Tree Species Varies in Response to Projected Changes in Climate: Implications for Composition and Water Balance of Temperate Forest Ecosystems

Cited by 13 publications

References 55 publications

Growing‐season warming and winter soil freeze/thaw cycles increase transpiration in a northern hardwood forest

Growing‐season warming and winter soil freeze/thaw cycles increase transpiration in a northern hardwood forest

Water sources for red maple trees in a northern hardwood forest under a changing climate

Slope-aspect induced climate differences influence how water is exchanged between the land and atmosphere

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