Due to the increase in atmospheric CO2concentrations, the ratio of carbon fixed by assimilation to water lost by transpiration through stomatal conductance (intrinsic water-use efficiency, iWUE) shows a long-term increasing trend globally. However, the drivers of short-term (inter-annual) variability in iWUE of tropical trees are poorly understood. We studied the inter-annual variability in iWUE of three South Asian tropical moist forest tree species (Chukrasia tabularis A.Juss., Toona ciliata M. Roem. and Lagerstroemia speciosa L.) derived from tree-ring stable carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) in response to variations of environmental conditions. We found a significantly decreasing trend in carbon discrimination (13C) and an increasing trend in iWUE in all the three species, with a species-specific long-term trend in intercellular CO2concentration (Ci). Growing season temperatures were the main driver of inter-annual variability of iWUE in C. tabularis and L. speciosa, whereas previous year temperatures determined the iWUE variability in T. ciliata. Vapor pressure deficit was linked with iWUE only in C. tabularis. Differences in shade tolerance, tree stature and canopy position might have caused this species-specific variation in iWUE response to climate. Linear mixed effect modeling successfully simulated iWUE variability, explaining 41-51% of the total variance varying with species. Commonality analysis revealed that temperatures had a dominant influence on the inter-annual iWUE variability (64-77%) over precipitation (7-22%) and atmospheric CO2concentration (3-6%). However, the long-term variations in iWUE were explicitly determined by the atmospheric CO2increase (83-94%). Our results suggest that the elevated CO2and concomitant global warming might have detrimental effects on gas exchange and other physiological processes in South Asian tropical moist forest trees.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpaa043Altmetric score:
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Publication year
2020
Authors
Rahman, M.; Islam, M.; Gebrekirstos, A.; Braüning, A.
Language
English
Keywords
annual variation, carbon dioxide, carbon isotope ratio, climate effect, stomatal conductance, tree ring, tropical forest, water use efficiency
Geographic
Bangladesh
