No carbon storage in growth-limited trees in a semi-arid woodland

R Alexander Thompson; Henry D Adams; David D Breshears; Adam D Collins; L Turin Dickman; Charlotte Grossiord; Àngela Manrique-Alba; Drew M Peltier; Michael G Ryan; Amy M Trowbridge; Nate G McDowell

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37577-8

No carbon storage in growth-limited trees in a semi-arid woodland

Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 7;14(1):1959. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37577-8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA. robert.a.thompson@wsu.edu.
² School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.
³ School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA.
⁴ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Earth & Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos, NM, USA.
⁵ Plant Ecology Research Laboratory PERL, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁶ Community Ecology Unit, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape WSL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁷ Estación Experimental Aula Dei (EEAD-CSIC), Zaragoza, Spain.
⁸ Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA.
⁹ Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
¹⁰ USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, USA.
¹¹ Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
¹² Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Lab, PO Box 999, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
¹³ School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, PO Box 644236, Pullman, WA, 99164-4236, USA.

Abstract

Plant survival depends on a balance between carbon supply and demand. When carbon supply becomes limited, plants buffer demand by using stored carbohydrates (sugar and starch). During drought, NSCs (non-structural carbohydrates) may accumulate if growth stops before photosynthesis. This expectation is pervasive, yet few studies have combined simultaneous measurements of drought, photosynthesis, growth, and carbon storage to test this. Using a field experiment with mature trees in a semi-arid woodland, we show that growth and photosynthesis slow in parallel as [Formula: see text] declines, preventing carbon storage in two species of conifer (J. monosperma and P. edulis). During experimental drought, growth and photosynthesis were frequently co-limited. Our results point to an alternative perspective on how plants use carbon that views growth and photosynthesis as independent processes both regulated by water availability.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Carbohydrates
Droughts
Forests*
Photosynthesis
Plant Leaves
Starch
Trees*
Water

Substances

Carbohydrates
Starch
Water