Extreme heat increases stomatal conductance and drought-induced mortality risk in vulnerable plant species

Renée M. Marchin*, Diana Backes, Alessandro Ossola, Michelle R. Leishman, Mark G. Tjoelker, David S. Ellsworth

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    162 Citations (Scopus)
    93 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Tree mortality during global-change-type drought is usually attributed to xylem dysfunction, but as climate change increases the frequency of extreme heat events, it is necessary to better understand the interactive role of heat stress. We hypothesized that some drought-stressed plants paradoxically open stomata in heatwaves to prevent leaves from critically overheating. We experimentally imposed heat (>40°C) and drought stress onto 20 broadleaf evergreen tree/shrub species in a glasshouse study. Most well-watered plants avoided lethal overheating, but drought exacerbated thermal damage during heatwaves. Thermal safety margins (TSM) quantifying the difference between leaf surface temperature and leaf critical temperature, where photosynthesis is disrupted, identified species vulnerability to heatwaves. Several mechanisms contributed to high heat tolerance and avoidance of damaging leaf temperatures—small leaf size, low leaf osmotic potential, high leaf mass per area (i.e., thick, dense leaves), high transpirational capacity, and access to water. Water-stressed plants had smaller TSM, greater crown dieback, and a fundamentally different stomatal heatwave response relative to well-watered plants. On average, well-watered plants closed stomata and decreased stomatal conductance (gs) during the heatwave, but droughted plants did not. Plant species with low gs, either due to isohydric stomatal behavior under water deficit or inherently low transpirational capacity, opened stomata and increased gs under high temperatures. The current paradigm maintains that stomata close before hydraulic thresholds are surpassed, but our results suggest that isohydric species may dramatically increase gs (over sixfold increases) even past their leaf turgor loss point. By actively increasing water loss at high temperatures, plants can be driven toward mortality thresholds more rapidly than has been previously recognized. The inclusion of TSM and responses to heat stress could improve our ability to predict the vulnerability of different tree species to future droughts.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1133-1146
    Number of pages14
    JournalGlobal Change Biology
    Volume28
    Issue number3
    Early online date20 Nov 2021
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Feb 2022

    Bibliographical note

    Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

    Keywords

    • drought stress
    • heatwave
    • high temperature tolerance
    • leaf critical temperature
    • thermal safety margin
    • water deficit experiment

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