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  4. Herbaceous Angiosperms Are Not More Vulnerable to Drought-Induced Embolism Than Angiosperm Trees
 
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research article

Herbaceous Angiosperms Are Not More Vulnerable to Drought-Induced Embolism Than Angiosperm Trees

Lens, Frederic
•
Picon-Cochard, Catherine
•
Delmas, Chloe. E. L.
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2016
Plant Physiology

The water transport pipeline in herbs is assumed to be more vulnerable to drought than in trees due to the formation of frequent embolisms (gas bubbles), which could be removed by the occurrence of root pressure, especially in grasses. Here, we studied hydraulic failure in herbaceous angiosperms by measuring the pressure inducing 50% loss of hydraulic conductance (P-50) in stems of 26 species, mainly European grasses (Poaceae). Our measurements show a large range in P-50 from -0.5 to -7.5 MPa, which overlaps with 94% of the woody angiosperm species in a worldwide, published data set and which strongly correlates with an aridity index. Moreover, the P-50 values obtained were substantially more negative than the midday water potentials for five grass species monitored throughout the entire growing season, suggesting that embolism formation and repair are not routine and mainly occur under water deficits. These results show that both herbs and trees share the ability to withstand very negative water potentials without considerable embolism formation in their xylem conduits during drought stress. In addition, structure-function trade-offs in grass stems reveal that more resistant species are more lignified, which was confirmed for herbaceous and closely related woody species of the daisy group (Asteraceae). Our findings could imply that herbs with more lignified stems will become more abundant in future grasslands under more frequent and severe droughts, potentially resulting in lower forage digestibility.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1104/pp.16.00829
Web of Science ID

WOS:000391147700005

Author(s)
Lens, Frederic
•
Picon-Cochard, Catherine
•
Delmas, Chloe. E. L.
•
Signarbieux, Constant  
•
Buttler, Alexandre  
•
Cochard, Herve
•
Jansen, Steven
•
Chauvin, Thibaud
•
Doria, Larissa Chacon
•
Del Arco, Marcelino
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Date Issued

2016

Publisher

Amer Soc Plant Biologists

Published in
Plant Physiology
Volume

172

Issue

2

Start page

661

End page

667

Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
ECOS  
Available on Infoscience
February 17, 2017
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/134627
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