Response of four evergreen savanna shrubs to an incidence of extreme drought: high embolism resistance, branch shedding and maintenance of nonstructural carbohydrates

• Published in: Tree physiology Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 740 - 753
• Main Authors: Shen, Jing-Xian, Zhang, Yong-Jiang, Maenpuen, Phisamai, Zhang, Shu-Bin, Zhang, Lan, Yang, Lin, Tao, Lian-Bin, Yan, Peng-Yun, Zhang, Zhi-Ming, Li, Shu-Qiong, Yuan, Xia, Kongjarat, Wanwalee, Kaewkamol, Sasiwimol, Tinprabat, Pimnara, Chen, Ya-Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada Oxford University Press 07.04.2022
• Subjects: Carbohydrates; Carbon; Droughts; Ecosystem; Embolism; Grassland; Incidence; Plant Leaves - physiology; Trees - physiology; Water; Xylem - physiology; vulnerability curves; carbon starvation; hydraulic failure; drought-induced mortality; plant hydraulic architecture; climate change

Abstract Extreme drought events are becoming frequent globally, resulting in widespread plant mortality and forest dieback. Although savanna vegetation cover ~20% of the earth’s land area, their responses to extreme drought have been less studied than that of forests. Herein, we quantified branch di...