Functional strategies in trees: a hydraulic approach

Author(s)

Luiza Helena Menezes Cosme

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2023-08-25

Examining board members

Tomas Ferreira Domingues; Izabela Fonseca Aleixo; Leandro Lacerda Giacomin; Desiree Marques Ramos; Bianca Butter Zorger

• Advisor: Tomas Ferreira Domingues

Abstract

Plant mortality associated with drought events is a global phenomenon. Understanding plant responses to increased temperature and reduced precipitation has implications for environmental conservation and ecological restoration. Therefore, this thesis presents two papers in which we investigated plant strategies to cope with soil water limitation. In the first chapter, our goal was to increase knowledge about plant mechanisms in seasonally dry areas to protect their hydraulic system from xylem cavitation events. To achieve this objective, we investigated hydraulic functional traits related to water transport in trees occurring in two areas within the Caatinga biome domain. Our results revealed that tree species in seasonally dry areas show multiple strategies to prevent hydraulic failure in the xylem. In this regard, further studies are needed in these areas to identify the main mechanisms used by plants to prevent embolism and determine the key traits that characterize hydraulic strategies. In the second chapter, our aim was to investigate whether functional traits associated with xylem hydraulic safety could predict plant survival in an ecological restoration area. In recent decades, tropical forests around the world have experienced alarming deforestation rates. This scenario highlights the need for public policies that encourage forest cover in deforested areas to restore their function, ecological interactions, and ecosystem services. Thus, studies that aim to understand the main factors affecting plant mortality in restoration areas are highly important. Our results showed that hydraulic traits associated with drought are useful to predict plant survival. Here, we propose the use of functional traits associated with prevention of hydraulic failure in ecological restoration areas as a tool to increase project success and efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance plant survival. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/21742-6 - Functional Strategies of Caatinga trees: a hydraulic approach
• Grantee: Luiza Helena Menezes Cosme
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate