Functional Differences in Water‐Use Patterns of Contrasting Life Forms in Great Basin Steppelands

The temporal patterns of evapotranspiration were monitored for 2 yr for four species of differing life form that currently form near monoculture communities in the Great Basin, USA, a region with a growing season spanning early spring to autumn and predictable overwinter water accumulation in the vadose zone. Species included an annual grass (Bromus tectorum L.), a perennial grass [Agropyron desertorum (Fisch. ex Link) Schult.], a shrub (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis Beetle and Young), and a tree [Juniperus osteosperma (Torr.) Little]. The two grasses and shrub were growing on the same soil type with uniform texture and subject to near surface percolation of the vadose zone only, while J. osteosperma was growing on soils with a petrocalcic layer below which water was near field capacity. These monotypic stands were found to differ in quantity and timing of vadose zone water use, in use pattern of shallow and deeper water resource pools, and in depth and quantity of rainwater hydraulically redistributed. All species rapidly utilized shallow vadose zone water in the spring when growth was observed, but use of deep vadose zone water varied by life form and was not linked with the period of growth for any species. Water in the vadose zone of the grass species increased between years, with evapotranspiration less than precipitation inputs and contrasted to water use in A. tridentata where water use approximately equaled precipitation inputs. Juniperus osteosperma used water below the petrocalcic zone, particularly in late summer. Water use by all species was consistent with the concept of a shallow vadose zone “growth pool” of water and a deeper vadose zone “maintenance pool” used during the summer drought period. The patterns of water use suggest that water per se is not a limited resource for survival, but influences the availability of nutrients necessary for plant growth that are associated with shallow vadose zone water. We postulate that cold‐adapted plants in the Great Basin have converged on a general pattern of rapidly utilizing soil moisture in shallow depths, in part, to influence nutrient availability. Our results strongly suggest describing the pool dynamics of vadose zone water will be necessary to further our understanding of plant fitness, interactions among species for resources, and species coexistence in arid and semiarid ecosystems.

[1]  D. Breshears,et al.  Evapotranspiration Partitioning in a Semiarid Woodland: Ecohydrologic Heterogeneity and Connectivity of Vegetation Patches , 2010 .

[2]  S. Jones,et al.  Soil Water Repellency: A Method of Soil Moisture Sequestration in Pinyon–Juniper Woodland , 2010 .

[3]  James J. Butler,et al.  Patterns of Tamarix water use during a record drought , 2010, Oecologia.

[4]  F. J. Barnes,et al.  Horizontal heterogeneity in the frequency of plant‐available water with woodland intercanopy–canopy vegetation patch type rivals that occuring vertically by soil depth , 2009 .

[5]  F. J. Barnes,et al.  Tree die-off in response to global change-type drought: mortality insights from a decade of plant water potential measurements. , 2009 .

[6]  K. Weathers,et al.  Fog Water and Ecosystem Function: Heterogeneity in a California Redwood Forest , 2009, Ecosystems.

[7]  J. Belnap,et al.  Spatial gradients in ecohydrologic properties within a pinyon‐juniper ecosystem , 2008 .

[8]  Michael S. Peek,et al.  Distribution of ecosystem C and N within contrasting vegetation types in a semiarid rangeland in the Great Basin, USA , 2008 .

[9]  B. Newman,et al.  Species‐Level Impacts on Chaparral Root Zone Hydrology , 2008 .

[10]  T. Mclendon,et al.  Partitioning the use of precipitation- and groundwater-derived moisture by vegetation in an arid ecosystem in California , 2008 .

[11]  E. LaMalfa,et al.  Differential Snowpack Accumulation and Water Dynamics in Aspen and Conifer Communities: Implications for Water Yield and Ecosystem Function , 2008, Ecosystems.

[12]  R. Scott,et al.  The ecohydrologic significance of hydraulic redistribution in a semiarid savanna , 2008 .

[13]  D. Smart,et al.  Importance of internal hydraulic redistribution for prolonging the lifespan of roots in dry soil. , 2007, Plant, cell & environment.

[14]  D. Robinson,et al.  Ecohydrological controls on soil moisture and hydraulic conductivity within a pinyon‐juniper woodland , 2007 .

[15]  Kelly K. Caylor,et al.  Ecohydrological optimization of pattern and processes in water‐limited ecosystems: A trade‐off‐based hypothesis , 2006 .

[16]  K. Price,et al.  Regional vegetation die-off in response to global-change-type drought. , 2005, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  Andrew W. Western,et al.  A review of paired catchment studies for determining changes in water yield resulting from alterations in vegetation , 2005 .

[18]  R. Ryel,et al.  HYDRAULIC REDISTRIBUTION THROUGH THE ROOT SYSTEMS OF SENESCED PLANTS , 2005 .

[19]  R. B. Jackson,et al.  ECOHYDROLOGICAL CONTROL OF DEEP DRAINAGE IN ARID AND SEMIARID REGIONS , 2005 .

[20]  D. Tongway,et al.  VEGETATION PATCHES AND RUNOFF–EROSION AS INTERACTING ECOHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES IN SEMIARID LANDSCAPES , 2005 .

[21]  R. Ryel,et al.  Water conservation in Artemisia tridentata through redistribution of precipitation , 2004, Oecologia.

[22]  R. Ryel,et al.  Fine root distribution and persistence under field conditions of three co-occurring Great Basin species of different life form. , 2004, The New phytologist.

[23]  E. Schupp,et al.  Competition as a barrier to establishment of a native perennial grass (Elymus elymoides) in alien annual grass (Bromus tectorum) communities , 2004 .

[24]  R. B. Jackson,et al.  Groundwater use and salinization with grassland afforestation , 2004 .

[25]  P. Shouse,et al.  Regolith Water in Zero‐Order Chaparral and Perennial Grass Watersheds Four Decades after Vegetation Conversion , 2004 .

[26]  Douglas A. Johnson,et al.  Soil morphology and organic matter dynamics under cheatgrass and sagebrush-steppe plant communities , 2004 .

[27]  M. Loik,et al.  A multi-scale perspective of water pulses in dryland ecosystems: climatology and ecohydrology of the western USA , 2004, Oecologia.

[28]  K. Wiegand,et al.  Resource pulses, species interactions, and diversity maintenance in arid and semi-arid environments , 2004, Oecologia.

[29]  R. B. Jackson,et al.  Comment on "A Reservoir of Nitrate Beneath Desert Soils" , 2004, Science.

[30]  James F. Reynolds,et al.  Modifying the ‘pulse–reserve’ paradigm for deserts of North America: precipitation pulses, soil water, and plant responses , 2004, Oecologia.

[31]  Osvaldo E. Sala,et al.  Hierarchy of responses to resource pulses in arid and semi-arid ecosystems , 2004, Oecologia.

[32]  James F. Reynolds,et al.  Plant responses to precipitation in desert ecosystems: integrating functional types, pulses, thresholds, and delays , 2004, Oecologia.

[33]  R. Ryel,et al.  Gas exchange and growth responses of the desert shrubs Artemisia tridentata and Chrysothamnus nauseosus to shallow- vs. deep-soil water in a glasshouse experiment , 2004 .

[34]  R. Striegl,et al.  A Reservoir of Nitrate Beneath Desert Soils , 2003, Science.

[35]  D. Breshears,et al.  Hydraulic Conductivity in A Piñon-Juniper Woodland: Influence of Vegetation , 2003 .

[36]  K. Hultine,et al.  Hydraulic redistribution by deep roots of a Chihuahuan Desert phreatophyte. , 2003, Tree physiology.

[37]  R. Ryel,et al.  RAPID SOIL MOISTURE RECHARGE TO DEPTH BY ROOTS IN A STAND OF ARTEMISIA TRIDENTATA , 2003 .

[38]  M. Caldwell,et al.  Overlapping resource use in three Great Basin species: implications for community invasibility and vegetation dynamics , 2003 .

[39]  R. Ryel,et al.  Root responses and nitrogen acquisition by Artemisia tridentata and Agropyron desertorum following small summer rainfall events , 2003, Oecologia.

[40]  R. Ryel,et al.  Carbon acquisition and water use in a Northern Utah Juniperus osteosperma (Utah juniper) population. , 2002, Tree physiology.

[41]  Richard J. Hobbs,et al.  Ecological consequences of altered hydrological regimes in fragmented ecosystems in southern Australia: Impacts and possible management responses , 2002 .

[42]  J. Ehleringer,et al.  Interspecific Competition and Resource Pulse Utilization in a Cold Desert Community , 2002 .

[43]  J. Ehleringer,et al.  Water use trade‐offs and optimal adaptations to pulse‐driven arid ecosystems , 2001 .

[44]  Hans Lambers,et al.  Plant Physiological Ecology , 1998, Springer New York.

[45]  B. Scanlon,et al.  Relationship between geomorphic settings and unsaturated flow in an arid setting , 1999 .

[46]  C. Colvin,et al.  A review of information on interactions between vegetation and groundwater , 1999 .

[47]  R. Ryel,et al.  NUTRIENT ACQUISITION FROM SOILS WITH PATCHY NUTRIENT DISTRIBUTIONS AS ASSESSED WITH SIMULATION MODELS , 1998 .

[48]  J. Welker,et al.  Differential water resource use by herbaceous and woody plant life-forms in a shortgrass steppe community , 1998, Oecologia.

[49]  T. Thurow,et al.  Differences in soil water use by annual broomweed and grasses , 1998 .

[50]  Glen R. Walker,et al.  Seasonal water use characteristics of tall wheatgrass [Agropyron elongatum (Host) Beauv.] in a saline environment , 1997 .

[51]  B. Andraski.  Soil‐water movement under natural‐site and waste‐site conditions: A multiple‐year field study in the Mojave Desert, Nevada , 1997 .

[52]  R. B. Jackson,et al.  Integrating Resource Heterogeneity and Plant Plasticity: Modelling Nitrate and Phosphate Uptake in a Patchy Soil Environment , 1996 .

[53]  K. Rice,et al.  Patterns of Growth and Soil-water Utilization in some Exotic Annuals and Native Perennial Bunchgrasses of California , 1996 .

[54]  J. H. Manwaring,et al.  Temporal dynamics of soil spatial heterogeneity in sagebrush-wheatgrass steppe during a growing season , 1996, Plant and Soil.

[55]  W. H. Rickard,et al.  Responses of downy brome to nitrogen and water , 1995 .

[56]  Peter J. Gregory,et al.  Root growth and nitrate uptake by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) following wetting of dry surface soil , 1995 .

[57]  J. Ehleringer,et al.  Water and nitrogen dynamics in an arid woodland , 1994, Oecologia.

[58]  J. Ehleringer,et al.  Water stress and use of summer precipitation in a Great Basin shrub community , 1994 .

[59]  Masoud Ghodrati,et al.  Preferential transport of nitrate through soil columns containing root channels , 1994 .

[60]  N. Schofield.  Tree planting for dryland salinity control in Australia , 1992, Agroforestry Systems.

[61]  W. C. Krueger,et al.  Soil Moisture Extraction by Vegetation in a Mediterranean/Maritime Climatic Regime , 1992 .

[62]  Lawrence B. Flanagan,et al.  Differential uptake of summer precipitation among co‐occurring trees and shrubs in a pinyon‐juniper woodland , 1992 .

[63]  Douglas A. Johnson,et al.  Influence of temperature and cheatgrass competition on seedling development of two bunchgrasses. , 1991 .

[64]  D. Pyke,et al.  Impact of early root competition on fitness components of four semiarid species , 1990, Oecologia.

[65]  G. Hidy,et al.  Plant Biology of the Basin and Range , 1990, Ecological Studies.

[66]  M. Trlica,et al.  Soil water dynamics, transpiration, and water losses in a crested wheatgrass and native shortgrass ecosystem , 1990, Plant and Soil.

[67]  M. Caldwell.  WATER PARASITISM STEMMING FROM HYDRAULIC LIFT: A QUANTITATIVE TEST IN THE FIELD , 1990 .

[68]  R. Tausch,et al.  Soil water exploitation after fire: competition between Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) and two native species , 1990, Oecologia.

[69]  J F Reynolds,et al.  Biological Feedbacks in Global Desertification , 1990, Science.

[70]  M. Caldwell,et al.  Hydraulic lift: water efflux from upper roots improves effectiveness of water uptake by deep roots , 1989, Oecologia.

[71]  J. Zak,et al.  Water and nitrogen effects on growth and allocation patterns of creosotebush in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. , 1988 .

[72]  M. Caldwell,et al.  Seasonal Timing of Root Growth in Favorable Microsites , 1988 .

[73]  J. Ehleringer,et al.  Seasonal patterns of canopy development and carbon gain in nineteen warm desert shrub species , 1988, Oecologia.

[74]  M. Caldwell,et al.  Hydraulic lift: Substantial nocturnal water transport between soil layers by Artemisia tridentata roots , 1987, Oecologia.

[75]  H. Mooney,et al.  Physiological Ecology of North American Plant Communities , 1987, Springer Netherlands.

[76]  P. Nobel,et al.  Extreme temperatures and thermal tolerances for seedlings of desert succulents , 1984, Oecologia.

[77]  H. Breman,et al.  Rangeland Productivity and Exploitation in the Sahel , 1983, Science.

[78]  K. Beven,et al.  Macropores and water flow in soils , 1982 .

[79]  J. Hewlett,et al.  A REVIEW OF CATCHMENT EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF VEGETATION CHANGES ON WATER YIELD AND EVAPOTRANSPIRATION , 1982 .

[80]  Van Genuchten,et al.  A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils , 1980 .

[81]  W. H. Rickard,et al.  Growth rates of a cheatgrass community and some associated factors. , 1979 .

[82]  S. A. Barber.  Solute movement in the soil–root system , 1978, Nature.

[83]  W. R. Gardner,et al.  Water Uptake By Plants: II. The Root Contact Model , 1977 .

[84]  W. H. Rickard,et al.  Comparison of soil water used by a sagebrush bunchgrass and a cheatgrass community. , 1977 .

[85]  P. Richards,et al.  Vegetation of the Earth in Relation to Climate and the Eco-Physiological Conditions. , 1975 .

[86]  G. R. Blake,et al.  A Field Study of Soil Water Depletion Patterns in Presence of Growing Soybean Roots: III. Rooting Characteristics and Root Extraction of Soil Water1 , 1975 .

[87]  D. Morgan,et al.  FOG PRECIPITATION IN COASTAL CALIFORNIA FORESTS , 1974 .

[88]  I. Noy-Meir,et al.  Desert Ecosystems: Environment and Producers , 1973 .

[89]  W. H. Rickard,et al.  Herbage yields in relation to soil water and assimilated nitrogen , 1973 .

[90]  D. Mueller‐Dombois,et al.  Ecology of Tropical and Subtropical Vegetation. , 1972 .

[91]  G. Harris,et al.  Competition for moisture among seedlings of annual and perennial grasses as influenced by root elongation at low temperature. , 1970 .

[92]  S. Resnick.  Water in the Environment , 1970 .

[93]  F. Woods,et al.  Tritiated Water as a Tool for Ecological Field Studies , 1965, Science.

[94]  W. D. Billings.  The Shadscale Vegetation Zone of Nevada and Eastern California in Relation to Climate and Soils , 1949 .

[95]  S. S. Clair,et al.  Quaking Aspen's Current and Future Status in Western North America: The Role of Succession, Climate, Biotic Agents and Its Clonal Nature , 2010 .

[96]  Brent Clothier,et al.  Water uptake by plants , 2009 .

[97]  R. Ryel,et al.  Functional Differences in Soil Water Pools: a New Perspective on Plant Water Use in Water-Limited Ecosystems , 2008 .

[98]  F. J. Barnes,et al.  Interrelationships between plant functional types and soil moisture heterogeneity for semiarid landscapes within the grassland/forest continuum: a unified conceptual model , 2004, Landscape Ecology.

[99]  J. Stark,et al.  Microbial dynamics and carbon and nitrogen cycling following re-wetting of soils beneath two semi-arid plant species , 2004, Oecologia.

[100]  A. Warrick.  Soil Water Dynamics , 2003 .

[101]  M. Caldwell,et al.  Hydraulic lift: consequences of water efflux from the roots of plants , 1998, Oecologia.

[102]  R. Hobbs.  Impacts of Land Use on Biodiversity in Southwestern Australia , 1998 .

[103]  M. Caldwell,et al.  EXPLOITATION OF SPRINGTIME EPHEMERAL N PULSES BY SIXGREAT BASIN PLANT SPECIES , 1997 .

[104]  Ariel Novoplansky,et al.  On the relative importance of competition in unproductive environments , 1997 .

[105]  S. Running,et al.  Simulating seasonal soil water balance in contrasting semi-arid vegetation communities , 1996 .

[106]  J. Walker,et al.  Ecohydrological Changes in the Murray-Darling Basin. I. The Number of Trees Cleared Over Two Centuries , 1993 .

[107]  S. Running,et al.  Ecohydrological changes in the Murray-Darling Basin. III: A simulation of regional hydrological changes , 1993 .

[108]  R. Nowak,et al.  Ecophysiology of Plants in the Intermountain Lowlands , 1990 .

[109]  M. Caldwell,et al.  Basin Hydrology and Plant Root Systems , 1990 .

[110]  S. J. Manning,et al.  Shrub rooting characteristics and water acquisition on xeric sites in the western great basin. , 1990 .

[111]  R. Nowak,et al.  Control of the soil water balance by sagebrush and three perennial grasses in a cold‐desert environment , 1987 .

[112]  O. Sala,et al.  Root dynamics of Bouteloua gracilis during short-term recovery from drought , 1987 .

[113]  Gaylon S. Campbell,et al.  Soil physics with BASIC :transport models for soil-plant systems , 1985 .

[114]  D. Streeter.  Forest ecosystem , 1980, Nature.

[115]  A. Peck.  Salinization of non-irrigated soils and associated streams: a review , 1978 .

[116]  L. B. Leopold,et al.  Water In Environmental Planning , 1978 .