Running Head : Leaf hydraulics and stomatal conductance

How do leaf hydraulics limit stomatal conductance at high water vapour pressure deficits?

A reduction in leaf stomatal conductance (g) with increasing leaf-to-air difference in water vapour pressure (D) is nearly ubiquitous. Ecological comparisons of sensitivity have led to the hypothesis that the reduction in g with increasing D serves to maintain leaf water potentials above those that would cause loss of hydraulic conductance. A reduction in leaf water potential is commonly hypoth...

Linking Xylem Hydraulic Conductivity and Vulnerability to the Leaf Economics Spectrum—A Cross-Species Study of 39 Evergreen and Deciduous Broadleaved Subtropical Tree Species

While the fundamental trade-off in leaf traits related to carbon capture as described by the leaf economics spectrum is well-established among plant species, the relationship of the leaf economics spectrum to stem hydraulics is much less known. Since carbon capture and transpiration are coupled, a close connection between leaf traits and stem hydraulics should be expected. We thus asked whether...

Understanding stomatal conductance responses to long-term environmental changes: a Bayesian framework that combines patterns and processes.

When stomata are open, the trade-off between water loss through transpiration and CO2 uptake via photosynthesis is a result of the evolutionary history of land plants from green algae. To supply the up to 1000-fold higher flux of water leaving the leaf compared with CO2 molecules entering the leaf during leaf gas exchange (Nobel 2009), plant hydraulics has evolved to be highly efficient. The in...

Spatio-temporal decoupling of stomatal and mesophyll conductance induced by vein cutting in leaves of Helianthus annuus

Reduction of hydraulic conductance to the canopy has been shown to result in stomatal responses to limit transpiration. To test for similar responses to perturbations of the hydraulic network in leaves, we simultaneously measured leaf gas exchange with spatially explicit chlorophyll-a fluorescence and leaf temperature to examine the effects of cutting a primary leaf vein in Helianthus annuus. W...

Influence of salinity on co2 fluxes stomatal conductance and specific leaf eeight of jojoba