Skip to Main Content
-
Mechanisms of plant survival and mortality during drought: Why do some plants survive while others succumb to drought?
Author(s): Nate McDowell; William T. Pockman; Craig D. Allen; David D. Breshears; Neil Cobb; Thomas Kolb; Jennifer Plaut; John Sperry; Adam West; David G. Williams; Enrico A. Yepez
Date: 2008
Source: New Phytologist. 178: 719-739.
Publication Series: Miscellaneous Publication
PDF: View PDF (685 B)Description
Severe droughts have been associated with regional-scale forest mortality worldwide. Climate change is expected to exacerbate regional mortality events; however, prediction remains difficult because the physiological mechanisms underlying drought survival and mortality are poorly understood. We developed a hydraulically based theory considering carbon balance and insect resistance that allowed development and examination of hypotheses regarding survival and mortality. Multiple mechanisms may cause mortality during drought. A common mechanism for plants with isohydric regulation of water status results from avoidance of drought-induced hydraulic failure via stomatal closure, resulting in carbon starvation and a cascade of downstream effects such as reduced resistance to biotic agents. Mortality by hydraulic failure per se may occur for isohydric seedlings or trees near their maximum height. Although anisohydric plants are relatively drought-tolerant, they are predisposed to hydraulic failure because they operate with narrower hydraulic safety margins during drought. Elevated temperatures should exacerbate carbon starvation and hydraulic failure. Biotic agents may amplify and be amplified by drought-induced plant stress. Wet multidecadal climate oscillations may increase plant susceptibility to drought-induced mortality by stimulating shifts in hydraulic architecture, effectively predisposing plants to water stress. Climate warming and increased frequency of extreme events will probably cause increased regional mortality episodes. Isohydric and anisohydric water potential regulation may partition species between survival and mortality, and, as such, incorporating this hydraulic framework may be effective for modeling plant survival and mortality under future climate conditions.Publication Notes
- You may send email to rmrspubrequest@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication.
- (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
- We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
- This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
Citation
McDowell, Nate; Pockman, William T.; Allen, Craig D.; Breshears, David D.; Cobb, Neil; Kolb, Thomas; Plaut, Jennifer; Sperry, John; West, Adam; Williams, David G.; Yepez, Enrico A. 2008. Mechanisms of plant survival and mortality during drought: Why do some plants survive while others succumb to drought?. New Phytologist. 178: 719-739.Keywords
climate, die-off, hydraulics, vegetation mortality, water relationsRelated Search
- Growth and physiological responses of isohydric and anisohydric poplars to drought
- Evaluating theories of drought-induced vegetation mortality using a multimodel-experiment framework
- Does homeostasis or disturbance of homeostasis in minimum leaf water potential explain the isohydric versus anisohydric behavior of Vitis vinifera L. cultivars?
XML: View XML
Show More
Show Fewer
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/32625