Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T13:24:49.131Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seasonal and inter-annual photosynthetic response of representative C4 species to soil water content and leaf nitrogen concentration across a tropical seasonal floodplain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2008

K. B. Mantlana ,
A. Arneth ,
E. M. Veenendaal ,
P. Wohland ,
P. Wolski ,
O. Kolle  and
J. Lloyd
K. B. Mantlana*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Postfach 100164 07701 Jena, Germany Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Borne steeg 69, NL 6708 PD, Wageningen, The Netherlands Global Change Research Group, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch Research Center; P/Bag X7, Claremont, 7735, Cape Town, South Africa
A. Arneth
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystems Analysis, Lund University Sölvegatan 12, 223 62, Lund, Sweden
E. M. Veenendaal
Affiliation:
Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Borne steeg 69, NL 6708 PD, Wageningen, The Netherlands Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (HOORC), University of Botswana, Private Bag 285, Maun, Botswana
P. Wohland
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Geography, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
P. Wolski
Affiliation:
Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (HOORC), University of Botswana, Private Bag 285, Maun, Botswana
O. Kolle
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Postfach 100164 07701 Jena, Germany
J. Lloyd
Affiliation:
Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Geography, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
*
1Corresponding author, at Global Change Research Group address; Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We examined the seasonal and inter-annual variation of leaf-level photosynthetic characteristics of three C4 perennial species, Cyperus articulatus, Panicum repens and Imperata cylindrica, and their response to environmental variables, to determine comparative physiological responses of plants representing particular microhabitats within a seasonal tropical floodplain in the Okavango River Delta, Botswana. Five measurement campaigns were carried out over a period of 2 y which covered two early rainy seasons, two late rainy seasons and one dry season. For all three species, light-saturated net photosynthetic rates (Asat) and stomatal conductance (gsat) decreased with decreasing soil water content with a seasonal range for Asat of approximately 5–45 μmol m−2 s−1, and for gsat of 0.03–0.35 mol m−2 s−1. The species representing the wettest microhabitat (Cyperus) had the highest gsat at low leaf-to-air vapour pressure deficits (Dl), the highest ratio of intercellular to ambient CO2 concentration (Ci/Ca), as well as the highest degree of variation in Ci/Ca from season to season. We interpret this as being indicative of its adaptation to a moist growth environment allowing for non-conservative water use strategies as soil moisture is usually abundant. For all three species there was significant variation in photosynthetic fluxes from one year to another that was related to variation in leaf nitrogen and phosphorus. This study shows that when assessing the role of savanna stands in large-scale carbon balance models, the remarkable inter-annual variation in leaf photosynthesis reported in this study should be taken into account.

Keywords

AfricaC4 photosynthesisCi/Ca ratiograsslandleaf nitrogenleaf phosphorusleaf-to-air vapour pressure deficitsavannastomatal conductance
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , March 2008 , pp. 201 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ABD EL-GHANI, M. M. & FAHMY, A. G. 2001. Analysis of aquatic vegetation in islands of the Nile Valley (Egypt). International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 27:1–11.Google Scholar
ALMENDROS, G., KGATHI, D., SEKHWELA, M., ZANCADA, M., TINOCO, P. & PARDO, M. 2003. Biogeochemical assessment of resilient humus formations from virgin and cultivated northern Botswana soils. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 51:4321–4330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
ANTEN, N. P. R., WERGER, M. J. A. & MEDINA, E. 1998. Nitrogen distribution and leaf area indices in relation to photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency in savanna grasses. Plant Ecology 138:63–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ARCHER, S., COUGHENOUR, C. D., FERNANDEZ, G. W., HAY, J., HOFFMAN, W., KLINK, C., SILVA, J. F. & SOLBRIG, O. T. 1996. Savanna biodiversity and ecosystem properties. Pp. 207–224 in Solbrig, O. T., Medina, E. & Silva, J. F. (eds.). Biodiversity and savanna ecosystem processes: a global perspective. Springer Verlag, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BARUCH, Z. 1996. Ecophysiological aspects of the invasion by African grasses and their impact on biodiversity and function of neotropical savannas. Pp. 79–93 in Solbrig, O. T., Medina, E. & Silva, J. F. (eds.). Biodiversity and savanna ecosystem processes: a global perspective. Springer Verlag, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BARUCH, Z. & BILBAO, B. 1999. Effects of fire and defoliation on the life history of native and invader C4 grasses in a Neotropical savanna. Oecologia 119:510–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BARUCH, Z., LUDLOW, M. M. & DAVIS, R. 1985. Photosynthetic responses of native and introduced C4 grasses from Venezuelan savannas. Oecologia 67:338–393.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
BEALE, C. V., MORISON, J. I. L. & LONG, S. P. 1999. Water use efficiency of C4 perennial grasses in a temperate climate. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 96:103–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BONYONGO, M. C., BREDENKAMP, G. J. & VEENENDAAL, E. 2000. Floodplain vegetation in the Nxaraga Lagoon area, Okavango Delta, Botswana. South African Journal of Botany 66:15–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BONYONGO, M. C. & MUBYANA, T. 2004. Soil nutrient status in vegetation communities of the Okavango Delta floodplains. South African Journal of Science 100:337–340.Google Scholar
BRYSON, C. T. & CARTER, R. 2004. Biology of pathways for invasive weeds. Weed Technology 18:1216–1220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BUNCE, J. A. 1998. Effects of environment during growth on the sensitivity of leaf conductance to changes in humidity. Global Change Biology 4:269–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CAUSTON, D. R. & DALE, M. P. 1990. The monomolecular and rectangular hyperbolas empirical models of the response of photosynthetic rate to photon flux density, with applications to three Veronica species. Annals of Botany 65:389–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
COMSTOCK, J. & EHLERINGER, J. 1993. Stomatal response to humidity in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris): implications for maximum transpiration rate, water-use efficiency and productivity. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 20:669–691.Google Scholar
DE LUCIA, E. H., WHITEHEAD, D. & CLEARWATER, M. J. 2003. The relative limitation of photosynthesis by mesophyll conductance in co-occurring species in a temperate rainforest dominated by the conifer Dacrydium cupressinum. Functional Plant Biology 30:1197–1204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EDWARDS, G. E. & WALKER, D. A. 1983. C3, C4: mechanisms, and cellular and environmental regulation of photosynthesis. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 542 pp.Google Scholar
EDWARDS, G. E., KU, M. S. B. & MONSON, R. K. 1985. C4 photosynthesis and its regulation. Pp. 289–327 in Barber, J. & Baker, N. R. (eds.). Photosynthetic mechanismsm and the environment. Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam.Google Scholar
EHLERINGER, J. R., CERLING, T. E. & HELLIKER, B. R. 1997. C4 photosynthesis, atmospheric CO2 and climate. Oecologia 112:285–299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
ELLERY, W. N. & MCCARTHY, T. S. 1994. Principles for the sustainable utilization of the Okavango Delta ecosystem, Botswana. Biological Conservation 70:159–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FIELD, C. & MOONEY, H. A. 1986. The photosynthesis-nitrogen relationship in wild plants. Pp. 25–55 in Givnish, T. J. (ed.). On the economy of plant form and function. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
GIBBS RUSSELL, G. E., WATSON, L., KOEKEMOER, M., SMOOK, L., BARKER, N. P., ANDERSON, H. M. & DALLWITZ, M. J. 1991. Grasses of Southern Africa. Botanical Research Institute, Pretoria. 437 pp.Google Scholar
HEINL, M., FROST, P., VANDERPOST, C. & SLIVA, J. 2007. Fire activity on drylands and floodplains in the southern Okavango Delta, Botswana. Journal of Arid Environments 68:77–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HIKOSAKA, K. 2004. Interspecific difference in the photosynthesis-nitrogen relationship: patterns, physiological causes, and ecological importance. Journal of Plant Research 117:481–494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
JIA, Y. & GRAY, V. M. 2004. Influence of phosphorus and nitrogen on photosynthetic parameters and growth in Vicia faba L. Photosynthetica 42:535–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JONES, M. B. 1988. Photosynthetic responses of C3 and C4 wetland species in a tropical swamp. Journal of Ecology 76:253–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KGOPE, B. S. 2004. Differential photosynthetic responses of broad- and fine-leaved savanna trees to elevated temperatures. South African Journal of Botany 70:760–766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KNAPP, A. K. 1993. Gas exchange dynamics in C3 and C4 grasses: consequences of differences in stomatal conductance. Ecology 74:113–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LAWLOR, D. W. 2001. Photosynthesis. (Third edition). Bios Scientific Publishers, Oxford. 386 pp.Google Scholar
LE ROUX, X. & MORDELET, P. 1995. Leaf and canopy CO2 assimilation in a West-African humid savanna during early growing season. Journal of Tropical Ecology 11:529–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LLOYD, J. & FARQUHAR, G. D. 1994. C-13 discrimination during CO2 assimilation by the terrestrial biosphere. Oecologia 99:201–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LONG, S. 1985. Leaf gas exchange. Pp. 453–499 in Barber, J. & Baker, N. R. (eds.). Photosynthetic mechanisms and the environment. Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. Amsterdam.Google Scholar
MACDONALD, G. E. 2004. Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) – biology, ecology, and management. Critical Reviews in Plant Science 23:367–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MAHERALI, H., JOHNSON, H. B. & JACKSON, R. B. 2003. Stomatal sensitivity to vapour pressure difference over a subambient to elevated CO2 gradient in a C3/C4 grassland. Plant Cell and Environment 26:1297–1306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MAROCO, J. P., PEREIRA, J. S. & CHAVES, M. M. 2000. Growth, photosynthesis and water-use efficiency of two C4 Sahelian grasses subjected to water deficits. Journal of Arid Environments 46:119–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCCARTHY, T. S. & ELLERY, W. N. 1994. The effect of vegetation on soil and ground water chemistry and hydrology of islands in the seasonal swamps of the Okavango Fan, Botswana. Journal of Hydrology 154:169–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MIDGLEY, G. F., WAND, S. J. E. & PAMMENTER, N. W. 1999. Nutrient and genotypic effects on CO2-responsiveness: photosynthetic regulation in Leucadendron species of a nutrient-poor environment. Journal of Experimental Botany 50:533–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MIRANDA, A. C., MIRANDA, H. S., LLOYD, J., GRACE, J., FRANCEY, R. J., MCINTYRE, J. A., MEIR, P., RIGGAN, P., LOCKWOOD, R. & BRASS, J. 1997. Fluxes of carbon, water and energy over Brazilian cerrado: an analysis using eddy covariance and stable isotopes. Plant Cell and Environment 20:315–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MORISON, J. I. L. & GIFFORD, R. M. 1983. Stomatal sensitivity to carbon dioxide and humidity. Plant Physiology 71:789–796.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MOTT, J. J., WILLIAMS, J., ANDREWS, M. H. & GILLISON, A. N. 1985. Australian savanna ecosystems. Pp. 56–82 in Tothill, J. C. & Mott, J. J. (eds.). Ecology and management of the world's savannas. Australian Academy of Science, Canberra.Google Scholar
OLIVARES, E., VIZCAINO, D. & GAMBOA, A. 2002. Mineral nutrition of three aquatic emergent macrophytes in a managed wetland in Venezuela. Journal of Plant Nutrition 25:475–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OREN, R., SPERRY, J. S., KATUL, G. G., PATAKI, D. E., EWERS, B. E., PHILLIPS, N. & SCHAEFER, K. V. R. 1999. Survey and synthesis of intra- and interspecific variation in stomatal sensitivity to vapour pressure deficit. Plant, Cell and Environment 22:1515–1526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PIEDADE, M. T. F., JUNK, W. J. & LONG, S. P. 1991. The productivity of the C4 grass Echinochloa polystachya on the Amazon floodplain. Ecology 72:1456–1463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PIEDADE, M. T. F., JUNK, W. J. & LONG, S. P. 1997. Nutrient dynamics of the highly productive C4 macrophyte Echinochloa polystachya on the Amazon floodplain – are the high-potential rates associated with the C4 syndrome realized under the near-optimal conditions provided by this exceptional natural habitat? Functional Ecology 11:60–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
REICH, P. B., ELLSWORTH, D. S. & WALTERS, M. B. 1998. Leaf structure (specific leaf area) modulates photosynthesis-nitrogen relations: evidence from within and across species and functional groups. Functional Ecology 12:948–958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
REICH, P. B., BUSCHENA, C., TJOELKER, M. G., WRAGE, K., KNOPS, J., TILMAN, D. & MACHADO, J. L. 2003. Variation in growth rate and ecophysiology among 34 grassland and savanna species under contrasting N supply: a test of functional group differences. New Phytologist 157:617–631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAGE, R. F. & PEARCY, R. W. 1987. The nitrogen use efficiency of C3 and C4 plants. II. Leaf nitrogen effects on the gas exchange characteristics of Chenopodium album L. and Amaranthus retroflexus L. Plant Physiology 84:959–963.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SAGE, R. F., PEARCY, R. W. & SEEMANN, J. R. 1987. The nitrogen use efficiency of C3 and C4 Plants. III. Leaf nitrogen effects on the activity of carboxylating enzymes in Chenopodium album (L) and Amaranthus retroflexus (L). Plant Physiology 85:355–359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SCHOLES, R. J. & WALKER, B. H. 1993. An African savanna: synthesis of the Nylsvlei study. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.306 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SIMIONI, G., LE ROUX, X., GIGNOUX, J. & WALCROFT, A. S. 2004. Leaf gas exchange characteristics and water- and nitrogen-use efficiencies of dominant grass and tree species in a West African savanna. Plant Ecology 173:233–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TAUB, D. R. & LERDAU, M. T. 2000. Relationship between leaf nitrogen and photosynthetic rate for three NAD-ME and three NADP-ME C4 grasses. American Journal of Botany 87:412–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
THOMPSON, K. 1985. Emergent plants of permanent and seasonally-flooded wetlands. Pp. 43–107 in Denny, P. W. (ed.). The ecology and management of African wetland vegetation. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht. 344 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TOOTH, S. & MCCARTHY, T. S. 2007. Wetlands in drylands: geomorphological and sedimentological characteristics, with emphasis on examples from southern Africa. Progress in Physical Geography 31:3–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VON CAEMMERER, S. 2000. Biochemical models of leaf photosynthesis. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood. 165 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WAND, S. J. E., MIDGLEY, G. F. & STOCK, W. D. 2001. Growth responses to elevated CO2 in NADP-ME, NAD-ME and PCK C4 grasses and a C3 grass from South Africa. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 28:13–25.Google Scholar