Article
Influence of Water Availability on Photosynthesis, Water Potential, Leaf δ13C, and Phenology in Dominant C4 Grasses In Kansas, USA
Transactions on the Kansas Academy of Science
(2015)
Abstract
Determining effects of drought on prairie grasses could help us understand shifts in plant distributions and abundances with altered precipitation. The mixed grass prairie of North America is the zone where tallgrass prairies of the east intermingle with shortgrass prairies of the west. Species transitions in the mixed grass prairie reflect precipitation gradients, but little is known regarding how dominant grasses respond physiologically to water availability. We measured the performance of Andropogon gerardii, Bouteloua curtipendula, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Sorghastrum nutansin three precipitation treatments (ambient rainfall, drought, irrigated) in a southern mixed grass prairie near Hays, Kansas, USA. Photosynthesis and water potential were measured monthly in June and July of 2010 and 2011. Phenology and height measurements were collected semimonthly in June, July, and August of 2011. Growth increased under irrigated treatments in all four species. Conversely, leaf δ13C became lower in drought treatments. The highest photosynthesis rates were measured in irrigated S. nutans, but S. nutans was the most impacted by drought. No individuals of S. nutans remained in drought treatments by August 2011, leaf δ13C and water potentials were significantly higher than in other species, and individuals of S. nutansonly reached reproductive stage in irrigated treatments.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2015
Citation Information
Peter B. Adler. "Influence of Water Availability on Photosynthesis, Water Potential, Leaf δ13C, and Phenology in Dominant C4 Grasses In Kansas, USA" Transactions on the Kansas Academy of Science Vol. 118 Iss. 3 (2015) p. 173 - 193 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/peter_adler/122/