School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences - Research Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Item
    No Preview Available
    Can we integrate ecological approaches to improve plant selection for green infrastructure?
    Farrell, C ; Livesley, SJ ; Arndt, SK ; Beaumont, L ; Burley, H ; Ellsworth, D ; Esperon-Rodriguez, M ; Fletcher, TD ; Gallagher, R ; Ossola, A ; Power, SA ; Marchin, R ; Rayner, JP ; Rymer, PD ; Staas, L ; Szota, C ; Williams, NSG ; Leishman, M (ELSEVIER GMBH, 2022-10)
  • Item
    No Preview Available
    Selecting tree species with high transpiration and drought avoidance to optimise runoff reduction in passive irrigation systems
    Thom, JK ; Livesley, SJ ; Fletcher, TD ; Farrell, C ; Arndt, SK ; Konarska, J ; Szota, C (ELSEVIER, 2022-03-15)
    Rainfall in cities can generate large volumes of stormwater runoff which degrades receiving waterways. Irrigating trees with runoff (passive irrigation) has the potential to increase transpiration and contribute to stormwater management by reducing runoff received by downstream waterways, but the stochastic nature of rainfall may expose trees with high transpiration to drought stress. We hypothesized that for success in passive irrigation systems, tree species should exhibit i) high maximum transpiration rates under well-watered conditions, ii) drought avoidance between rainfall events, and iii) high recovery of transpiration with rainfall following a drought. We assessed 13 commonly planted urban tree species in Melbourne, Australia against three metrics representing these behaviours (crop factor, hydroscape area, and transpiration recovery, respectively) in a glasshouse experiment. To aid species selection, we also investigated the relationships between these three metrics and commonly measured plant traits, including leaf turgor loss point, wood density, and sapwood to leaf area ratio (Huber value). Only one species (Tristaniopsis laurina) exhibited a combination of high crop factor (>1.1 mm mm-1 d-1) indicating high transpiration, small hydroscape area (<3 MPa2) indicating drought avoidance, and high transpiration recovery (>85%) following water deficit. Hence, of the species measured, it had the greatest potential to reduce runoff from passive irrigation systems while avoiding drought stress. Nevertheless, several other species showed moderate transpiration, hydroscape areas and transpiration recovery, indicating a balanced strategy likely suitable for passive irrigation systems. Huber values were negatively related to crop factor and transpiration recovery and may therefore be a useful tool to aid species selection. We propose that selecting tree species with high transpiration rates that can avoid drought and recover well could greatly reduce stormwater runoff, while supporting broader environmental benefits such as urban cooling in cities.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora
    Falster, D ; Gallagher, R ; Wenk, EH ; Wright, IJ ; Indiarto, D ; Andrew, SC ; Baxter, C ; Lawson, J ; Allen, S ; Fuchs, A ; Monro, A ; Kar, F ; Adams, MA ; Ahrens, CW ; Alfonzetti, M ; Angevin, T ; Apgaua, DMG ; Arndt, S ; Atkin, OK ; Atkinson, J ; Auld, T ; Baker, A ; von Balthazar, M ; Bean, A ; Blackman, CJ ; Bloomfeld, K ; Bowman, DMJS ; Bragg, J ; Brodribb, TJ ; Buckton, G ; Burrows, G ; Caldwell, E ; Camac, J ; Carpenter, R ; Catford, J ; Cawthray, GR ; Cernusak, LA ; Chandler, G ; Chapman, AR ; Cheal, D ; Cheesman, AW ; Chen, S-C ; Choat, B ; Clinton, B ; Clode, PL ; Coleman, H ; Cornwell, WK ; Cosgrove, M ; Crisp, M ; Cross, E ; Crous, KY ; Cunningham, S ; Curran, T ; Curtis, E ; Daws, M ; DeGabriel, JL ; Denton, MD ; Dong, N ; Du, P ; Duan, H ; Duncan, DH ; Duncan, RP ; Duretto, M ; Dwyer, JM ; Edwards, C ; Esperon-Rodriguez, M ; Evans, JR ; Everingham, SE ; Farrell, C ; Firn, J ; Fonseca, CR ; French, BJ ; Frood, D ; Funk, JL ; Geange, SR ; Ghannoum, O ; Gleason, SM ; Gosper, CR ; Gray, E ; Groom, PK ; Grootemaat, S ; Gross, C ; Guerin, G ; Guja, L ; Hahs, AK ; Harrison, MT ; Hayes, PE ; Henery, M ; Hochuli, D ; Howell, J ; Huang, G ; Hughes, L ; Huisman, J ; Ilic, J ; Jagdish, A ; Jin, D ; Jordan, G ; Jurado, E ; Kanowski, J ; Kasel, S ; Kellermann, J ; Kenny, B ; Kohout, M ; Kooyman, RM ; Kotowska, MM ; Lai, HR ; Laliberte, E ; Lambers, H ; Lamont, BB ; Lanfear, R ; van Langevelde, F ; Laughlin, DC ; Laugier-kitchener, B-A ; Laurance, S ; Lehmann, CER ; Leigh, A ; Leishman, MR ; Lenz, T ; Lepschi, B ; Lewis, JD ; Lim, F ; Liu, U ; Lord, J ; Lusk, CH ; Macinnis-Ng, C ; McPherson, H ; Magallon, S ; Manea, A ; Lopez-Martinez, A ; Mayfeld, M ; McCarthy, JK ; Meers, T ; van der Merwe, M ; Metcalfe, DJ ; Milberg, P ; Mokany, K ; Moles, AT ; Moore, BD ; Moore, N ; Morgan, JW ; Morris, W ; Muir, A ; Munroe, S ; Nicholson, A ; Nicolle, D ; Nicotra, AB ; Niinemets, U ; North, T ; O'Reilly-Nugent, A ; O'Sullivan, OS ; Oberle, B ; Onoda, Y ; Ooi, MKJ ; Osborne, CP ; Paczkowska, G ; Pekin, B ; Pereira, CG ; Pickering, C ; Pickup, M ; Pollock, LJ ; Poot, P ; Powell, JR ; Power, S ; Prentice, IC ; Prior, L ; Prober, SM ; Read, J ; Reynolds, V ; Richards, AE ; Richardson, B ; Roderick, ML ; Rosell, JA ; Rossetto, M ; Rye, B ; Rymer, PD ; Sams, M ; Sanson, G ; Sauquet, H ; Schmidt, S ; Schoenenberger, J ; Schulze, E-D ; Sendall, K ; Sinclair, S ; Smith, B ; Smith, R ; Soper, F ; Sparrow, B ; Standish, RJ ; Staples, TL ; Stephens, R ; Szota, C ; Taseski, G ; Tasker, E ; Thomas, F ; Tissue, DT ; Tjoelker, MG ; Tng, DYP ; de Tombeur, F ; Tomlinson, K ; Turner, NC ; Veneklaas, EJ ; Venn, S ; Vesk, P ; Vlasveld, C ; Vorontsova, MS ; Warren, CA ; Warwick, N ; Weerasinghe, LK ; Wells, J ; Westoby, M ; White, M ; Williams, NSG ; Wills, J ; Wilson, PG ; Yates, C ; Zanne, AE ; Zemunik, G ; Zieminska, K (NATURE PORTFOLIO, 2021-09-30)
    We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Phenotypic Plasticity of Drought Tolerance Traits in a Widespread Eucalypt (Eucalyptus obliqua)
    Pritzkow, C ; Szota, C ; Williamson, VG ; Arndt, SK (MDPI, 2020-12)
    Long-term studies of tree responses to drought stress help us to understand the capacity of species to adapt to their environment. In this study, we investigated how Eucalyptus obliqua adjusts physiological and morphological traits in response to seasonal and multi-year droughts. We monitored physiological and morphological traits over multiple years in undisturbed control and throughfall reduction plots in a eucalypt forest in south-eastern Australia. The throughfall reduction treatment did not induce significantly lower soil moisture in the throughfall reduction plots compared with the control plots. However, natural variability in precipitation and evaporative demand induced drought stress of varying intensity each summer in all plots. We observed a significant relationship between seasonal precipitation and leaf pre-dawn water potential (ΨPD), with less precipitation over summer, resulting in a decline in ΨPD and drought stress when ΨPD fell below −0.75 MPa. Eucalyptus obliqua responded to short-term summer drought through rapid leaf osmotic adjustment which lowered the leaf water potential at the turgor loss point beyond the minimum leaf water potential. Morphological adjustments, such as the reduction of leaf area to sapwood area (higher Huber Value) were moderate during the measurement period and only occurred under severe drought stress (pre-dawn water potential < −1.2 MPa). Overall, E. obliqua responded to short-term mild drought stress through physiological trait plasticity, while morphological adjustment only occurred under a more severe water deficit.
  • Item
    No Preview Available
    Phenotypic plasticity and genetic adaptation of functional traits influences intra-specific variation in hydraulic efficiency and safety
    Pritzkow, C ; Williamson, V ; Szota, C ; Trouve, R ; Arndt, SK ; Martinez-Vilalta, J (OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2020-02)
    Understanding which hydraulic traits are under genetic control and/or are phenotypically plastic is essential in understanding how tree species will respond to rapid shifts in climate. We quantified hydraulic traits in Eucalyptus obliqua L'Her. across a precipitation gradient in the field to describe (i) trait variation in relation to long-term climate and (ii) the short-term (seasonal) ability of traits to adjust (i.e., phenotypic plasticity). Seedlings from each field population were raised under controlled conditions to assess (iii) which traits are under strong genetic control. In the field, drier populations had smaller leaves with anatomically thicker xylem vessel walls, a lower leaf hydraulic vulnerability and a lower water potential at turgor loss point, which likely confers higher hydraulic safety. Traits such as the water potential at turgor loss point and ratio of sapwood to leaf area (Huber value) showed significant adjustment from wet to dry conditions in the field, indicating phenotypic plasticity and importantly, the ability to increase hydraulic safety in the short term. In the nursery, seedlings from drier populations had smaller leaves and a lower leaf hydraulic vulnerability, suggesting that key traits associated with hydraulic safety are under strong genetic control. Overall, our study suggests a strong genetic control over traits associated with hydraulic safety, which may compromise the survival of wet-origin populations in drier future climates. However, phenotypic plasticity in physiological and morphological traits may confer sufficient hydraulic safety to facilitate genetic adaptation.