Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/V000071/1
Using plant hydraulic scaling to predict the drought vulnerability of the world's tallest tropical trees
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr L Rowland, University of Exeter, Geography
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor D Burslem, University of Aberdeen, Inst of Biological and Environmental Sci
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor DA Coomes, University of Cambridge, Plant Sciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor S Sitch, University of Exeter, Geography
- Grant held at:
- University of Exeter, Geography
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Panel C
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Ecosystem impacts
- Climate & Climate Change
- Ecosystem function
- Tropical forests
- Community Ecology
- Tropical forests
- Ecosystem function
- Conservation Ecology
- Abstract:
- Tropical rainforests are one of the planets most important stores of carbon, as well as being essential to water cycling at large scales. Within tropical forests the largest trees, with diameters exceeding 70 cm, store between 25-45% of the carbon, yet represent <4% of the total number of trees. These large trees also transport disproportionately more water than smaller individuals do, making them a conservation priority for the future. Large tropical trees are likely to be very old, with many between 200-500 years and some estimated to be >1400 years old. Therefore, they have survived historical extreme climate events, including drought. Yet, recent evidence suggests water transport limitations are likely to make larger trees more vulnerable to the more extreme, more frequent drought events, which are predicted for the future. However, we still do not understand how large trees manage to overcome the huge resistances associated with transporting water such large vertical distances, against gravity, which substantially increase the hydraulic stress the tree experiences in a given climate. This information is essential to understanding how vulnerable these iconic tropical trees will be to the predicted future increases in drought frequency and intensity. Large trees can minimise the effects of increasing resistance to water transport with height through changing multiple leaf and stem hydraulic traits vertically through their stem and canopy. However, data on these vertical changes are rare and do not exist for tropical trees. Consequently, there is limited knowledge concerning whether trees can or cannot compensate for the negative effects being taller has on their water transport capacity and therefore their vulnerability to future drought events. In this project we will combine novel measurements of vertical changes in tree anatomical, structural and hydraulic properties on the world's tallest tropical trees, in two different tropical regions - Amazonia and Borneo - to achieve the following aims: Aim 1: Determine how vertical changes in tree hydraulic and anatomical traits regulate the capacity of tall trees to maintain water transport to their leaves under different environmental conditions. Aim 2: Determine if key structural and architectural properties of tropical trees control the vertical gradients of plant hydraulic and anatomical properties. Aim 3: Determine how accounting for vertical gradients in hydraulic properties in tall tropical trees alters predictions of tropical forest water and carbon cycling. To achieve these aims we will study the tallest tropical trees in the world. This will include trees in Amazonia discovered in 2019 that reach 88.5 m tall, ~30m taller than any other tree recorded in the neotropics. We will compare these to equivalent sized trees in Borneo from the dipterocarp family, the family containing the tallest angiosperm species in the world. On these trees we will measure vertical gradients in hydraulic and anatomical traits on 60 trees varying in height from 20-90 m. These trees will come from eight dominant species in Brazil and Borneo, allowing us to contrast the hydraulic adaptations of trees species from drier, more seasonal climates (Brazil), to those of species that have evolved in wetter, a-seasonal climates (Borneo). To realise the three aims above, our novel vertical hydraulic trait measurements will be combined with measures of whole-tree water transport and storage, tree architectural data derived from state-of-the-art ground-based laser scanning and vegetation models. Combining these techniques will allow us to make a step-change in our current understanding of the limits to water transport in the world's tallest tropical trees and the impact this may have on carbon and water cycling under future climate scenarios.
- Period of Award:
- 1 Apr 2021 - 30 Sep 2025
- Value:
- £639,294 Lead Split Award
Authorised funds only
- NERC Reference:
- NE/V000071/1
- Grant Stage:
- Awaiting Event/Action
- Scheme:
- Standard Grant FEC
- Grant Status:
- Active
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £639,294
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DA - Estate Costs | DI - Staff | DI - T&S | DA - Other Directly Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £150,076 | £164,675 | £42,953 | £56,963 | £147,203 | £66,187 | £11,239 |
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