Diversity and Plasticity of Hydraulic Traits Across a Relative Moisture Supply Gradient: Results From Multiple Common Gardens
- 1Department of Botany University of Wisconsin – Madison Madison Wisconsin USA
- 2School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne Creswick Victoria Australia
- 3School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
Abstract
Maintaining cellular hydration is essential for plant metabolic activity and carbon gain. Plants typically maintain hydration through efficiency of water transport networks, the ability to avoid network disruption, and retention of water via accumulation of osmotica. Given their global domain and their enduring presence across geological eras, plants have evolved with large variations in moisture supply across geographic and temporal space, notably via trait adaptation and plasticity. We quantified plastic and genetically fixed variation in 6 key hydraulic traits across 10 Eucalyptus species in 4 common gardens spanning a climatic relative‐moisture gradient in Victoria, Australia. These traits generally shift plastically within species across gardens while maintaining interspecific trends across species within gardens. Species grown at or originating from drier sites tend to have lower hydraulic conductivity, narrower xylem conduits, greater conduit density, greater bulk xylem density, greater fibre wall fraction, and more negative turgor loss point, consistent with expectations based on maximizing whole‐plant growth. Genetically fixed variation was usually greater than plastic variation, but some traits were more plastic in species native to moister areas. Variation in xylem anatomy largely explained variation in hydraulic conductivity and xylem density, notwithstanding idiosyncratic site and species effects.
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BibTeX
@article{smith2026diversity,
title = {{Diversity and Plasticity of Hydraulic Traits Across a Relative Moisture Supply Gradient: Results From Multiple Common Gardens}},
author = {Duncan D. Smith and Thomas J. Givnish and Mark A. Adams and Katherine A. McCulloh},
journal = {Plant, Cell \& Environment},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1111/pce.70890},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.70890},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Diversity and Plasticity of Hydraulic Traits Across a Relative Moisture Supply Gradient: Results From Multiple Common Gardens
AU - Duncan D. Smith
AU - Thomas J. Givnish
AU - Mark A. Adams
AU - Katherine A. McCulloh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/16
JO - Plant, Cell & Environment
DO - 10.1111/pce.70890
UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.70890
AB - Maintaining cellular hydration is essential for plant metabolic activity and carbon gain. Plants typically maintain hydration through efficiency of water transport networks, the ability to avoid network disruption, and retention of water via accumulation of osmotica. Given their global domain and their enduring presence across geological eras, plants have evolved with large variations in moisture supply across geographic and temporal space, notably via trait adaptation and plasticity. We quantified plastic and genetically fixed variation in 6 key hydraulic traits across 10 Eucalyptus species in 4 common gardens spanning a climatic relative‐moisture gradient in Victoria, Australia. These traits generally shift plastically within species across gardens while maintaining interspecific trends across species within gardens. Species grown at or originating from drier sites tend to have lower hydraulic conductivity, narrower xylem conduits, greater conduit density, greater bulk xylem density, greater fibre wall fraction, and more negative turgor loss point, consistent with expectations based on maximizing whole‐plant growth. Genetically fixed variation was usually greater than plastic variation, but some traits were more plastic in species native to moister areas. Variation in xylem anatomy largely explained variation in hydraulic conductivity and xylem density, notwithstanding idiosyncratic site and species effects.
SN - 0140-7791
SN - 1365-3040
ER -