Assessing the Hydric Deficit on Two Polylepis Species from the Peruvian Andean Mountains: Xylem Vessel Anatomic Adjusting
2022
Ernesto C. Rodríguez-Ramírez | Doris B. Crispín-DelaCruz | Ginette Ticse-Otarola | Edilson J. Requena-Rojas
The impact of drought on vessel architecture and function has been broadly assessed for a variety of tree species in the last decades, but the hydraulic plasticity under temperature increase has scarcely been studied. The effect of drought on tree-ring width and specific hydraulic conductivity depends on relict-tree species resilience to climatic adaptability and its wood anatomical responses to climatic oscillations. We assessed the vessel architecture adaptation of two threatened Peruvian Andean Polylepis species (P. rodolfo-vasquezii and P. tarapacana). We found that historical Peruvian drought years differentially affected Polylepis species, where P. rodolfo-vasquezii showed vessel anatomical features significantly sensitive to drought events when contrasted with P. tarapacana. The drought effect influenced the capacity of Polylepis species to adjust the tree-ring width and vessel anatomical traits of their hydraulic system. Our results suggest that drought events influence Polylepis species&rsquo: adaptability and resilience to dry periods and could also restrict them from remaining as a part of the Peruvian Andean puna and mountain ecosystems.
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