Photosynthetica 2014, 52(1):22-35 | DOI: 10.1007/s11099-014-0001-5

The physiological light response of two tree species across a hydrologic gradient in Brazilian savanna (Cerrado)

H. J. Dalmagro1, F. de A. Lobo1, G. L. Vourlitis2,*, Â. C. Dalmolin1, M. Z. Antunes Jr.3, C. E. R. Ortíz4, J. de S. Nogueira1
1 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Física Ambiental, IF/UFMT, Cuiabá-MT, Brasil
2 Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, San Marcos, USA
3 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agricultura Tropical, FAMEV/UFMT, Cuiabá/MT, Brasil
4 Departamento de Botânica e Ecologia, IB/UFMT, Cuiabá/MT, Brasil

Tropical savanna ecosystems are extremely diverse and important for global carbon storage. In the state of Mato Grosso, tropical savanna (locally known as the Cerrado), turns from well-drained, upland areas into seasonally flooded areas within the Pantanal; however, the Cerrado and the Pantanal share many common tree species, such as Vochysia divergens, a flood-adapted tree native to the Amazon Basin, and Curatella americana, a tree, adapted native to the welldrained the Cerrado. We measured the photosynthetic light response of these species in the the Cerrado and the Pantanal over a 1-year period to determine how these species physiologically adjust to these hydrologically distinct habitats. We hypothesized that neither species would experience a significant decline in maximum, light-saturated photosynthetic rate (P max) in their naturalized habitat. Physiological performance of each species was generally higher in the habitat that they were adapted to; however, our data indicated that both species have broad tolerance for seasonal variations in hydrology, allowing them to tolerate seasonal drought during the dry season in the Cerrado, and seasonal flooding during the wet season in the Pantanal. In V. divergens, flexible water-use efficiency, higher specific leaf area (SLA), and a greater ability to adjust mass-based P max (P max,m) to variations in leaf N and P concentration appeared to be key traits for withstanding prolonged drought in the Cerrado. In C. americana, increases in SLA and higher nutrient-use efficiency appeared to be important in maintaining high rates of P max,m in the seasonally flooded Pantanal. Flexibility in physiology and resource-use efficiency may allow these species to survive and persist in habitats with broadly differing hydrology.

Keywords: ecophysiology; Curatella americana; leaf gas exchange; neotropical wetlands; Pantanal; Vochysia divergens

Received: January 23, 2013; Accepted: April 4, 2013; Published: March 1, 2014Show citation

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Dalmagro, H.J., de Lobo, F.A., Vourlitis, G.L., Dalmolin, Â.C., Antunes, M.Z., Ortíz, C.E.R., & de Nogueira, J.S. (2014). The physiological light response of two tree species across a hydrologic gradient in Brazilian savanna (Cerrado). Photosynthetica, 52(1), 22-35. doi: 10.1007/s11099-014-0001-5.
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