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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Salinity and periodic inundation controls on the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum of gray mangroves
Leonardo NotoFrancesco ViolaAnnalisa MoliniSaverio Perrisubject
0106 biological sciencesStomatal conductance010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences01 natural sciencesecohydrologysalinitytidal environmenttropical ecosystemHalophyteEcohydrologysoil-plant-atmosphere continuum0105 earth and related environmental sciencesWater Science and TechnologyTranspirationHydrologybiologyEcologySettore ICAR/02 - Costruzioni Idrauliche E Marittime E Idrologiabiology.organism_classificationSalinitySoil plant atmosphere continuumAvicennia marinaEnvironmental scienceMangroveAvicennia marina010606 plant biology & botanydescription
Salinity and periodic inundation are both known to have a major role in shaping the ecohydrology of mangroves through their controls on water uptake, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, gas-exchanges and nutrient availability. Salinity, in particular, can be considered one of the main abiotic regulating factors for halophytes and salt tolerant species, due to its influence on water use patterns and growth rate. Ecohydrological literature has rarely focused on the effects of salinity on plant transpiration, based on the fact that the terrestrial plants mostly thrive in low saline, unsaturated soils where the role of osmotic potential can be considered negligible. However, the effect of salinity cannot be neglected in the case of tidal species like mangroves, which have to cope with hyperosmotic conditions and waterlogging. We introduce here a first-order ecohydrological model of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) of Avicennia marina – also known as gray mangrove – a highly salt tolerant pioneer species able to adapt to hyper-arid intertidal zones and characterized by unique morphological and ecophysiological traits. The A. Marina’s SPAC takes explicitly into account the role of water head, osmotic water potential and water salinity in governing plant water fluxes. A. marina’s transpiration a is thus modelled as a function of salinity based on a simple parameterization of salt exclusion mechanisms at the root level and a modified Jarvis’ expression accounting for the effects of salinity on stomatal conductance. Consistently with previous studies investigating the physiology of mangroves in response to different environmental drivers, our results highlight the major influence of salinity on mangrove transpiration when contrasted with other potential stressors such as waterlogging and water-stress. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-01-31 | Hydrological Processes |