Gas exchange and growth responses of the desert shrubs Artemisia tridentata and Chrysothamnus nauseosus to shallow- vs. deep-soil water in a glasshouse experiment

The aridland shrub species, Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush) and Chrysothamnus nauseosus (rubber rabbitbrush), are distributed widely in the Intermountain region of western North America. Earlier research indicated that A. tridentata can utilize upper soil water from transient summer rain events while C. nauseosus apparently cannot, although both species have similar rooting depths. Thus, we hypothesized that C. nauseosus relies more on deep water than A. tridentata, while A. tridentata can take advantage of soil moisture in upper soil layers. We examined this hypothesis by growing A. tridentata and C. nauseosus in two-layer pots in which soil water content in the upper and lower layers was controlled independently....

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Carbon isotope composition, Environmental and Experimental Botany, Gas exchange, Growth, Nitrogen acquisition, All tags... Soil water distribution, Water use, Fewer tags