Lateral root development and hydraulic conductance in four populations of Gutierrezia sarothrae

We hypothesize that drought-avoidance in Gutierrezia sarothrae populations is characterized by well-developed lateral roots. Root growth and hydraulic conductance were studied in four populations of Gutierrezia sarothrae. Seedlings from a Malta, Idaho (ID) seed source had four times higher root/shoot ratio (P<0.05), but only 17% hydraulic conductance of those from Tahoka, Texas (TA) seed source. Consequently, transpiration surface area of the ID seedlings was 17% that of the TA seedlings. There was no difference in total root length between the seedlings, but hydraulic conductance per unit root length was 3.8 fold greater (P<0.05) in the TA seedlings, which was accompanied by a lower specific lateral root length...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Ecotype, Elsevier, Environmental and Experimental Botany, desert shrub, drought avoidance, All tags... hydraulic architecture, root growth, Fewer tags

Understanding and Projecting Changes in Climate, Hydrology, and Ecology in the Great Basin for the Next 30 Years

This project links climate, hydrological, and ecological changes over the next 30 years in a Great Basin watershed. In recent years, climate variability on annual and decadal time scales has been recognized as greater than commonly perceived with increasing impacts on ecosystems and available water resources. Changes in vegetation distribution, composition and productivity resulting from climate change affect plant water use, which in turn can alter stream flow, groundwater and eventually available water resources. To better understand these links, project researchers implemented two computer-based numeric models in the Cleve Creek watershed in the Schell Creek Range, east of Ely, Nevada. The application of the...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2013, CASC, Cleve Creek, Climate, Completed, All tags... Drought, Drought, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Federal, Great Basin, Landscapes, Landscapes, NV, Other Landscapes, Other Landscapes, Pinyon/Juniper, Plants, Plants, Projects by Region, Rivers, Streams and Lakes, Rivers, Streams and Lakes, Southwest, Southwest CASC, Water, Coasts and Ice, Water, Coasts and Ice, Wildlife and Plants, Wildlife and Plants, carbon flux, desert shrub, downscale, drought, ecology, evaporation, gcm, great basin, hydrology, lai, maps, model, phenology, plants, pluvial, population growth, precipitation, productivity, rhessys, sage brush, snow, soil moisture, temperature, transpiration, vegetation, water, Fewer tags

Water acquisition and rooting characteristics in northern and southern populations of Gutierrezia sarothrae

Seeds from northern (Idaho) and southern (New Mexico and Texas) populations of broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) were germinated in a greenhouse and the seedlings grown in a soil mixture in 30-cm deep (19-1) plastic pots for 50 days. The pots were then fastened onto the top of similar pots and the seedling root systems were allowed to grow into the lower pots for 4 weeks through punctures in the bottoms of the upper pots. Soil water extraction from four different depths was measured using time domain reflectometry (TDR) 2 weeks after roots had begun to grow into the lower pots. The two New Mexico populations (Jornada and Mountainair) and a population from Plains, Texas extracted more water from deeper (greater-or-equal,...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Broom snakeweed, Elsevier, Environmental and Experimental Botany, desert shrub, drought, All tags... ecotype, root growth, water use, Fewer tags