Higher phosphorus and water use efficiencies and leaf stoichiometry contribute to legume success in drylands
Data files
Aug 20, 2024 version files 12.44 KB
Abstract
Legumes are essential plants in dryland ecosystems worldwide because they increase nitrogen availability, so their understanding is vital for improving knowledge and modeling in the face of climate change.
This work studies the differences in resource use efficiency and their relationship with photosynthetic, photochemical, bioelemental, and stoichiometric traits of coexistent legumes and non-legumes in a Sonoran Desert ecosystem.
We found that legumes had higher photosynthetic rates, intrinsic and seasonal water use efficiency (WUE), phosphorus use efficiency (PPUE), and higher light utilization mediated by chlorophyll content and active reaction centers, which may increase their photoprotection. Legumes can increase their WUE and PPUE with no changes in nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE). Consequently, observed trait relationships between studied traits in these legumes have significant differences with the non-legume species in the study.
Stoichiometry is helpful, in some cases, as an indicator of nutrient use efficiency and enables functional group differentiation.
Our results strongly relate legumes' higher resource use efficiency with their success in dryland ecosystems.
README: Higher phosphorus and water use efficiencies and leaf stoichiometry contribute to legume success in drylands.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5hqbzkhfj
Description of the data and file structure
Description of the data and file structure
The study was conducted at the El Churi ranch in La Colorada, Sonora (28°41’53.6” Lat N and -110°32’21” Long W), in Northwestern Mexico. The site has an average annual rainfall (P) of 348 mm, an annual temperature of 20.7 °C (Castellanos et al., 2022), and potential evapotranspiration (ET) of 2,360 mm. The climate is semiarid, with aridity indexes of 0.15 (P/ET) and 12.84 (De Martonne).
Field measurements and sampling were conducted on the most dominant shrub and tree species, three leguminous and five non-leguminous, which contributed to about 80% of the plant community's dominance. Physiological measurements were obtained from five (occasionally four) leaves from previously marked healthy adult individuals of each species within a plot of around 1000 m2. All measurements were performed after the onset of the North American Monsoon summer rains (between July and October) in 2021 and no official permits were required to perform the field work.
Files and variables
Table_S01.xlsx (Dryad)
Stepwise regressions of resource use efficiencies with studied traits in legumes and non-legumes.
Two other supplementary documents are provided in the Zenodo link under Related Works.
Code/software
n/a
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
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Data was derived from the following sources:
- own generated
Methods
Field measurements and sampling were conducted on the most dominant shrub and tree species, three leguminous and five non-leguminous, which contributed to about 80% of the plant community's dominance. Physiological measurements were obtained from five (occasionally four) leaves from previously marked healthy adult individuals of each species within a plot of around 1000 m2. All measurements were performed after the onset of the North American Monsoon summer rains (between July and October) in 2021 and no official permits were required to perform the field work.