Drought shortens subtropical understory growing season by advancing leaf senescence
Data files
Apr 18, 2024 version files 2.34 MB
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Datasource_Sun_2024.xlsx
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README.md
Abstract
Subtropical forests, recognized for their intricate vertical canopy stratification, exhibit high resistance to extreme drought. However, the response of leaf phenology to drought in the species-rich understory remains poorly understood. In this study, we constructed a digital camera system, amassing over 360,000 images through a 70% throughfall exclusion experiment, to explore the drought response of understory leaf phenology. The results revealed a significant advancement in understory leaf senescence phenology under drought, with 11.75 and 15.76 days for the start and end of the leaf-falling event, respectively. Pre-season temperature primarily regulated leaf development phenology, whereas soil water dominated the variability in leaf senescence phenology. Under drought conditions, temperature sensitivities for the end of leaf emergence decreased from -13.72 days ℃-1 to -11.06 days ℃-1, with insignificance observed for the start of leaf emergence. Consequently, drought treatment shortened both the length of the growing season (15.69 days) and the peak-growth season (9.80 days) for understory plants. Moreover, this study identified diverse responses among intra- and inter-species to drought, particularly during the leaf development phase. These findings underscore the pivotal role of water availability in shaping understory phenology patterns, especially in subtropical forests.
README: Drought shortens subtropical understory growing season by advancing leaf senescence
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fn2z34v3d
We utilized a digital camera system in conjunction with a throughfall exclusion experiment to examine the impact of drought on subtropical understory leaf phenology. Our findings revealed a notable advancement in understory leaf senescence phenology, with an insignificant shift observed in leaf development phenology under experimental drought conditions, ultimately leading to a shortened growing season.
Description of the data and file structure
Table 1. Daily understory normalized GCC (Green Chromatic Coordinates) in the throughfall exclusion experiment at plot-scale from 2017 to 2022
Table 2. Daily understory normalized GCC in the throughfall exclusion experiment at species-scale
Table 3. Understory leaf phenology in the throughfall exclusion experiment at plot-scale from 2017 to 2022
Table 4. The leaf phenology of dominant understory species in the throughfall exclusion experiment
Table 5. Climatic and biotic factors influencing understory leaf phenology
Table 6. Leaf eco-physiological traits of dominant seedlings and shrub species measured at this study site
Table 7. DBH (diameter at breast height) of seedling and shrub, and crown diameter of fern in the throughfall exclusion experiment
Abbreviations
Green Chromatic Coordinates: GCC
Start of leaf emergence: SOLE
End of leaf emergence: EOLE
Start of leaf falling: SOLF
End of leaf falling: EOLF
Length of growing season: LOGS
Length of peak growth: LOPG
Photosynthesis rate: A
Stomatal conductance: gs
Intrinsic water use efficiency: iWUE
Diameter at breast height: DBH
Sharing/Access information
More infromation about the dataset, please contact Huanfa Sun (Email: hfsun@stu.ecnu.edu.cn).
Methods
We constructed a digital camera system to monitor understory leaf phenology within a throughfall exclusion experiment in a subtropical forest. The start of leaf emergence, end of leaf emergence, start of leaf falling, and end of leaf falling of understory were extracted. Subsequently, The length of growing season and length of peak growth were calculated. Simultaneously, pertinent climatic variables were recorded. Additional methodological details can be found in the “Materials and methods” section of the article.