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The significance of episodic rains for reproductive phenology and productivity of trees in semiarid regions of northwestern Venezuela

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Abstract

The semiarid regions of northwestern Venezuela have extremely low and highly unpredictable precipitation, yet these conditions support species with contrasting phenology and leaf longevity. Episodic rains significantly increased leaf water potential (from −5 to −2.5 MPa) in several species and, in some cases, triggered flowering, leading us to hypothesize that the coexistence of species with contrasting phenology is due to differences in their ability to utilize small rainfall events. Irrigation treatments were used to simulate brief rainfall events, and the response of three species (Erythrina velutina [deciduous], Croton heliaster [semideciduous], and Capparis odoratissima [evergreen]) was monitored over a period of 14 months. To partition the effects of water reaching the canopy versus the soil, irrigation was supplied either in the form of mist to the canopy or by minisprinklers near the base of the trees. Nonirrigated trees were used as controls. Productivity (estimated as aboveground litter production) and water potential were enhanced by soil irrigation in two species. However, in the evergreen species canopy irrigation had a greater effect on water relations and productivity than soil irrigation, as indicated by higher predawn water potential, higher total annual flower (40 g m−2 year−1) and fruit (5 g m−2 year−1) production, and longer leaf longevity (410 days in control trees versus 520 days in canopy-irrigated trees). Canopy irrigation augmented flower and fruit production in all three species. Our findings suggest that reproductive phenology in these species is driven by episodic rains and that evergreen species may sustain productivity by their ability to make use of water deposited on leaf surfaces.

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Acknowledgments

The British Council, Universidad Francisco de Miranda, CONICIT-Venezuela and Fundacite Falcón provided the economic resources that made this research possible. We wish to thank Edmund Tanner, Peter Grubb, and Ulrich Luttge for their support and recommendations to the experiments and manuscripts. Mercedes and Jesus Romero (owners of Fundo Guaidabacoa). Belkys Depool, Agustin Cedeño, Alberto, Tulio and Alexis Arends, and Ing. Pedro Penso (designer of the irrigation system) provided invaluable logistic support. The Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and DRCLAS at Harvard University provided a stimulating environment in which to complete the manuscript. We are grateful to M. Holbrook for her encouragement and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments

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  1. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK

    Míriam Díaz & Eréndira Granadillo

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Correspondence to Míriam Díaz.

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Díaz, M., Granadillo, E. The significance of episodic rains for reproductive phenology and productivity of trees in semiarid regions of northwestern Venezuela. Trees 19, 336–348 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-004-0405-0

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