Data from: Trading water for carbon in the future: effects of elevated CO2 and warming on leaf hydraulic traits in a semiarid grassland

The effects of climate change on plants and ecosystems are mediated by
plant hydraulic traits, including interspecific and intraspecific
variability of trait phenotypes. Yet, integrative and realistic studies of
hydraulic traits and climate change are rare. In a semiarid grassland, we
assessed the response of several plant hydraulic traits to elevated CO2
(+200 ppm) and warming (+1.5 to 3℃; day to night). For leaves of five
dominant species (three graminoids, two forbs), and in replicated plots
exposed to seven years of elevated CO2, warming, or ambient climate, we
measured: stomatal density and size, xylem vessel size, turgor loss point,
and water potential (pre-dawn). Interspecific differences in hydraulic
traits were larger than intraspecific shifts induced by elevated CO2
and/or warming. Effects of elevated CO2 were greater than effects of
warming, and interactions between treatments were weak or not detected.
The forbs showed little phenotypic plasticity. The graminoids had leaf
water potentials and turgor loss points that were 10 to 50% less negative
under elevated CO2; thus, climate change might cause these species to
adjust their drought resistance strategy away from tolerance and toward
avoidance. The C4 grass also reduced allocation of leaf area to stomata
under elevated CO2, which helps explain observations of higher soil
moisture. The shifts in hydraulic traits under elevated CO2 were not,
however, simply due to higher soil moisture. Integration of our results
with others’ indicates that common species in this grassland are more
likely to adjust stomatal aperture in response to near-term climate
change, rather than anatomical traits; this contrasts with apparent
effects of changing CO2 on plant anatomy over evolutionary time. Future
studies should assess how plant responses to drought may be constrained by
the apparent shift from tolerance (via low turgor loss point) to avoidance
(via stomatal regulation and/or access to deeper soil moisture).