Sap flux and stable isotopes of water show contrasting tree water uptake strategies in two co-occurring tropical rainforest tree species

Abstract

The short-term dynamics of tree water use strategies for neighbouring co-occurring species are poorly understood. Here, we quantify the high frequency changes in water sources and sap flux patterns of two commonly co-occurring tropical rainforest tree species: Dendrocnide photinophylla (Kunth; Chew) and Argyrodendron peralatum (F.M. Bailey; Edlin ex J.H. Boas). A combination of continuous sap flux measurements and hourly sampling of xylem water stable isotope composition (δD and δ¹⁸O) were used to observe water use strategies during a 24-h transpiration cycle. Sap flux ranged between 2.82 and 28.50 L day⁻¹, with A. peralatum recording a 67% higher rate than D. photinophylla. For both tree species, sap flux increased with tree size and diurnal sap flux increase resulted in more isotopically enriched xylem water. A Bayesian Mixing Model analysis, which used sampled soil water isotopic composition from five soil depths ranging from of 0 to 1 m, revealed that D. photinophylla primarily used water from very shallow depth or soil surface layer (2–60 cm), while A. peralatum sourced its water mostly from deeper layers (60–100 cm). We propose that these differences in species' water consumption patterns are related to plant water storage capacity and wood anatomical features. This research demonstrates that combining xylem isotope composition and sap flux measurements can help reveal species-specific water use strategies, which can be beneficial for improved process understanding in ecohydrological modelling.