Short-term impact of low air pressure on plants’ functional traits

作者：S. Lembo, Georg Niedrist, Bouchra El Omari, Paul Illmer, Nadine Praeg, Andreas Meul, Matteo Dainese · 发表于：PLoS ONE · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1371/journal.pone.0317590 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Plant responses to elevated CO2、Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics、Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology

Lower atmospheric pressure affects biologically relevant physical parameters such as gas partial pressure and concentration, leading to increased water vapor diffusivity and greater soil water content loss through evapotranspiration. This might impact plant photosynthetic activity, resource allocation, water relations, and growth. However, the direct impact of low air pressure on plant physiology is largely unknown. This study examined the effects of low air pressure, alone and combined with two water inputs, on different functional traits of three plant species transplanted from montane grasslands at 1,500 m a.s.l. during the first four weeks of their early phenological stage: Trifolium pratense, Hieracium pilosella, and Brachypodium rupestre. Using the terraXcube Ecotron facility which can simulate different climatic conditions, we isolated the effect of air pressure from those of other, related environmental factors (temperature, humidity, and solar radiation) by simulating three different elevations with corresponding air pressures: 1,500 m a.s.l. (85 kPa, control scenario), 2,500 m a.s.l. (75 kPa), and 4,000 m a.s.l. (62 kPa) and we used two different water regimes to observe the combined effect of low air pressure and the impact of varying water inputs on plants. In T. pratense and H. pilosella, we observed an increase in stomatal conductance but a reduction in aboveground biomass at the lowest pressure compared to the control scenario after four weeks of incubation. Co...