Leaf physiological responses to drought stress and community assembly in an Asian Savanna

Abstract

Deciduous dipterocarp forest (DDF) is the most extensive forest type in continental Southeast Asia, but across much of its range is functionally more similar to tropical savannas than tropical forests. We investigated water relations and drought responses of the four dominant tree species (two Shorea and two Dipterocarpus species) of the DDF in central Vietnam to determine how they responded to prolonged periods of drought stress. We quantified leaf water relations in nursery-and field-grown seedlings of the four species and conducted a dry-down experiment on 258 seedlings to study leaf water potential and morphological responses of the seedlings following the drought stress. The two Shorea ..