Genetic adaptation and phenotypic plasticity contribute to greater leaf hydraulic tolerance in response to drought in warmer climates

The ability of plants to maintain an intact water transport system in leaves under drought conditions is intimately linked to survival and can been be seen as adaptive in shaping species climatic limits. Large differences in leaf hydraulic vulnerability to drought are known among species from contrasting climates, yet whether this trait varies among populations within a single species and, furthermore, whether it is altered by changes in growth conditions, remain unclear. We examined intraspecific variation in both leaf water transport capacity (Kleaf) and leaf hydraulic vulnerability to drought (P50leaf) among eight populations of Corymbia calophylla (R. Br.) K.D. Hill & L.A.S. Johnson (Myrtaceae) from both cool and warm climatic regions grown reciprocally under two temperature treatments representing the cool and warm edge of the species distribution. Kleaf did not vary between cool and warm-climate populations, nor was it affected by variable growth temperature. In contrast, population origin and growth temperature independently altered P50leaf. Using data pooled across growth temperatures, cool-climate populations showed significantly higher leaf hydraulic vulnerability (P50leaf = −3.55 ± 0.18 MPa) than warm-climate populations (P50leaf = −3.78 ± 0.08 MPa). Across populations, P50leaf decreased as population home-climate temperature increased, but was unrelated to rainfall and aridity. For populations from both cool and warm climatic regions, P50leaf was lower under the warmer growth conditions. These results provide evidence of trait plasticity in leaf hydraulic vulnerability to drought in response to variable growth temperature. Furthermore, they suggest that climate, and in particular temperature, may be a strong selective force in shaping intraspecific variation in leaf hydraulic vulnerability to drought.