Hydraulic architecture and the safety-efficiency trade-off of Caragana korshinskii in the Tengger Desert

doi:10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00163

Journal of Desert Research ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (2): 242-250.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00163

Hydraulic architecture and the safety-efficiency trade-**off of Caragana korshinskii in the Tengger Desert**

Yongwu Xu¹(), Lei Huang²(), Ying Zhao²

^1.The General Station of Construction and Protection for the Cultivated Land Quality of Gansu Province，Lanzhou 730020，China
^2.School of Forestry and Grassland，Ningxia University，Yinchuan 750021，China

Received:2025-09-25 Revised:2025-10-21 Online:2026-03-20 Published:2026-04-13
Contact: Lei Huang

Abstract

Abstract:

Hydraulic architecture represents the morphological strategies related to water transport that plants develop in response to environmental conditions. To investigate the age-related effects on hydraulic functions and the corresponding adaptation mechanisms of artificial vegetation in arid regions， we selectedCaragana korshinskii plantations established in different years （ranging from 1956 to 2020） on the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert. Key hydraulic traits， including sapwood-specific hydraulic conductivity （Kₛ）， leaf-specific hydraulic conductivity （Kₗ）， percentage loss of conductivity （PLC）， Huber value （Hᵥ）， and xylem embolism vulnerability （P₅₀）， were systematically measured. The results indicated that：（1） Both Kₛ and Kₗ exhibited a significant decreasing trend with increasing stand age， declining from 3.8±0.2 kg·m⁻¹·s⁻¹·MPa⁻¹ and 5.2±0.25 kg·m⁻¹·s⁻¹·MPa⁻¹， respectively， in the 2020 stand to 1.4±0.08 kg·m⁻¹·s⁻¹·MPa⁻¹ and 2.0±0.10 kg·m⁻¹·s⁻¹·MPa⁻¹ in the 1956 stand. （2） PLC and P₅₀ followed a pattern of initially decreasing and then increasing， with the middle-aged stand （established in 1981） demonstrating the highest resistance to embolism （PLC=48%±2.3%； P₅₀=-3.25 MPa）. （3） The Huber value （Hᵥ） exhibited a unimodal distribution， peaking at 15.5±0.72 cm²·mm⁻² in the 1981 stand， which suggests that middle-aged plants mitigate the decline in hydraulic efficiency via structural compensation. （4） A significant positive correlation was found between Kₛ and P₅₀ （r=0.817， P<0.05）， confirming the existence of the hydraulic efficiency-safety trade-off. This study reveals a successional pattern in the hydraulic strategy of C. korshinskii， shifting from a high efficiency-high risk approach in the early stage， to a structural compensation-safety priority strategy in the middle stage， and finally to functional decline in the senescent stage. These findings provide a crucial physio-ecological basis for understanding the water adaptation mechanisms of artificial vegetation in arid regions and for their sustainable management.

Key words: Caragana korshinskii, hydraulic conductivity, embolism vulnerability, efficiency-safety trade-off

CLC Number:

S152.75

Yongwu Xu, Lei Huang, Ying Zhao. Hydraulic architecture and the safety-efficiency trade-off of Caragana korshinskii in the Tengger Desert[J]. Journal of Desert Research, 2026, 46(2): 242-250.

Figures/Tables 4

Fig.1 Variation of sapwood-specific conductivity （A）， leaf-specific conductivity （B）， percentage loss of conductivity （C）， and Huber value （D） in Caragana korshinskii shrubs at different revegetated sites

Fig.2 Correlation analysis of hydraulic architecture of Caragana korshinskii shrubs at different revegetated sites

Fig.3 Xylem embolism vulnerability curves and P50 of Caragana korshinskii shrubs at different revegetated sites

Fig.4 The correlation between Kₛ， Kₗ and P50 of Caragana korshinskii shrubs

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Hydraulic architecture and the safety-efficiency trade-**off of Caragana korshinskii in the Tengger Desert**

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