Sap flow evidence of chilling injury and recovery in mangroves following a spring cold spell

Abstract

Mangroves are periodically influenced in negative ways by non-freezing temperatures across their global sub-tropical range. However, physiological and morphological evidence of chilling influences to non-freezing chilling events has not been measured in field settings. In this study, we measured sap flow ( J s ) during such a chilling (but non-freezing) event in southern China and documented the reductions in J s and the recovery that ensued. We calculated tree water use (TWU) from J s measurements taken from thermal dissipation sap flow sensors on two mangrove species ( Sonneratia apetala and S. caseolaris ). This chilling event significantly injured the mangrove trees in the form of leaf scorch and massive defoliation. Diurnal variations of stem J s of both species were altered significantly after chilling. On the day of the chilling event, J s of S. caseolaris was reduced from the daily maximum of 44.1 g H 2 O m −2 s −1 to 0 immediately after chilling, which lasted throughout the remainder of the day. In contrast, S. apetala showed a certain low-temperature tolerance, while still maintaining an adequate transpiration rate after chilling, indicative of a more resilient hydraulic transport system to low temperatures. The sap flow data collected revealed substantial evidence for acute water conservation during low-temperature events, perhaps ameliorating low-temperature damage. Hence, the responses of some mangrove species with high sensitivity to low, but non-freezing, temperature (such as S. caseolaris ) may indicate that mangroves possess adaptive whole-tree strategies to cold temperature.