ALBERT

Description: Sea-level rise (SLR) is one of the most conspicuous examples of the environmental impact of recent climate change. Since SLR rates are not uniform around the planet, local and regional data are needed for proper adaptation plans. 210 Pb-dated sediment cores were analyzed to determine the trends of sediment accretion rates (SARs) at three tropical saltmarshes in the Estero de Urias lagoon (Gulf of California, Mexico), in order to estimate the SLR trends during the past ~100 years, under the assumption that these ecosystems accrete at a similar rate to SLR. A chemometric approach, including multivariate statistical analysis (factor analysis) of geochemical data (including 13 C; 15 N; C/N ratios; and Br, Na, and Cl as proxies for marine transgression) was used to identify the marine transgression in the sediment records. Based on core geochemistry, only one of the three cores provided a long-term record attributable to marine transgression. SLR trends, estimated from SARs, showed increasing values, from a minimum of 0.73 ± 0.03 mm yr –1 at the beginning of the 20th century and up to 3.87 ± 0.12 mm yr –1 during the period 1990–2012. The estimated SLR trend between 1950 and 1970 was comparable to the tide gauge records in Mazatlan City for the same period. Results showed the caveats and strengths of this methodology to reconstruct decadal SLR trends from the sedimentary record, which can be used to estimate long-term SLR trends worldwide in regions where monitoring data are scarce or absent.

Description: Hydraulic traits were studied for six Nothofagus species from South America (Argentina and Chile), and for three of these species two populations were studied. The main goal was to determine if properties of the water conductive pathway in stems and leaves are functionally coordinated and to assess if leaves are more vulnerable to cavitation than stems, consistent with the theory of hydraulic segmentation along the vascular system of trees in ecosystems subject to seasonal drought. Vulnerability to cavitation, hydraulic conductivity of stems and leaves, leaf water potential, wood density and leaf water relations were examined. Large variations in vulnerability to cavitation of stems and leaves were observed across populations and species, but leaves were consistently more vulnerable than stems. Water potential at 50% loss of maximum hydraulic efficiency ( P 50 ) ranged from –0.94 to –2.44 MPa in leaves and from –2.6 to –5.3 MPa in stems across species and populations. Populations in the driest sites had sapwood and leaves more vulnerable to cavitation than those grown in the wettest sites. Stronger diurnal down-regulation in leaf hydraulic conductance compared with stem hydraulic conductivity apparently has the function to slow down potential water loss in stems and protect stem hydraulics from cavitation. Species-specific differences in wood density and leaf hydraulic conductance ( K Leaf ) were observed. Both traits were functionally related: species with higher wood density had lower K Leaf . Other stem and leaf hydraulic traits were functionally coordinated, resulting in Nothofagus species with an efficient delivery of water to the leaves. The integrity of the more expensive woody portion of the water transport pathway can thus be maintained at the expense of the replaceable portion (leaves) of the stem–leaf continuum under prolonged drought. Compensatory adjustments between hydraulic traits may help to decrease the rate of embolism formation in the trees more vulnerable to cavitation.