Insights into plant water uptake from xylem-water isotope measurements in two tropical catchments with contrasting moisture conditions

What is it about?

Following the original work on ecohydrological separation -- plants using water of a character different to mobile water found in soils, groundwater and streams -- it was suggested that ecohydrological separation may be characteristic of places where (eco)hydrologic seasonality is high. This paper poses ecohydrological separation as a null hypothesis in two less seasonal semi-arid and humid sites in Puerto Rico.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Heretofore, ecohydrological separation was demonstrated only in settings with high seasonality, particularly, in Oregon (USA) and Veracruz (Mexico). Indeed, the original proposition for the controls on ecohydrological separation was predicated on the temporal phasing between hydrologic input and primary productivity. This work in Puerto Rico provided evidence that controls on ecohydrological separation could be more fundamental than the original interpretation.