To investigate the plant physiological responses to drought and
enhanced precipitation, 20 plots (each 2.5m x 2.5m) were established
on the Jornada Basin LTER. Five precipitation treatments (+/-80%,
+/-50%, and control/ambient PPT) and 4 replicates plots per
treatment were measured to compare differences in pre-dawn water
potential of leaves collected from mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)
and black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda). Each plot was centered around
a mature mesquite shrub with a mean height of 0.5m, and mean canopy
diameter of 1.1 m. Precipitation manipulations used a combination of
rain-out shelters and irrigation systems.
One mesquite and one black grama leaf from each plot were measured
on 7/25/07, 8/18/07, 7/21/08, 7/25/08, and 8/13/08. Leaves were
excised from plants and immediately measured and were completed at
least 0.5 h before dawn. Predawn leaf water potential was quantified
with pressure chambers (black grama: model 1000, with 100 bar
capacity; PMS Instrument Co, Corvallis, OR; mesquite: model 2005,
Soil Moisture Equipment Corp, Santa Barbara, CA).
The data set includes the date of collection, plot, plant species,
ppt treatment, and leaf water potential (MPa). This study was
completed on August 13, 2008.
For more details, see Throop, H.L., Reichmann, L.G., Sala, O.E. and
Archer, S.R., 2012. Response of dominant grass and shrub species to
water manipulation: an ecophysiological basis for shrub invasion in
a Chihuahuan Desert grassland. Oecologia, 169(2), DOI
10.1007/s00442-011-2217-4.