Chir pine and banj oak responses to pre-monsoon drought across slope aspects and positions in Central Himalaya

The difference in maintaining a safety margin with regard to hydraulic conductance between pine and oak species influences their distribution in a region. Chir pine ( Pinus roxburghii ) and banj oak ( Quercus leucotrichophora ) are the principal species of Central Himalayan forests between 1000 and 2000 m elevations. Nearly 80% of annual precipitation of ~ 1400 mm in the region occurs during monsoon, from mid-June to September, whereafter droughts of varying length and intensity are common. The main objective of the study is to find out the responses of these two evergreen tree species to pre-monsoon (March to mid-June) water stress and topographical heterogeneity that occur in Central Himalaya. We measured soil and tree water potential and osmotic adjustment across five seasons on three slope positions, namely, hill base, mid-slope, and hill top, on north and south slope aspects. Chir pine showed an early response to pre-monsoon drought by restraining daily change in Ψ to 0.89 MPa, while predawn Ψ (Ψ PD ) was still moderate (isohydric tendency). In contrast, the daily reduction in Ψ of banj oak kept on increasing up to 1.49 MPa, despite severely low Ψ PD (anisohydric tendency). In both tree species, Ψ was invariably lower on south aspect than north aspect and declined from hill base to hill top. Such responses to slope aspect and position, however, were relatively less apparent in chir pine, which tended to maintain a wide safety margin when under stress. As for soil Ψ, banj oak site retained monsoon rainwater more effectively than chir pine.