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This work was supported by the Spanish Government [MICINN (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion), CGL2015-71360-P and PID2019-111159GB-C31], and by European Union's Horizon 2020 [H2020-MSCA-RISE-777803 GYPWORLD]. L.P. was funded by a fellowship FSE (Fondo Social Europeo)-Aragon 2014-2020 of the Gobierno de Aragon, Spain; J.P.F. was supported by Reference Group H09_20R (Gobierno de Aragon, Spain) and S.P. was supported by a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship [MICINN, RYC-2013-14164].

Analysis of institutional authors

Pedro Ferrio, JuanAuthor

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March 29, 2022
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Hybrid Gold

Disentangling water sources in a gypsum plant community. Gypsum crystallization water is a key source of water for shallow-rooted plants

Publicated to:Annals Of Botany. 129 (1): 87-99 - 2022-01-01 129(1), DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcab107

Authors: de la Puente, Laura; Pedro Ferrio, Juan; Palacio, Sara

Affiliations

CSIC, Dept Biodiversidad & Restaurac, Inst Pirena Ecol, Ave Nuestra Senora de la Victoria 16, ES-22700 Jaca, Spain - Author
Ctr Invest & Tecnol Agroalimentaria Aragon CITA, Unidad Recursos Forestales, Av Montanana 930, ES-50059 Zaragoza, Spain - Author
Sistemas Agrícolas, Forestales y Medio Ambiente. Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón - Author

Abstract

Background and Aims Gypsum drylands are widespread worldwide. In these arid ecosystems, the ability of different species to access different water sources during drought is a key determining factor of the composition of plant communities. Gypsum crystallization water could be a relevant source of water for shallow-rooted plants, but the segregation in the use of this source of water among plants remains unexplored. We analysed the principal water sources used by 20 species living in a gypsum hilltop, the effect of rooting depth and gypsum affinity, and the interaction of the plants with the soil beneath them.Methods We characterized the water stable isotope composition, delta H-2 and delta O-18, of plant xylem water and related it to the free and gypsum crystallization water extracted from different depths throughout the soil profile and the groundwater, in both spring and summer. Bayesian isotope mixing models were used to estimate the contribution of water sources to plant xylem sap.Key Results In spring, all species used free water from the top soil as the main source. In summer, there was segregation in water sources used by different species depending on their rooting depth, but not on their gypsum affinity. Gypsum crystallization water was the main source for most shallow-rooted species, whereas free water from 50 to 100 cm depth was the main source for deep-rooted species. We detected plant-soil interactions in spring, and indirect evidence of possible hydraulic lift by deep-rooted species in summer.Conclusions Plants coexisting in gypsum communities segregate their hydrological niches according to their rooting depth. Crystallization water of gypsum represents an unaccounted for, vital source for most of the shallow-rooted species growing on gypsum drylands. Thus, crystallization water helps shallow-rooted species to endure arid conditions, which eventually accounts for the maintenance of high biodiversity in these specialized ecosystems.

Keywords

droughtgypsum affinitygypsum crystallization waterhydrological nicheplant communityroot depthwater sourcesBayes theoremCalcium sulfateCrystallizationDroughtEcosystemExtractionFunctional differencesGypsum affinityGypsum crystallization waterHydraulic liftHydrogenHydrological nicheOxygen isotopesOxygen-18PatternsPlant communityPlant rootsRain-forestRockRoot depthSoilSoil-moistureStable-isotopesTreesWaterWater sourcesWater stable isotopes

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Annals Of Botany due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 48/239, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Plant Sciences.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.27. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.21 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 2.76 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-16, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 11
  • Scopus: 11
  • Europe PMC: 2

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-16:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 23.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 25 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 13.1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 12 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/10532/5508