Seasonal fog enhances crop water productivity in a tropical rubber plantation

The rapid conversion of tropical rainforests into monoculture plantations of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) in Southeast Asia (SEA) necessitates understanding of rubber tree physiology under local climatic conditions. Frequent fog immersion in the montane regions of SEA may affect the water and carbon budgets of the rubber trees and the plantation ecosystems. We studied the effect of fog on various plant physiological parameters in a mature rubber plantation in southwest China over 3 years. During the study period, an average of 141 fog events occurred every year, and the majority occurred during the dry season, when the temperature was relatively low. In addition to the low temperature, fog events were also associated with low vapor pressure deficit, atmospheric water potential, relative humidity and frequent wet-canopy conditions. We divided the dry season into cool dry (November-February) and hot dry (March-April) seasons and classified days into foggy (FG) and non-foggy (non-FG) days. During the FG days of the cool dry season, the physiological activities of the rubber trees were suppressed where carbon assimilation and evapotranspiration showed reductions of 4% and 15%, respectively, compared to the cool dry non-FG days. Importantly, the unequal declines in carbon assimilation and evapotranspiration led to enhanced crop water productivity (WPc) on cool dry FG days but insignificant WPc values were found between FG and non-FG days of the hot dry season. Our results suggest that, by regulating plant physiology, fog events during the cool dry season significantly reduce water demand and alleviate water stress for the trees through improved WPc.