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From Epiphyte To Tree: Differences in Ieaf Structure and Leaf Water Relations Associated With The Transition in Growth Form in Eight Species of Hemiepiphytes (N. M. Holbrook & F.E. Putz)

Physiological plasticity is required for epiphytes to transition to free-standing trees in order to cope with changes in their rooting environment. Differences in leaf structure and water relations were observed between epiphytic and terrestrial individuals of five Ficus species. Epiphytic plants had higher specific leaf area and pubescent leaves compared to terrestrial individuals with glabrous leaves. Monitoring of phenology and water status of tropical dry forest trees in Costa Rica found that trees shed leaves during the dry season and re-emerged leaves after rainfall, with stem water storage determining phenology. Variation in phenology among trees is caused by differences in soil-plant-atmosphere factors influencing tree water status.

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55 views2 pages

From Epiphyte To Tree: Differences in Ieaf Structure and Leaf Water Relations Associated With The Transition in Growth Form in Eight Species of Hemiepiphytes (N. M. Holbrook & F.E. Putz)

Physiological plasticity is required for epiphytes to transition to free-standing trees in order to cope with changes in their rooting environment. Differences in leaf structure and water relations were observed between epiphytic and terrestrial individuals of five Ficus species. Epiphytic plants had higher specific leaf area and pubescent leaves compared to terrestrial individuals with glabrous leaves. Monitoring of phenology and water status of tropical dry forest trees in Costa Rica found that trees shed leaves during the dry season and re-emerged leaves after rainfall, with stem water storage determining phenology. Variation in phenology among trees is caused by differences in soil-plant-atmosphere factors influencing tree water status.

Uploaded by

Fatima Grace
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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From epiphyte to tree: differences in ieaf structure and leaf water relations associated with the

transition in growth form in eight species of hemiepiphytes (N. M. Holbrook & F.E. Putz)

Physiological plasticity is required for an epiphyte to tree to become reproductively mature, in


order to cope up with the drastic changes in their rooting environment. Differences in leaf structure and
water relations between epiphytic-phase and free-standing individuals were marked in the five Ficus
species examined. For the leaf structure, results showed that epiphytic plants had significantly higher
specific leaf area than did terrestrially rooted individuals in almost all species observed except for
Coussapoa vitlosa.The epiphytic leaves were pubescent whereas conspecific tree leaves were glabrous.
Other species were observed to be either of the two growth forms, or are in both forms. Leaves of trees
were significantly thicker than those in conspecific epiphytes. All of the species examined were
hypostomatous.
Fatima Grace S. Tambaoan
BOT 150 X-1L

Soil and Stem Water Storage Determine Phenology and Distribution of Tropical Dry Forest Trees (R.
Borchert)

Monitoring of the phenology and seasonal changes in tree water status during two consecutive
dry seasons was done in order to see its correlation to the water storage capacity of the tropical dry
forest trees in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Results on the phonological changes of trees during dry season
began on January, approximately a month after the last rainfall. The leaves started to changed in color
and shed. Trees found on the hillside towards the irrigation canal, gradually shed leaves while new
shoots, leaves and flowers emerged irregularly. On few tree species, they kept their leaves throughout
the dry season. To most species, leaves started to emerge again on Mid-May, approximately two weeks
after the first heavy rains.

In measuring the water status of tree branches and the time course of tree development during
dry season, temporal correlations between the water potential of stem was used, which further
confirmed the proposed role of water status as principal determinant of tree phenology in dry forest
trees. The wide variation in phenology observed among the dry forest trees should be caused by their
variation in the components of soil-plant-atmosphere-continuum, which determines the tree water
status. Results of this study however showed that the variation in tree water status is due to internal
and environmental factors such as rainfall. In hardwood trees at very dry sites, tree water status and
phenology are strongly correlated with climatic drought only, where neither soil water reserves nor
stem water storage buffer the impact of seasonal drought. Flowering and flushing of bare trees are few
exceptions in rehydration. Bare trees are not dormant and the elimination of tree water deficits causes
flowering or flushing, and not environmental cues.

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