The benefits of woody plant stem photosynthesis extend to hydraulic function and drought survival in Parkinsonia florida.

ABSTRACT: As climate change exacerbates drought stress in many parts of the world, understanding plant physiological mechanisms for drought survival is critical to predicting ecosystem responses. Stem net photosynthesis, which is common in arid environments, may be a drought survival trait, but whether the additional carbon fixed by stems contributes to plant hydraulic function and drought survival in arid land plants is untested. We conducted a stem light-exclusion experiment on saplings of a widespread North American desert tree species, Parkinsonia florida L., and after shading acclimation, we then subjected half of the plants to a drought treatment to test the interaction between light exclusion and water limitation on growth, leaf and stem photosynthetic gas exchange, xylem embolism assessed wi

SUBMITTER: Avila-Lovera E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10918054 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature