How dry is dead? Evaluating the impact of desiccation on the viability of the invasive species <i>Cissus quadrangularis</i>.

ABSTRACT: Cissus quadrangularis is a succulent vine that degrades forests where it is not native by growing over trees and causing them to break or by impeding regeneration. Methods for its control have been tried but no satisfactory approach has been found yet. We carried out an experiment to analyze how much desiccation Cissus can endure before losing its ability to grow when rehydrated, using fragments of 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 internodes to test if desiccation tolerance was affected by fragment length. We found that Cissus remains viable after losing up to 80% of its weight, with shorter fragments losing viability (capacity to grow) at 70% weight loss. No fragments sustained viability at 90% water loss, establishing a critical threshold for Cissus desiccation tolerance. Our study

SUBMITTER: Mondragon-Botero A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11474622 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature