Hydraulic conductance, resistance, and resilience: how leaves of a tropical epiphyte respond to drought.

ABSTRACT:

Premise

Because of its broad range in the neotropical rainforest and within tree canopies, the tank bromeliad Guzmania monostachia was investigated as a model of how varying leaf hydraulic conductance (K_leaf ) could help plants resist and recover from episodic drought. The two pathways of K_leaf , inside and outside the xylem, were also examined to determine the sites and causes of major hydraulic resistances within the leaf.

Methods

We measured leaf hydraulic conductance for plants in the field and laboratory under wet, dry, and rewetted conditions and applied physiological, anatomical, and gene expression analysis with modeling to investigate changes in K_leaf .

Results

After 7 d with no rain in the field or 14 days with no water in th

SUBMITTER: North GB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6852343 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature