Variability in Functional Traits along an Environmental Gradient in the South African Resurrection Plant Myrothamnus flabellifolia.

ABSTRACT: Many desiccation-tolerant plants are widely distributed and exposed to substantial environmental variation across their native range. These environmental differences generate site-specific selective pressures that could drive natural variation in desiccation tolerance across populations. If identified, such natural variation can be used to target tolerance-enhancing characteristics and identify trait associations within a common genetic background. Here, we tested for natural variation in desiccation tolerance across wild populations of the South African resurrection plant Myrothamnus flabellifolia. We surveyed a suite of functional traits related to desiccation tolerance, leaf economics, and reproductive allocation in M. flabellifolia to test for trait associations and trade

SUBMITTER: Marks RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9143701 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature