Life Sciences Commons^™

Evidence For Phylogenetic Signal And Correlated Evolution In Plant-Water Relations Traits, Eleinis Ávila-Lovera, Klaus Winter, Gregory R. Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Evolutionary relationships are likely to play a significant role in shaping plant physiological and structural traits observed in contemporary taxa. We review research on phylogenetic signal and correlated evolution in plant-water relations traits, which play important roles in allowing plants to acquire, use and conserve water. We found more evidence for a phylogenetic signal in structural traits (e.g., stomatal length, stomatal density) than in physiological traits (e.g., stomatal conductance, water potential at turgor loss). Although water potential at turgor loss is the most-studied plant-water relations trait in an evolutionary context, it is the only trait consistently found to not have …

Patterns Of Intraspecific Trait Variation Along An Aridity Gradient Suggest Both Drought Escape And Drought Tolerance Strategies In An Invasive Herb, Shana R. Welles, Jennifer L. Funk

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Background and Aims

In water limited landscapes, some plants build structures that enable them to survive with minimal water (drought resistance). Instead of making structures that allow for survival through times of water limitation, annual plants may invoke a drought escape strategy where they complete growth and reproduction when water is available. Drought escape and resistance each require a unique combination of traits and, therefore, plants are likely to have a suite of trait values that are consistent with a single drought response strategy. In environments where conditions are variable, plants may additionally evolve phenotypically plastic trait responses to water …

Variation In Leaf Wettability Traits Along A Tropical Montane Elevation Gradient, Gregory R. Goldsmith, Lisa Patrick Bentley, Alexander Shenkin, Norma Salinas, Benjamin Blonder, Roberta E. Martin, Rosa Castro-Ccossco, Percy Chambi-Porroa, Sandra Diaz, Brian J. Enquist, Gregory P. Asner, Yadvinder Malhi

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

• Leaf wetting is often considered to have negative effects on plant function, such that wet environments may select for leaves with certain leaf surface, morphological, and architectural traits that reduce leaf wettability. However, there is growing recognition that leaf wetting can have positive effects.
• We measured variation in two traits, leaf drip tips and leaf water repellency, in a series of nine tropical forest communities occurring along a 3300-m elevation gradient in southern Peru. To extend this climatic gradient, we also assembled published leaf water repellency values from 17 additional sites. We then tested hypotheses for how these traits should …

Can Resource-Use Traits Predict Native Vs. Exotic Plant Success In Carbon Amended Soils?, Robert J. Steers, Jennifer L. Funk, Edith B. Allen

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Productivity in desert ecosystems is primarily limited by water followed by nitrogen availability. In the deserts of southern California, nitrogen additions have increased invasive annual plant abundance. Similar findings from other ecosystems have led to a general acceptance that invasive plants, especially annual grasses, are nitrophilous. Consequently, reductions of soil nitrogen via carbon amendments have been conducted by many researchers in a variety of ecosystems in order to disproportionately lower invasive species abundance, but with mixed success. Recent studies suggest that resource-use traits may predict the efficacy of such resource manipulations; however, this theory remains largely untested. We report findings …