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Carbon Balance Limits the Microdistribution of Grimmia laevigata, a Desiccation‐Tolerant Plant
Author(s) -
Alpert Peter,
Oechel Walter C.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1940527
Subject(s) - deserts and xeric shrublands , desiccation , chaparral , moss , ecology , biology , desiccation tolerance , botany , water balance , environmental science , habitat , geotechnical engineering , engineering
Despite their ability to tolerate long and severe drought and extreme temperature, desiccation—tolerant plants are typically excluded from the most xeric microhabitats. It was hypothesized that this is due to an inability of the plants to maintain a positive cumulative carbon balance during repeated cycles of wetting and drying under highly xeric conditions. To test this hypothesis, the response of net CO 2 flux to light, temperature, plant water content, and previous desiccation were measured in the desiccation—tolerant moss Grimmia laevigata, the dominant green plant on exposed granitic boulders in the inland chaparral of San Diego County California. Patterns of net CO 2 flux and results from a simple model of carbon balance were consistent with the hypothesis.