Comparative water relations of phreatophytes in the sonoran desert of california

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dc.contributorVirginia Techen
dc.contributor.authorNilsen, Erik T.en
dc.contributor.authorSharifi, M. Rasoulen
dc.contributor.authorRundel, Philip W.en
dc.contributor.departmentBiological Sciencesen
dc.date.accessed2014-03-11en
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-27T13:06:02Zen
dc.date.available2014-03-27T13:06:02Zen
dc.date.issued1984en
dc.description.abstractThe seasonal and diurnal water relations were compared among six desert phreatophytes, two evergreen shrubs, and one deciduous shrub. All species were located in one wash woodland in the Sonoran Desert of southern California. There are several mechanisms by which these Phaenicia have adapted to the desert environment. One group of winter-deciduous phreatophytes (Olneya tesota, Prosopis glandulosa, and Acacia greggii) experienced summer midday leaf water potentials below -4.0 MPa. These phreatophytes had a series of physiological mechanisms for tolerating summer water stress, including seasonal and diurnal osmotic adjustment and the maintenance of high leaf conductance at low leaf water potential. Osmotic adjustment of these three phreatophytes was similar to or greater than that of two evergreen species (Larrea tridentata and Simmondsia chinensis). Dalea spinosa, a stem-photosynthetic phreatophyte, avoided water stress by maintaining a very small leaf area. The summer-deciduous phreatophytes (Hyptis emoryi, and Chilopsis linearis) demonstrated mechanisms of drought avoidance such as change in leaf biomass and low summer leaf conductance. Little osmotic adjustment occurred in the summer-deciduous phreatophytes. The phreatophytic species studied in this investigation have evolved adaptations to water stress that are similar to those of deciduous and evergreen shrubs of the Sonoran Desert. Desert phreatophytes are a complex group of species with varied adaptive mechanisms to tolerate or avoid drought and should not be considered simply as a group of species that avoid desert water stress by utilizing deep ground water unavailable to other desert species of drought tolerance and avoidance.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNSF DEB 79-21971en
dc.identifier.citationErik Tallak Nilsen, M. Rasoul Sharifi, and Philip W. Rundel 1984. Comparative Water Relations of Phreatophytes in the Sonoran Desert of California. Ecology 65:767-778. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1938049en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.2307/1938049en
dc.identifier.issn0012-9658en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/46828en
dc.identifier.urlhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1938049en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherEcological Society of Americaen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.holderEcological Society of Americaen
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectAcacia greggiien
dc.subjectChilopsis linearisen
dc.subjectDalea spinosaen
dc.subjectHyptis emoryien
dc.subjectleaf conductanceen
dc.subjectOlneya tesotaen
dc.subjectosmotic adjustmenten
dc.subjectphreatophytesen
dc.subjectProsopis glandulosaen
dc.subjectSonoran Deserten
dc.subjectwater relationsen
dc.titleComparative water relations of phreatophytes in the sonoran desert of californiaen
dc.title.serialEcologyen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden

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