In desert areas drought often coincides with elevated temperatures. I have worked on cuticular transpiration of desert plants and most of the plant species possess stomata on both adaxial and abaxial surfaces.
It seems to be contradictory when these plants should reduce the water loss and increasing the stomata density implies in enhancing the probability to lose water to the dry atmosphere. However, it may be a good solution for cooling down the leaf temperature by stomatal transpiration under high temperatures.
Hence, to better understand the ecology of desert plants, I would like to know whether any morpho-ecophysiological trait has been pointed out as efficient to deal with both stressors at the same time.
Thank you in advance!
Dear colleague,
Thanks for your answer. I have considered this ecological aspect and I have wondered whether besides this strategy desert plants have any others particularities related to both stressor.
Greetings from the beautiful Würzburg,
Amauri.
Dear Amauri,
You may only want to know strategies based on leaf traits, transpiration and temperature regulation, right? However, have you mulled over the idea of desert plants having dormant seeds? Specifically related to leaves and besides the broadly known system of nocturnal opening of stomata to increase WUE, there also exist highly sclerophyllous, sometimes succulent leaves, and some particular cases as the leaf anatomy of the stone-like Saharian Fredolia aretioides, which shows a specific organization of the assimilating parenchyma characterized by a C4 pathway of carbon fixation.
Best wishes,
Alberto.
You meant perennials, or the most usual way in a desert is an opportunistic avoidance by setting quickly dormant seeds or deep roots like in ephemerals. for perennials thrichomes waxes and chlorenchima in defoliated shoots reduce surface area and energy balance. CAM adaptation requires moderate night temperatures. Soil permeability and vegetaton patterns like in Ipomea pesditigris under desretification http://www.resnet.wm.edu/~jxshix/math490-2006/research/Klausmeier-1999-science.pdf.Thus several factors may interact but chilling and movable soils impede any vegetation
Hi Amauri,
if you want to comprehensively answer you question, I strongly recommend to consult the book
Life Strategies of Succulents in Deserts: With Special Reference to the Namib Desert
Dieter J. von Willert, B. Eller, M. Werger, E. Brinckmann, H.-D. Ihlenfeldt
Cambridge Studies in Ecology, ISSN 0957-0764; ISBN 0521244684, 9780521244688
You will easily see how complex the issue is. CAM is just ONE "strategie" of desert plants and obviously not the best to survive really longterm drougth periods.
In the context of adaptation/life strategies of desert plants, I also strongly recommend
Desert succulents and their life strategies
von Willert, D.J., Eller, B.M., Werger, M.J.A. et al. Vegetatio (1990) 90: 133. doi:10.1007/BF00033023
Best regards
Werner
Hello Amauri,
Leaf pubescence is a good trait that simultaneously avoid water loss and temperature in desert plants (See Ehleringer J. et al. 1976 - Science). Another trait is leaf shape (see Nicotra A. et al. 2008 - Oecologia)
Best regards
Dear colleagues, I thank all of you!
The comments have been very useful and they have guided me to references which I did not have considered so far.
Best regards from Würzburg,
Maybe a note of caution. 'Deserts' differ in precipitation/temperature regime: summer-rain versus winter-rain and oceanic versus continental as well as plant substrates (rock, sand, salt, loam) with contrasting water-holding properties. Accordingly, perennial plant cover includes succulents, sclerophylls, malacophylls and lichens.
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