Journal ArticleDOI
Correlations between carbon isotope ratio and microhabitat in desert plants.
James R. Ehleringer,T. A. Cooper +1 more
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TLDR
Along a soil moisture gradient from the relatively wetter wash to the relatively drier slope, leaf carbon isotope ratios increased in all species, indicating that water-use efficiency increased as soil water availability decreased.Abstract:
Water is usually considered to be the key limiting factor for growth of desert plants, yet there is little information available of the water-use efficiency of species within a desert community. Leaf carbon isotope ratios, an indicator of long-term intercellular carbon dioxide concentrations and thus of water-use efficiency in C3 plants, were measured on species occurring within a Sonoran Desert community, consisting of wash, transition and slope microhabitats. Along a soil moisture gradient from the relatively wetter wash to the relatively drier slope, leaf carbon isotope ratios increased in all species, indicating that water-use efficiency increased as soil water availability decreased. Leaf carbon isotope ratios of long-lived perennials were substantially more positive than in short-lived perennials, even though plants were growing adjacent to each other. Leaf carbon isotope ratio and leaf duration (evergreen versus deciduous) were not correlated with each other. The results are discussed in terms of how the efficiency of water use may affect community structure and composition.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Photosynthesis
TL;DR: In this article, the physical and enzymatic bases of carbone isotope discrimination during photosynthesis were discussed, noting how knowledge of discrimination can be used to provide additional insight into photosynthetic metabolism and the environmental influences on that process.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stable Isotopes in Plant Ecology
TL;DR: How isotope measurements associated with the critical plant resources carbon, water, and nitrogen have helped deepen the understanding of plant-resource acquisition, plant interactions with other organisms, and the role of plants in ecosystem studies is reviewed.
Book ChapterDOI
Inherent Variation in Growth Rate Between Higher Plants: A Search for Physiological Causes and Ecological Consequences
Hans Lambers,Hendrik Poorter +1 more
TL;DR: It is likely that there are trade-offs between growth potential and performance under adverse conditions, however, the current ecophysiological information explaining variation in RGR is too limited to support this contention quantitatively.
Journal ArticleDOI
Carbon isotope compositions of terrestrial C3 plants as indicators of (paleo)ecology and (paleo)climate
TL;DR: A broad compilation of modern carbon isotope compositions in all C3 plant types shows a monotonic increase in δ13C with decreasing mean annual precipitation (MAP) that differs from previous models, allowing refined interpretation of MAP, paleodiet, and paleoecology of ecosystems dominated by C3 plants, either prior to 7–8 million years ago (Ma), or more recently at mid- to high latitudes.
Journal ArticleDOI
Water uptake by plants: perspectives from stable isotope composition
TL;DR: Stable isotope studies of hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios of water within plants are providing new information on water sources, competitive interactions and water use patterns under natural conditions as discussed by the authors. But these studies are limited to water sources.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
On the Relationship Between Carbon Isotope Discrimination and the Intercellular Carbon Dioxide Concentration in Leaves
TL;DR: It is shown how diffusion of gaseous COz can significantly affect carbon isotopic discrimination and a simple relationship between discrimination and the ratio of the intercellular and atmospheric partial pressures of COZ is developed.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Role of Competition in Plant Communities in Arid and Semiarid Regions
TL;DR: This paper reviews the available evidence for competition in plant communities in arid and semiarid regions and demonstrates that competition certainly occurs in these communities and involves many different species; in several instances it appears to be important in the determination of community structure.
Journal ArticleDOI
Constraints on Leaf Structure and Function in Reference to Herbivory
Harold A. Mooney,S. L. Gulmon +1 more
TL;DR: The benefit a plant derives from a leaf is considered to be the rate of leaf carbon gain, times the carbon gain period, minus the carbon cost of leaf growth and maintenance and the losses due to herbivory.