Interactions of Epiphytes with Precipitation Partitioning

Mendieta‐Leiva, Glenda; Porada, Philipp; Bader, Maaike Y.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29702-2_9

Cited by 26 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…Because water availability is the most limiting factor for the growth and survival of epiphytes (Benzing 2000), these climatic disturbances represent a major threat. Epiphytes are indeed classified among the most threatened plants, mostly because of their strong dependence to atmospheric conditions (Benzing 1998, Zotz and Bader 2009, Mendieta‐Leiva et al 2020). Studying the response of epiphytes to drought – particularly tank bromeliads which are keystone species in that they offer suitable habitats to terrestrial, semi‐aquatic, and aquatic organisms – is therefore essential to better understand their resistance capacity to future climate changes.…”

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confidence: 99%

Drought effects on resource partition and conservation among leaf ontogenetic stages in epiphytic tank bromeliads

Svensk

Coste

Gérard

et al. 2020

Physiologia Plantarum

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Studying the response to drought stress of keystone epiphytes such as tank bromeliads is essential to better understand their resistance capacity to future climate change. The objective was to test whether there is any variation in the carbon, water and nutrient status among different leaf ontogenetic stages in a bromeliad rosette subjected to a gradient of drought stress. We used a semi‐controlled experiment consisting in a gradient of water shortage in Aechmea aquilega and Lutheria splendens. For each bromeliad and drought treatment, three leaves were collected based on their position in the rosette and several functional traits related to water and nutrient status, and carbon metabolism were measured. We found that water status traits (relative water content, leaf succulence, osmotic and midday water potentials) and carbon metabolism traits (carbon assimilation, maximum quantum yield of photosystem II, chlorophyll and starch contents) decreased with increasing drought stress, while leaf soluble sugars and carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents remained unchanged. The different leaf ontogenetic stages showed only marginal variations when subjected to a gradient of drought. Resources were not reallocated between different leaf ontogenetic stages but we found a reallocation of soluble sugars from leaf starch reserves to the root system. Both species were capable of metabolic and physiological adjustments in response to drought. Overall, this study advances our understanding of the resistance of bromeliads faced with increasing drought stress and paves the way for in‐depth reflection on their strategies to cope with water shortage.

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confidence: 99%

Drought effects on resource partition and conservation among leaf ontogenetic stages in epiphytic tank bromeliads

Svensk

Coste

Gérard

et al. 2020

Physiologia Plantarum

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“…Bark surfaces are structurally complex, enabling it to scavenge aerosolized particles (Suzuki, 2006), and some types and sizes of particulates are more effectively scavenged by bark than by leaves (Xu et al, 2019). Bark surfaces are colonized by a wide range of "corticolous" epiphytes, including plants (Mendieta-Leiva et al, 2020), metazoans (Proctor et al, 2002), and microbes (Akinsoji, 1991;Magyar, 2008;Lambais et al, 2014). Waste from phloemfeeding canopy residents, called "honeydews, " can be sticky and nutritive (Miller et al, 1994;Shaaban et al, 2020), affecting both aerosol scavenging and the bark residential community (Dhami et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hypothesis and Theory: Fungal Spores in Stemflow and Potential Bark Sources

Magyar¹,

Stan²,

Sridhar³

2021

Front. For. Glob. Change

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The study of stemflow fungi began over 50 years ago. Past work has been performed in different climatic regions of the world, with different sampling methods, by mycologists focusing on different taxonomical groups. Therefore, we aim to synthesize this work to delineate major conclusions and emerging hypothesis. Here, we present: (1) a systematic compilation of observations on stemflow conidial concentration, flux, and species composition; (2) an evaluation of the methods underlying these observations; (3) a testable theory to understand spatiotemporal dynamics in stemflow (including honeydews) conidial assemblages, with a focus on their relationship to bark structure and microhabitats; and (4) a discussion of major hypotheses based on past observations and new data. This represents a knowledge gap in our understanding of fungal dispersal mechanisms in forests, in a spatially-concentrated hydrologic flux that interacts with habitats throughout the forest microbiome. The literature synthesis and new data represent observations for 228 fungal species’ conidia in stemflow collected from 58 tree species, 6 palm species, and 1 bamboo species. Hypothetical relationships were identified regarding stemflow production and conidial concentration, flux, and species composition. These relationships appear to be driven by bark physico-chemical properties, tree canopy setting, the diversity of in-canopy microenvironments (e.g., tree holes, bark fissures, and epiphytes), and several possible conidia exchange processes (teleomorph aerosols, epi-faunal exchanges, fungal colonization of canopy microhabitats, and droplet impacts, etc.). The review reveals a more complex function of stemflow fungi, having a role in self-cleaning tree surfaces (which play air quality-related ecoservices themselves), and, on the other hand, these fungi may have a role in the protection of the host plant.

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“…Recent studies have illustrated striking differences in epiphyte diversity patterns compared to terrestrial representatives from certain groups (e.g., pteridophytes, Nervo et al, 2016;orchids, Taylor et al, 2021), which suggests that epiphytic and terrestrial plants indeed vary in their responses to environmental gradients. Epiphytes are expected to be more tightly coupled to atmospheric conditions than terrestrial plants due to their aerial growth habit and limited access to water, which strongly influences the vertical partitioning of epiphytes within the canopy (Mendieta-Leiva et al, 2020). Evidence for water availability being typically the most important limiting factor for epiphytes is provided by the frequent occurrence of traits among different epiphytic lineages related to water capture, storage, and use-efficiency, such as water-impounding tanks (Zotz et al, 2020), fleshy leaves, succulent stems (including pseudobulbs, Göbel et al, 2020), crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis (Benzing, 1987), or specialised aerial roots that aid to capture and store water (Pridgeon, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vascular epiphytes contribute disproportionately to global centres of plant diversity

Taylor

Zotz

Weigelt

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Aim: Vascular epiphytes are ubiquitous features of wet tropical forests where they contribute substantially to local and regional plant diversity. While some basic epiphyte distribution patterns are relatively well studied, little effort has been made to understand the drivers responsible for constraining their global distribution. This study quantifies the substantial contribution of epiphytes to global gradients and centres of vascular plant diversity and explores whether epiphytes vary from terrestrial plants in relation to contemporary and historical environmental variables. Location: Global. Time period: Present. Major taxa studied: Vascular epiphytes. Methods: We integrated EpiList 1.0, a comprehensive list comprising > 30,000 vascular epiphyte species, and species distributions derived from the GIFT database to describe the global biogeography of epiphytes. We used generalized linear mixed effects models to assess the relationship between epiphytic and terrestrial plant diversity, and contemporary and historical environmental predictors. Results: We find that epiphytes substantially contribute to global centres of vascular plant diversity, accounting for up to 39% of the vascular flora in the Neotropics. Epiphytes decrease in species numbers with increasing latitude at a rate three times faster than terrestrial plants, a trend that is driven mainly by the distribution of tropical forests and precipitation. Further, large regional differences emerge that are explained by several large endemic angiosperm families (e.g., Neotropical Bromeliaceae) that are absent in other tropical regions. Main conclusions: Our results show that epiphytes are disproportionately diverse in most global centres of plant diversity and play an important role in driving the global latitudinal diversity gradient for plants. The distribution of precipitation and tropical forests emerge as major drivers of the latitudinal diversity gradient in epiphyte species richness. Finally, our findings demonstrate how epiphyte floras in different biogeographical realms are composed of different families and higher taxa revealing an important signature of historical biogeography.

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Interactions of Epiphytes with Precipitation Partitioning

Cited by 26 publications

References 98 publications

Drought effects on resource partition and conservation among leaf ontogenetic stages in epiphytic tank bromeliads

Drought effects on resource partition and conservation among leaf ontogenetic stages in epiphytic tank bromeliads

Hypothesis and Theory: Fungal Spores in Stemflow and Potential Bark Sources

Vascular epiphytes contribute disproportionately to global centres of plant diversity

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