Physiological Processes in Plant Ecology

Abstract

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically those of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, broadcasting, reproduction by photocopying machine or similar means, and storage in data banks.Under §54 of the German Copyright Law where copies are made for other than private use, a fee is payable to the publisher, the amount of the fee to be determined by agreement with the publisher. © by Springer-Verlag Berlin· Heidelberg 1980Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1980The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. 2131/3130-543210 PrefaceIn the spring of 1969 a small meeting was convened at the CSIRO Riverina Laboratory, Deniliquin, New South Wales, to discuss the biology of the genus Atriplex, a group of plants considered by those who attended to be of profound importance both in relation to range management in the region and as a tool in physiological research. The brief report of this meeting (Jones, 1970) now serves as a marker for the subsequent remarkable increase in research on this genus, and served then to interest the editors of the Ecological Studies Series in the present volume.This was an exciting time in plant physiology, particularly in the areas of ion absorption and photosynthesis, and unknowingly several laboratories were engaged in parallel studies of these processes using the genus Atriplex. It was also a time at which it seemed that numerical methods in plant ecology could be used to delineate significant processes in arid shrubland ecosystems. Nevertheless, to presume to illustrate and integrate plant physiology and ecology using examples from a single genus was to presume much. The deficiencies which became increasingly apparent during the preparation of the present book were responsible for much new research described in these pages.It was a happy coincidence that the authors had been exposed at times to the philosophies of pioneers in several areas of plant ecology; pioneers who themselves had experimented with members of the genus Atriplex. We have in mind of course the studies by Turesson in Scandinavia, of the genotypic response to habitat; the work of Hall and Clements at the Carnegie Institution on the phylogenetic approach to plant taxonomy; and the field and laboratory studies of Atriplex by Wood and by Beadle in Australia. It was a happy coincidence too, that the authors found themselves in the same laboratory in 1971-72.Since then we have depended a great deal on the support of our colleagues to build on these foundations and to bring the enterprise to its present form. Preeminent among these helpers have been Malcolm Nobs, whose advice we respect rather more than has been acknowledged in Chapter 2. We are particularly grateful for the stimulating collaboration over several years with Joe Ber...

Adaptation to Sun and Shade: a Whole-Plant Perspective

“…Finally, Osmond et al (1980) presented an analysis similar to that given here, but reached different conclusions based on two inappropriate assumptions. They found that leaves acclimated to a given irradiance have a greater 24 h carbon balance at that irradiance than leaves acclimated to another irradiance, regardless of whether photosynthesis is expressed per unit area or per unit mass.…”

“…Leaf construction costs per unit area should scale like leaf biomass per unit area, provided the leaves in question do not vary much in composition (Osmond et al 1980); if the latter were true, P / C would be directly proportional to photosynthesis per unit leaf mass. However, leaf composition does vary with irradiance, notably in the fraction devoted to soluble protein (Bjorkman 1981) and nitrogen (Field and Mooney 1986).…”

DIEL AND SEASONAL CHANGES IN THE CHLOROPLAST ULTRASTRUCTURE OF DESCHAMPSIA FLEXUOSA (L.) TRIN.

“…This was accompanied by a decrease in the chl content and in the chl a/b ratio. As the water content of the leaves had also decreased dramatically, it seems that these changes were at least partly due to water stress, although opinions difiFer somewhat concerning the eifect of water stress on the chl content and chl a/b ratio, on the chlorophyll-protein complexes and on the chloroplast ultrastructure (see Osmond, Bjorkman & Anderson, 1980). Moreover, many effects of water stress, such as a possible decrease in the chl content (Freeman & Duysens, 1975;Alberte, Thornber & Fiscus, 1977) or increase in the number and size of plastoglobuli (Vapaavuori, Korpilahti & Nurmi, 1984) are the same as the changes seen during ageing and senescence of the leaves (e.g.…”

Photosynthesis and Quantum Yield of Oil Palm Seedlings to Elevated Carbon Dioxide

“…However, when the air temperature was over 30°C, the quantum yield in C4 plants was slightly higher than that in C3 plants (Ehleringer and Pearcy, 1983). When photorespiration was inhibited by high CO 2 and/or low O 2 , C4 plants had about 30% lower quantum yields than C3 plants because they used two additional ATP molecules in the C4 pathway for fixation of one molecule of CO 2 to form carbohydrate (Osmond et al 1980;Xu and Shen, 2000).…”