Comparative Desiccation Tolerance of Three Desert Pteridophytes: Response to Long-term Desiccation
Harten JB and Eickmeier WG. 1987. Comparative Desiccation Tolerance of Three Desert Pteridophytes: Response to Long-term Desiccation. The American Midland Naturalist. 118(2):337-347
There are over 30 pteridophyte species in Big Bend National Park, Texas. While most are poikilohydrous, sharing some degree of physiological desiccation tolerance, individual species may have distinctive distributions along an aridity gradient in the park. We examined three species with respect to phosynthetic recovery, desiccation induced membrane damage, and the influence of extended desiccation on each of these processes. The low-elevation species Selaginella lepidophylla exhibited the fastest phosynthetic recovery, the lowest level of membrane damage, and was least sensitive to extended desiccation. The high-elevation species Cheilanthes tomentosa had the slowest photosynthetic recovery, the highest level of membrane damage, and was most sensitive to extended desiccation. The mid-elevation species Notholaena sinuata var. cochisensis was intermediate in response in all cases. These results document significant interspecific physiological differences that may influence the distributions of these desiccation-tolerant pteridophytes along an aridity gradient in west Texas.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Harten, James; Eickmeier, William
- Units
- BIBE
- Keywords
- Adaptation, Animal Studies, bulb lipfern (Notholaena sinuata) - Polypodiaceae, Desiccation, Ferns (Pteridophyta), Photosynthesis, resurrection plant (Selaginella lepidophylla) - Selaginellaceae, woolly lipfern (Cheilanthes tomentosa) - Polypodiaceae