Carbon Dioxide Exchange by Several Streamside and Scrub Oak Community Species of Red Butte Canyon, Utah
Dina SJ and Klikoff LG. 1973. Carbon Dioxide Exchange by Several Streamside and Scrub Oak Community Species of Red Butte Canyon, Utah. The American Midland Naturalist. 89(1):70-80
Species of a xeric scrub oak community (srub oak, Quercus gambelii; sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata; bitterbrush, Purshia tridentata) have lower seasonal water potentials than species of a mesic streamside habitat (box elder, Acer negundo; bigtooth maple, Acer grandidentatum; creeping barberry, Berberis repens). The restriction of box elder to mesic sites is, in part, a function of its physiological responses to moisture stress. Positive net photosynthesis of box elder ceases at water potentials 10 to 15 bars higher than net photosynthesis of the other five species, and dark respiratory rates of box elder decline more rapidly. The relative photosythetic and dark respiratory responses to water stress of scrub oak, sagebrush, bitterbrush, bigtooth maple and creeping barberry are apparently not significant factors influencing the distribution of these species.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Dina, Stephen; Klikoff, Lionel
- Units
- SODN
- Keywords
- Carbon Dioxide, Red Butte Canyon, scrub oak community, Water potentials