Journal
PLANT ECOLOGY
Volume 218, Issue 5, Pages 555-563Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11258-017-0711-4
Keywords
Asplenium; Athyrium; Deuterated water; Dryopteris; Polystichum; Trichomes
Categories
Funding
- Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Most woodland ferns thrive under conditions of high air humidity, frequent precipitation and exposure to extended periods of leaf wetness, but it is not known how widespread foliar water uptake is in this plant group. In a tracer experiment with deuterated water ((H2O)-H-2) applied to the leaf surface of five temperate woodland ferns (Athyrium filix-femina, Dryopteris filix-mas, Polystichum aculeatum, Polystichum braunii and Asplenium scolopendrium), we tested (1) whether these species exhibit foliar water uptake and (2) whether the capability to absorb water through the leaf epidermis increases with the frequency of epidermal trichomes. All species had significantly higher abundances of H-2 in tissue water, when extracted distant to the place of application, compared to the background level (0.052-0.504 vs. 0.015 at.%), evidencing uptake through the epidermis and leaf-internal translocation. A positive relation between trichome density and H-2 incorporation was found only for the second-order pinnae but not for the more central frond sections. The results suggest that foliar water uptake may be widespread among temperate woodland ferns across different families and that leaf trichome structure probably influences this process.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available