Photosynthetic Adaptability of Two Fern Species of a Northern Hardwood Forest

Brach, Anthony R.; McNaughton, S. J.; Raynal, Dudley J.

doi:10.2307/1547566

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…9, 1998, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). We collated some additional fern data from the literature (Brach et al ., 1993; Russell et al ., 1998; Durand & Goldstein, 2001; Saldana et al ., 2005) to extend the analyses and enrich the illustrations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are correlations among foliar traits in ferns consistent with those in the seed plants?

Karst

Lechowicz

2006

New Phytologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary• Broad-based studies of gymnosperms and angiosperms reveal consistent and functionally significant correlations among foliar traits such as leaf mass per area (LMA), maximum photosynthetic rate ( A area ), foliar nitrogen ( N area ), foliar chlorophyll (Chl) and leaf longevity.• To assess the generality of these relationships, we studied 20 fern species growing in the understorey of a temperate deciduous forest.• We found that foliar N area increases with LMA, and that foliar N area and A area are positively correlated with one another, as are foliar N area and Chl. The ferns in general have very low LMA compared with most seed plants; A area , N area and Chl are below median values for seed plants but are not extreme. Species with overwintering fronds have significantly higher LMA than species with fronds that senesce at the end of the growing season, as well as a significantly higher C : N ratio in frond tissue and relatively high foliar N on an areal basis.• Correlations among foliar traits associated with gas exchange in these forest understorey ferns are in accordance with patterns reported for seed plants, suggesting a high degree of functional constraint on the interrelationships among key elements in foliar design. Abbreviations: LMA, leaf mass per area (g DW m − 2 ); A area , maximum photosynthetic rate, expressed per unit leaf area ( µ mol CO 2 m − 2 s − 1 ); N area , mass of N per unit leaf area (g m − 2 ); Chl, chlorophyll per unit leaf area (mg m − 2 ).

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are correlations among foliar traits in ferns consistent with those in the seed plants?

Karst

Lechowicz

2006

New Phytologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Bell and Sultan 1999;Valladares et al 2000;Sultan 2001) or geographical range (Pohlman et al 2005) have been compared. Although there are several studies concerning the responses of related seed plant species with narrow and broad ecological/geographical distribution to different light conditions (Walters and Field 1987;Baskauf and Eickmeier 1994;Gonzá lez and Gianoli 2004), pteridophyte species from different light habitats have been compared in only a few studies (Nasrulhaq-Boyce and Haji Mohamed 1987;Brach et al 1993;Saldañ a et al 2005).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic plasticity and biomass allocation pattern in three Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae) species on an experimental light-availability gradient

Rünk

Zobel

2006

Plant Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We were interested in whether the contrasting regional distribution patterns of three congeneric, frequently co-occurring fern species (Dryopteris carthusiana, D. dilatata and D. expansa) could be explained by differential biomass allocation strategies and different phenotypic plasticities to light availability. The morphology and habitat preference of these ferns are known to be very similar, but in Estonia, their frequencies of occurrence differ sharply--Dryopteris carthusiana is common, D. expansa grows in scattered localities, and D. dilatata is rare. We grew the species under different levels of illumination (100, 50, 25 and 10% of full daylight) in an experimental garden to compare their autecological responses to shading. After one growing season there were clear interspecific differences in total plant biomass accumulation--D. carthusiana > D. expansa > D. dilatata--indicating the possible competitive inferiority of the latter at the young sporophyte stage. D. expansa was the least shade-tolerant, with biomass decreasing sharply under less than 50% illumination; D. dilatata was the most shade-tolerant, with similar growth at all illumination levels. In relative biomass allocation patterns, the most notable differences among species were in the relative shares of biomass stored in rhizomes. In D. carthusiana and D. expansa this share was nearly constant and independent of the illumination conditions. D. dilatata allocated very little biomass into rhizome in deep shade, but was able to increase this share more than twofold in 50% light. Dryopteris dilatata was clearly shown to be morphologically the most plastic of the three. In four traits--rhizome mass, frond:below-ground biomass ratio, stipe length and specific leaf area--its degree of ontogenetic plasticity to light was significantly higher than that of D. expansa and D. carthusiana. While the general performance (biomass production) of species in the experiment coincided with that observed in nature, the results of plasticity estimation were somewhat surprising--it is difficult to explain the inferior performance of a species (D. dilatata) through high morphological plasticity. Probably, the species is rare either because of certain climatic restrictions, or because it is presently expanding its distribution and is in the phase of invading Estonian understory communities.

show abstract

“…Study species-Dryopteris intermedia is a shade-tolerant (Brach et al, 1993), wintergreen fern species (Mahall and Bormann, 1978). At the site for this study, old fronds senesce and new fronds emerge in May each year (J.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wintergreen species tend to be shade tolerant (Decocq and Hermy, 2003) and therefore slow at photosynthesis (Brach et al, 1993;Landhäusser et al, 1997), but they do extend their duration of photosynthesis by photosynthesizing in the spring (Kriebitzsch, 1992;Minoletti and Boerner, 1993;Landhäusser et al, 1997;Tessier, 2001;Prado and Damascos, 2001). Therefore, it is likely that wintergreen species make use of old leaves for their ability to provide carbon and therefore energy to the plant during the early growing season when canopy tree leaves have not yet expanded.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Old fronds serve as a vernal carbon source in the wintergreen fern Dryopteris intermedia (Aspleniaceae)

Tessier

Bornn

2007

American J of Botany

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Maintaining green leaves beyond the growing season has been hypothesized to benefit plants by supplying either a nutrient or a carbon source. Understanding such ecophysiological aspects of plants will help us to appreciate how a species functions in its environment and predict how it might be affected by future changes in that environment. The wintergreen fern species Dryopteris intermedia does not retranslocate nitrogen and phosphorus from old fronds in spring, but photosynthesis does take place in the old fronds during this season. To determine if carbon fixed in the old fronds is translocated to other parts of the plant, we labeled old fronds with (13)C via photosynthetic uptake and examined old fronds, new fronds, fine roots, and rhizomes for (13)C content 1 day and 1 month after labeling the old fronds. Vernally fixed carbon was translocated to the new fronds but not significantly to the below ground tissues. Old fronds in this species, therefore, serve as a carbon source for vernal growth of new fronds. This is the first study in which a fern was labeled with (13)C to track vernally fixed carbon from old fronds to the rest of the plant in a wintergreen species. Future research should examine the precise timing of this carbon movement and examine other species for a similar or contrasting strategy.

show abstract

Photosynthetic Adaptability of Two Fern Species of a Northern Hardwood Forest

Abstract: The capacity for acclimation, "the gradual and reversible adjustment of physiology or morphology as a result of changing environmental conditions" (Lincoln, ct al., 1982), varies among plant species (Chapin, 1980;Hicks & Chabot, 1985). Fast-growing species

Cited by 28 publications

References 6 publications

Are correlations among foliar traits in ferns consistent with those in the seed plants?

Are correlations among foliar traits in ferns consistent with those in the seed plants?

Phenotypic plasticity and biomass allocation pattern in three Dryopteris (Dryopteridaceae) species on an experimental light-availability gradient

Old fronds serve as a vernal carbon source in the wintergreen fern Dryopteris intermedia (Aspleniaceae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About