Vascular epiphytes show low physiological resistance and high recovery capacity to episodic, short‐term drought in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Williams, Cameron; Murray, Jessica G.; Glunk, Andrew; Dawson, Todd E.; Nadkarni, Nalini M.; Gotsch, Sybil G.

doi:10.1111/1365-2435.13613

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Two of the host trees were located in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (10°18′19″N, 84°47′39″ W, 1550 m a.s.l. ), which had a mean annual temperature, relative humidity, VPD and total rainfall of 17.0°C, 98.2%, 0.038 kPa and 3148 mm, respectively, at the time of the collection (Williams et al, 2020). The other two host trees were located in the Curi Cancha Reserve (10°18′23″N, 84°48′16″W, 1480 m a.s.l.)…”

Section: Epiphyte Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in cloud immersion, not precipitation, drives leaf trait plasticity and water relations in vascular epiphytes during an extreme drought

Ferguson

Gotsch

Williams

et al. 2022

American J of Botany

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Premise: Epiphytes are abundant in ecosystems such as tropical montane cloud forests where low-lying clouds are often in contact with vegetation. Climate projections for these regions include more variability in rainfall and an increase in cloud base heights, which would lead to drier conditions in the soil and atmosphere. While recent studies have examined the effects of drought on epiphytic water relations, the influence that atmospheric moisture has, either alone or in combination with drought, on the health and performance of epiphyte communities remains unclear. Methods: We conducted a 10-week drought experiment on seven vascular epiphyte species in two shadehouses, one with warmer and drier conditions and another that was cooler and more humid. We measured water relations across control and drought-treatment groups and assessed functional traits of leaves produced during drought conditions to evaluate trait plasticity. Results: Epiphytes exposed to drought and drier atmospheric conditions had a significant reduction in stomatal conductance and leaf water potential and an increase in leaf dry matter. Nonsucculent epiphytes from the drier shadehouse had the greatest shifts in functional traits, whereas succulent epiphytes released stored leaf water to maintain water status. Conclusions: Individuals in the drier shadehouse had a substantial reduction in performance, whereas drought-treated individuals that experienced cloud immersion displayed minimal changes in water status. Our results indicate that projected increases in the cloud base height will reduce growth and performance of epiphytic communities and that nonsucculent epiphytes may be particularly vulnerable.

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Section: Epiphyte Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in cloud immersion, not precipitation, drives leaf trait plasticity and water relations in vascular epiphytes during an extreme drought

Ferguson

Gotsch

Williams

et al. 2022

American J of Botany

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“…In relation to rare and endangered species in the USA, it has been argued that the amount of attention given to climate-induced ecosystem change (also to pathogens) has received disproportionate attention compared with other threats, notably human activities such as recreation, residential development, and roads (Hernández-Yáñez et al, 2016). However, for microecosystems, defined by plant groups or iconic protected species, the potential impacts of climate change have clearly been recognized (Ladino et al, 2019;Reiter et al, 2016;Swarts & Dixon, 2009;Williams et al, 2020).…”

Section: Vegetation-generalmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of climate change on disease in wild plant populations and communities

Jeger

2021

Plant Pathology

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Climate change will have potential impacts on disease in wild plant populations and communities as much as is projected for the managed plants in agriculture, horticulture, and plantation forestry, or grown for amenity purposes. Impacts will arise from effects on the wild plant hosts, pathogens both native and introduced, and associated micro-and macrobiota, including disease vectors. The purpose here is to review the evidence for such impacts. First, it is important to identify the spatial and temporal scales over which

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“…The present study further confirmed this and indicated a significant differentiation of fog water utilization among epiphytes. With the intensification of global warming [2], rising cloud bases will intensify the solar radiation received by MCF, which may further decrease the fog frequency and duration [38]. The reduction of fog events and/or duration will probably result in a high mortality of fog-dependent species (especially epiphytes) under projected climate change scenarios [51].…”

Section: Ecological Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the potential aggravation of drought predicted by future climate models [37], epiphytes will face more severe water stress in the dry season due to their high sensitivity to water fluctuations [7,38]. Understanding how different epiphytes obtain water and maintain normal life activities in the dry season is urgently needed to predict their potentially different responses to changes in the rainfall pattern.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dry-Season Fog Water Utilization by Epiphytes in a Subtropical Montane Cloud Forest of Southwest China

Liu

Yang

et al. 2021

Water

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Fog water is generally considered to be an important water source for epiphytes in cloud forests because they cannot directly access ground-level water sources. However, the water use proportions of potential water sources and water use efficiency of epiphytes in the subtropical montane cloud forests (MCF) remain to be further explored. In this study, we investigated the water use pattern in the dry season and the intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi) of four epiphyte groups (i.e., epiphytic lichens, epiphytic bryophytes, epiphytic ferns, and epiphytic seed plants) using stable isotope (δ2H, δ18O, and δ13C) techniques. Our results indicated that the water sources of epiphytes were significantly different among groups and species. The contribution proportions of fog water to epiphytic lichens, epiphytic bryophytes, epiphytic ferns, and epiphytic seed plants were 83.2%, 32.7%, 38.8% and 63.7%, respectively. Epiphytic lichens and epiphytic seed plants mainly depended on fog water whereas the epiphytic bryophytes and epiphytic ferns relied on both fog water and humus. This may be due to their differences in morphological and structural traits (e.g., thallus or leaves, rhizoid or roots). Additionally, the difference in WUEi was also significant among epiphyte groups and species, which could be related to their different water acquisition patterns. In conclusion, our study reveals the differentiation of water utilization in epiphytes and confirms the importance of fog water for epiphytes during the dry season.

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Vascular epiphytes show low physiological resistance and high recovery capacity to episodic, short‐term drought in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Abstract: This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as

Cited by 17 publications

References 67 publications

Variation in cloud immersion, not precipitation, drives leaf trait plasticity and water relations in vascular epiphytes during an extreme drought

Variation in cloud immersion, not precipitation, drives leaf trait plasticity and water relations in vascular epiphytes during an extreme drought

The impact of climate change on disease in wild plant populations and communities

Dry-Season Fog Water Utilization by Epiphytes in a Subtropical Montane Cloud Forest of Southwest China

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