Hydraulic conductance of leaves correlates with leaf lifespan: implications for lifetime carbon gain.

Previous research suggests that the lifetime carbon gain of a leaf is constrained by a tradeoff between metabolism and longevity. The biophysical reasons underlying this tradeoff are not fully understood. We used a photosynthesis-leaf water balance model to evaluate biophysical constraints on carbon gain.

Polystichum munitum (Dryopteridaceae) varies geographically in its capacity to absorb fog water by foliar uptake within the redwood forest ecosystem.

Premise Of The Study: Fog provides a critical water resource to plants around the world. In the redwood forest ecosystem of northern California, plants depend on fog absorbed through foliar uptake to stay hydrated during the rainless summer. In this study, we identified regions within the redwood ecosystem where the fern Polystichum munitum canopy most effectively absorbs fog drip that reaches the forest floor.

Foliar water uptake: a common water acquisition strategy for plants of the redwood forest.

Evaluations of plant water use in ecosystems around the world reveal a shared capacity by many different species to absorb rain, dew, or fog water directly into their leaves or plant crowns. This mode of water uptake provides an important water subsidy that relieves foliar water stress. Our study provides the first comparative evaluation of foliar uptake capacity among the dominant plant taxa from the coast redwood ecosystem of California where crown-wetting events by summertime fog frequently occur during an otherwise drought-prone season.