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How prevalent is crassulacean acid metabolism among vascular epiphytes?

Zotz, Gerhard

In: Oecologia, 2004, vol. 138, no. 2, p. 184-192

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    Titre
    • How prevalent is crassulacean acid metabolism among vascular epiphytes?
    Auteur
    • Zotz, Gerhard. Botanisches Institut der Universität Basel, Schönbeinstrasse 6, 4056, Basel, Switzerland
    Type de document
    • Postprint
    Langue
    • Anglais
    Publié dans
    • Oecologia, 2004, vol. 138, no. 2, p. 184-192. Springer-Verlag; http://www.springer.de
    Autre version électronique
    Identifiant OAI-PMH
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:310788
    Summary
    The occurrence of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in the epiphyte community of a lowland forest of the Atlantic slope of Panama was investigated. I hypothesized that CAM is mostly found in orchids, of which many species are relatively small and/or rare. Thus, the relative proportion of species with CAM should not be a good indicator for the prevalence of this photosynthetic pathway in a community when expressed on an individual or a biomass basis. In 0.4ha of forest, 103species of vascular epiphytes with 13,099individuals were found. As judged from the C isotope ratios and the absence of Kranz anatomy, CAM was detected in 20 species (19.4% of the total), which were members of the families Orchidaceae, Bromeliaceae, and Cactaceae. As predicted, the contribution of CAM epiphytes to the total number of individuals and to total biomass (69.6kg ha-1) was considerably lower (3.6% or 466 individuals and, respectively, 3.0% or 2.1kg ha-1)