Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 17, 2026
11:09
Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits
Published on: October 12, 2015
19.8K
Variation in leaf wettability traits along a tropical montane elevation gradient.
Gregory R Goldsmith1,2, Lisa Patrick Bentley1, Alexander Shenkin1
1Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK.
The New Phytologist
|July 28, 2016
Summary
Leaf drip tips and water repellency in tropical forests are linked to temperature, not just rainfall. These leaf traits may not solely indicate negative effects of leaf wetting on plants.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Plant Biology
- Climate Change Research
Background:
- Leaf wetting is traditionally viewed as detrimental to plant function, influencing leaf traits in wet environments.
- Emerging evidence suggests leaf wetting can also confer positive effects on plants.
- Leaf surface traits like drip tips and water repellency are key adaptations to manage leaf wetness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the variation in leaf drip tips and water repellency across tropical forest communities.
- To test hypotheses on how these leaf wettability traits correlate with climatic factors, including temperature and precipitation.
- To understand the ecological drivers of leaf wettability traits beyond negative impacts of wetting.
Main Methods:
- Measured leaf drip tips and water repellency in nine tropical forest sites along a 3300-m elevation gradient in Peru.
- Compiled published leaf water repellency data from 17 additional global sites to broaden the climatic scope.
- Analyzed trait variation in relation to temperature and precipitation gradients.
Main Results:
- Contrary to expectations, the prevalence of drip tips increased with temperature, not precipitation.
- Leaf water repellency was generally low across the studied tropical sites.
- Global analysis revealed high leaf water repellency primarily in sites with low precipitation and low temperatures.
Conclusions:
- Leaf drip tips and water repellency are influenced by climate in ways that may not solely relate to mitigating negative effects of leaf wetting.
- Temperature appears to be a significant driver for the evolution of drip tips.
- These findings necessitate a broader understanding of leaf wettability's role in plant, community, and ecosystem functions under varying climates.
Keywords:
cloud forestcontact angledrip tipsecohydrologyfoliar water uptakefunctional traitsleaf hydrophobicityleaf water repellencyMore Related Videos
10:14Author Spotlight: Leaf Trait Analysis for Climate and Ecology Reconstruction in Modern and Ancient Plant Communities
Published on: October 25, 2024
4.3K
12:11Measurement of Leaf Hydraulic Conductance and Stomatal Conductance and Their Responses to Irradiance and Dehydration Using the Evaporative Flux Method EFM
Published on: December 31, 2012
38.9K
Related Concept Videos
01:57Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
28.5K
Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.
28.5K
02:16Light Acquisition
9.8K
In order to produce glucose, plants need to capture sufficient light energy. Many modern plants have evolved leaves specialized for light acquisition. Leaves can be only millimeters in width or tens of meters wide, depending on the environment. Due to competition for sunlight, evolution has driven the evolution of increasingly larger leaves and taller plants, to avoid shading by their neighbors with contaminant elaboration of root architecture and mechanisms to transport water and nutrients.
9.8K
02:04Regulation of Transpiration by Stomata
32.0K
During photosynthesis, plants acquire the necessary carbon dioxide and release the produced oxygen back into the atmosphere. Openings in the epidermis of plant leaves is the site of this exchange of gasses. A single opening is called a stoma—derived from the Greek word for “mouth.” Stomata open and close in response to a variety of environmental cues.
32.0K
02:41Responses to Drought and Flooding
12.3K
Water plays a significant role in the life cycle of plants. However, insufficient or excess of water can be detrimental and pose a serious threat to plants.
12.3K
01:20Tonicity in Plants
39.0K
Plant cells maintain appropriate osmotic balance in extreme conditions. For instance, plants in dry environments store water in vacuoles, limit the opening of their stoma, and have thick, waxy cuticles to prevent unnecessary water loss. Some species of plants that live in salty environments store salt in their roots. As a result, water osmosis occurs in the root from the surrounding soil.
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...
39.0K
00:53Tonicity in Plants
60.8K
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water. It depends on the quantity of solute that does not penetrate the membrane. Tonicity delimits the magnitude and direction of osmosis and results in three possible scenarios that alter the volume of a cell: hypertonicity, hypotonicity, and isotonicity. Due to differences in structure and physiology, tonicity of plant cells is different from that of animal cells in some scenarios.
60.8K