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<meta content="Brodribb, Tim J." name="eprints.creators_name" />
<meta content="Holbrook, N. M." name="eprints.creators_name" />
<meta content="Hill, R. S." name="eprints.creators_name" />
<meta content="Timothy.Brodribb@utas.edu.au" name="eprints.creators_id" />
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<meta content="Seedling growth in conifers and angiosperms: impacts of contrasting xylem structure
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<meta content="Competitive interaction between conifers and angiosperms has moulded the structure of global vegetation since the Cretaceous. Angiosperms appear to enjoy their greatest advantage in the lowland tropics, an advantage often attributed to the presence of vessels in their xylem tissue. By monitoring the seedling growth of three members of the pan-tropical conifer family Podocarpaceae and three tropical angiosperm tree species, our aim was to determine whether these conifer and angiosperm seedlings showed distinct patterns of growth and light adaptation that might be attributed to the presence/absence of vessels. Angiosperm seedlings were consistently more efficient in terms of leaf area carried per unit stem investment, as well as more responsive to light climate than the conifer seedlings. Apparently linked to this were larger growth rate, stem hydraulic conductivity and stomatal conductance in the angiosperm sample. Stem hydraulic conductivity and maximum stomatal conductance were highly correlated among species and light treatments explaining the association between highly conductive vessel-bearing wood and high rates of gas exchange. We conclude that xylem vessels contribute to higher rates of gas exchange and more efficient production of leaf area in our sample angiosperms than in conifers. However, this advantage is limited by shade" name="eprints.abstract" />
<meta content="2005" name="eprints.date" />
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<meta content="Australian Journal of Botany" name="eprints.publication" />
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<meta content="Ashton DII. Kelliher K.I (1996) Effects of forest soil desiccation on
the growth of Eucalyptus regnans (EMuell.) seedlings. Journal of
Vegetation Science 7. 487-496. Becker P. Tyree MT. Tsuda M (1999) Hydraulic conductances of angiosperms versus conifers: similar transport sufficiency at the whole-plant level, Tree Physiology 19. 445-452. Bond W.I (1989) The tortoise and the hare: ecology of angiosperm
dominance and gymnosperm persistence. Biological Journal ofthe
l.innean Society 36.227-249. Brodribh T.I. Feild TS (2000) Stem hydraulic supply is linked to leaf photosynthetic capacity: evidence from New Caledonian and Tasmanian rainforests. Plant. Cell & Environment 23, 1381-1388. doi: 10.1046Zi.1365-3040.2000.00647.x
Australian Journal ofBotany 755
Brodribh T.I. Hill RS (1997) Light response characteristics of a morphologically diverse group of Southern Hemisphere conifers as measured hy chlorophyll fluorescence. Oecologia 110. 10-17. doi: 10.1007/s004420050127 Brodrihh T.I. I-lill RS (1999) The importance of xylem constraints on the distrihution of conifer species. New Phytologist 143. 356-372.
Brodribb T.I, Holbrook NM (2005) Water stress deforms tracheids peripheral to the leaf vein of a tropical conifer. Plant Physiology 137.1139-1146. doi: 10.1104/pp.104.058156
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Knoll All (1986) Patterns of change in plant communities through geological time. In 'Community ecology'. (Eds J Diamond T Case) pp. 126--141. (Harper and Row: New York)
Korner Ch, Scheel JA. Bauer H (1979) Maximum leaf diffusive conductance in vascular plants. Photosynthetica 13.45-82.
Lusk CH. Wright I, Reich PB (2003) Photosynthetic differences contribute to competitive advantage of evergreen angiosperm trees over evergreen conifers in productive habitats. New Phytologist160. 329-336. doi: 1O.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00879.x
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Pittermann .I, Sperry JS (2003) Tracheid diameter is the key trait determining the extent of freezing-induced embolism in conifers. Tree Physiology 23. 907-914.
Sperry JS, Donnelly JR, Tyree MT (1988) A method for measuring hydraulic conductivity and embolism in xylem. Plant. Cell & Environment 11. 35-40.
Sperry .IS, Nichols KL, Sullivan .IEM. Eastlack SE (1994) Xylem embolism in ring-porous, diffuse-porous. and coniferous trees of northern Utah and interior Alaska. Ecology 75, 1736-1752.
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Tyree MT, Patino S. Becker P (1998) Vulnerability to drought-induced embolism of Bornean heath and dipterocarp forest trees. Tree Physiology 18, 583-588.
Tyree MT. Snyderman DA. Wilmot TR, Machado J (1991) Water relations and hydraulic architecture of a tropical tree (Schefflera morototonii. Plant Physiology 96. 1105-1113.
Zimmermann MH, Jeje AA (1981) Vessel-length distribution in stems of some American woody plants. Canadian Journal ofBotany 59, 1882-1892" name="eprints.referencetext" />
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<meta content="Competitive interaction between conifers and angiosperms has moulded the structure of global vegetation since the Cretaceous. Angiosperms appear to enjoy their greatest advantage in the lowland tropics, an advantage often attributed to the presence of vessels in their xylem tissue. By monitoring the seedling growth of three members of the pan-tropical conifer family Podocarpaceae and three tropical angiosperm tree species, our aim was to determine whether these conifer and angiosperm seedlings showed distinct patterns of growth and light adaptation that might be attributed to the presence/absence of vessels. Angiosperm seedlings were consistently more efficient in terms of leaf area carried per unit stem investment, as well as more responsive to light climate than the conifer seedlings. Apparently linked to this were larger growth rate, stem hydraulic conductivity and stomatal conductance in the angiosperm sample. Stem hydraulic conductivity and maximum stomatal conductance were highly correlated among species and light treatments explaining the association between highly conductive vessel-bearing wood and high rates of gas exchange. We conclude that xylem vessels contribute to higher rates of gas exchange and more efficient production of leaf area in our sample angiosperms than in conifers. However, this advantage is limited by shade" name="DC.description" />
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<h1 class="ep_tm_pagetitle">Seedling growth in conifers and angiosperms: impacts of contrasting xylem structure</h1>
<p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><span class="person_name">Brodribb, Tim J.</span> and <span class="person_name">Holbrook, N. M.</span> and <span class="person_name">Hill, R. S.</span> (2005) <xhtml:em>Seedling growth in conifers and angiosperms: impacts of contrasting xylem structure.</xhtml:em> Australian Journal of Botany, 53 (8). pp. 749-755. ISSN 0067-1924</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"></p><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><tr><td valign="top" style="text-align:center"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/2584/1/conifer__angio__growth.pdf"><img alt="[img]" src="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png" class="ep_doc_icon" border="0" /></a></td><td valign="top"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/2584/1/conifer__angio__growth.pdf"><span class="ep_document_citation">PDF</span></a> - Full text restricted - Requires a PDF viewer<br />142Kb</td><td><form method="get" accept-charset="utf-8" action="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/request_doc"><input accept-charset="utf-8" value="3391" name="docid" type="hidden" /><div class=""><input value="Request a copy" name="_action_null" class="ep_form_action_button" onclick="return EPJS_button_pushed( '_action_null' )" type="submit" /> </div></form></td></tr></table><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block">Official URL: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/BT05049">http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/BT05049</a></p><div class="not_ep_block"><h2>Abstract</h2><p style="padding-bottom: 16px; text-align: left; margin: 1em auto 0em auto">Competitive interaction between conifers and angiosperms has moulded the structure of global vegetation since the Cretaceous. Angiosperms appear to enjoy their greatest advantage in the lowland tropics, an advantage often attributed to the presence of vessels in their xylem tissue. By monitoring the seedling growth of three members of the pan-tropical conifer family Podocarpaceae and three tropical angiosperm tree species, our aim was to determine whether these conifer and angiosperm seedlings showed distinct patterns of growth and light adaptation that might be attributed to the presence/absence of vessels. Angiosperm seedlings were consistently more efficient in terms of leaf area carried per unit stem investment, as well as more responsive to light climate than the conifer seedlings. Apparently linked to this were larger growth rate, stem hydraulic conductivity and stomatal conductance in the angiosperm sample. Stem hydraulic conductivity and maximum stomatal conductance were highly correlated among species and light treatments explaining the association between highly conductive vessel-bearing wood and high rates of gas exchange. We conclude that xylem vessels contribute to higher rates of gas exchange and more efficient production of leaf area in our sample angiosperms than in conifers. However, this advantage is limited by shade</p></div><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" cellpadding="3" class="not_ep_block" border="0"><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Item Type:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">Article</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Subjects:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/270402.html">270000 Biological Sciences > 270400 Botany > 270402 Plant Physiology</a><br /><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/270400.html">270000 Biological Sciences > 270400 Botany</a></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ID Code:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">2584</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited By:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><span class="ep_name_citation"><span class="person_name">Scholarly Publications Librarian</span></span></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited On:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">29 Nov 2007 14:19</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Last Modified:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">09 Jan 2008 02:30</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ePrint Statistics:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a target="ePrintStats" href="/es/index.php?action=show_detail_eprint;id=2584;">View statistics for this ePrint</a></td></tr></table><p align="right">Repository Staff Only: <a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/users/home?screen=EPrint::View&eprintid=2584">item control page</a></p>
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