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Transport and Storage of Water

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Physiological Plant Ecology II

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology ((920,volume 12 / B))

Abstract

This chapter consists of two parts, the first part (by M.H.Z.) describes the structural basis of water conduction from roots to leaves. Xylem anatomy has been known for a long time. However, those aspects which concern water movement through the plant as a whole have remained rather elusive and therefore neglected. The problem was partly that we are dealing here with microscopic structures spread throughout the whole plant body. We need the microscope to look at the structure, but it is too myopic to give us the information we seek. Whole-plant-xylem anatomy is an essential factor in plant competition and survival. For example, a tree can afford to lose a branch by cavitation of the xylem water, but it could not survive extensive cavitation in the trunk. How does it control this? The answer to this question seems to be “clever” construction.

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Authors
  1. M. H. Zimmermann
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  2. J. A. Milburn
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Botanik II der Universität Würzburg, Mittlerer Dallenbergweg 64, 8700, Würzburg, Germany

    O. L. Lange

  2. Department of Biology, Division of Environmental Biology of the Laboratory of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

    P. S. Nobel

  3. Department of Environmental Biology, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Box 475, Canberra City, 2601, Australia

    C. B. Osmond

  4. Institut für Botanik und Mikrobiologie der Technischen Universität München, Arcisstraße 21, 8000, München 2, Germany

    H. Ziegler

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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Zimmermann, M.H., Milburn, J.A. (1982). Transport and Storage of Water. In: Lange, O.L., Nobel, P.S., Osmond, C.B., Ziegler, H. (eds) Physiological Plant Ecology II. Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, vol 12 / B. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68150-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68150-9_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-68152-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68150-9

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