Summary
Sun leaves of Metrosideros polymorpha were collected in 51 sites on 9 lava flows that represented gradients of elevation, precipitation, substrate age, and substrate texture on Mauna Loa volcano, Hawai'i. Leaf mass per unit leaf area increased with increasing elevation on all flows, while foliar nitrogen concentration decreased with increasing elevation and increased with increasing substrate age. Foliar δ13C became less negative with increasing elevation on the wet east-side lava flows, but not the dry northwest-side flows; it did not reflect patterns of precipitation or presumed water availability. δ13C was very strongly correlated with leaf mass per area across all of the sites. Limited gas-exchange information suggested that calculated ci/ca did not decrease with elevation in association with less-negative δ13C, and photosynthesis per unit of nitrogen was significantly reduced in high-elevation plants. These results are consistent with a substantial internal resistance to CO2 diffusion in the thick Metrosideros polymorpha leaves in high elevation sites.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atlas of Hawaii, Second Edition (1983) Department of Geography, University of Hawaii. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu
Ball JT (1988) An Analysis of Stomatal Conductance. Ph.D. Thesis. Stanford University
Bongi G, Hubick O (1987) On-line carbon isotope discrimination of olive leaves. Plant Phys (Suppl) 83:34
Caemmerer S von, Farquhar GD (1981) Some relationships between the biochemistry of photosynthesis and the gas exchange of leaves. Planta 153:376–387
Dawson JW, Stemmermann L Metrosideros (Myrtaceae). In press, in Wagner WL, Herbst DR, Sohmer SH (eds) Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i. Bernice P. Bishop Museum and University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu
Delucia EH, Schlesinger WH, Billings WD (1988) Water relations and the maintenance of Sierran conifers on hydrothermally altered rock. Ecology 69:303–311
Ehleringer JR, Comstock JP, Cooper TA (1987) Leaf-twig carbon isotope ratio differences in photosynthetic-twig desert shrubs. Oecologia 71:318–320
Evans JR, Sharkey TD, Berry JA, Farquhar GD (1986) Carbon isotope discrimination measured concurrently with gas exchange to investigate CO2 diffusion in leaves of higher plants. Aust J Plant Physiol 13:281–292
Farquhar GD, O'Leary MH, Berry JA (1982) On the relationship between carbon isotope discrimination and intercellular carbon dioxide concentration in leaves. Aust J Plant Physiol 9:121–137
Farquhar GD, Sharkey TD (1982) Stomatal conductance and photosynthesis. Ann Rev Plant Physiol 33:317–345
Farquhar GD, Hubick KT, Condon AG, Richards RA (1988) Carbon isotope fractionation and plant water-use efficiency, pp 21–40, Rundel PW, Ehleringer JR, Nagy KA (eds) Stable Isotopes in Ecological Research. Springer, New York
Farquhar GD, Ehleringer JR, Hubick KT (1989) Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Ann Rev Plant Physiol Plant Biol 40:503–537
Field CB, Mooney HA (1986) The nitrogen/photosynthesis relationship in wild plants, pp 25–55, Givnish TJ (ed) On the Economy of Plant Form and Function. Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge
Friend AD, Woodward FI, Switsor VR (1989) Field measurements of photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, leaf nitrogen, and δ13C along altitudinal gradients in Scotland. Funct Ecology 3:117–122
Giambelluca TW, Nullet MA, Schroeder TA (1986) Rainfall atlas of Hawai'i. Dept. Land Natural Resources, State of Hawaii, p 267
Grubb PJ (1977) Control of forest growth and distribution on wet tropical mountains with specific reference to mineral nutrition. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 8:83–107
Jarvis PG, McNaughton KG (1986) Stomatal control of transpiration: Scaling up from leaf to region. Adv Ecol Res 15:1–49
Juvik JO, Singleton DC, Clarke GG (1978) Climate and water balance on the Island of Hawaii. Mauna Loa Observatory 20th Anniversary Symposium, pp 129–139
Kirschbaum MUF, Gross LJ, Pearcy RW (1988) Observed and modelled stomatal responses to dynamic light environments in the shade plant Alocasia macrorrhiza. Plant Cell Env 11:111–121
Körner Ch, Diemer M (1987) In situ photosynthetic responses to light, temperature and carbon dioxide in herbaceous plants from low and high altitute. Funct Ecology 1:179–194
Körner Ch, Farquhar GD, Roksandic Z (1988) A global survey of carbon isotope discrimination in plants from high altitude. Oecologia 74:623–632
Lockwood JP, Lipman P, Peterson LD, Warshauer FR (1988) Generalized ages of surface lava flows of Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii. U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publications Map I-1908. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C.
Medina E (1981) Nitrogen content, leaf structure, and photosynthesis in higher plants: a report to the UNEP study group on photosynthesis and bioproductivity. IVIC, Caracas, Venezuela
Medina E (1984) Nutrient balance and physiological processes at the leaf level. p. 139–154, in Medina E, Mooney HA, Vazquez-Yanes C (eds), Physiological Ecology of Plants of the Wet Tropics. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague
Medina E, Minchin P (1980) Stratification of δ13C values of leaves in Amazonian rain forests. Oecologia 45:377–378
Parkhurst DF (1977) A three-dimensional model for CO2 uptake by continuously distributed mesophyll in leaves. J Theor Biol 67:471–488
Parkhurst DF, Wong S-C, Farquhar GD, Cowan IR (1988) Gradients of intercellular CO2 levels across the leaf mesophyll. Plant Physiol 86:1032–1037
Rubin M, Gargulinski LK, McGeehin JP (1987) Hawaiian radiocarbon dates. In: Decker RW, Wright TL, Stauffer PH (eds) Volcanism in Hawaii. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1350, US Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp 213–242
Schulze E-D (1986) Carbon dioxide and water vapor exchange in response to drought in the atmosphere and in the soil. Ann Rev Plant Physiol 37:247–274
Schulze E-D, Hall AE, Lange OL, Walz H (1982) A portable steady-state porometer for measuring the carbon dioxide and water vapour exchanges of leaves under natural conditions. Oecologia 53:141–145
Sternberg LSL, Mulkey SS, Wright SJ (1989) Ecological interpretation of leaf carbon isotope ratios: influence of respired carbon dioxide. Ecology 70:1317–1324
Technicon Instrument Systems (1976) Technicon Methods Guide. Tarrytown, New York
Toft NL, Anderson JE, Nowak RS (1989) Water use efficiency and carbon isotope composition of plants in a cold desert environment. Oecology 80:11–18
Vitousek PM, Sanford Jr RL (1986) Nutrient cycling in moist tropical forest. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 17:137–167
Vitousek PM, Van Cleve K, Balakrishnan N, Mueller-Dombois D (1983) Soil development and nitrogen turnover in montane rainforest soils in Hawai'i. Biotropica 15:268–274
Vitousek PM, Matson PA, Turner DR (1988) Elevational and age gradients in Hawaiian montane rainforest: foliar and soil nutrients. Oecoligia 77:565–570
Vitousek PM, Matson PA, Van Cleve K (1989a) Nitrogen availability and nitrification during succession: primary, secondary, and old-field seres. Plant Soil 115:229–239
Vitousek PM, Shearer G, Kohl DH (1989b) Foliar 15N natural abundance in Hawaiian rainforest: patterns and possible mechanisms. Oecologia 78:383–388
Wong SC, Cowan IR, Farquahr GD (1979) Stomatal conductance correlates with photosynthetic capacity. Nature 282:424–426
Zeiger E (1983) The biology of stomatal guard cells. Ann Rev Plant Physiol 34:441–475
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Published as a contribution to the International Union for Biological Sciences Tropical Mountain Ecosystems Program, and as Carnegie Institution of Washington Department of Plant Biology Publication Number 1065
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vitousek, P.M., Field, C.B. & Matson, P.A. Variation in foliar δ13C in Hawaiian Metrosideros polymorpha: a case of internal resistance?. Oecologia 84, 362–370 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00329760
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00329760