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Features of CAM-cycling expressed in the dry season by terrestrial and epiphytic plants of Clusia arrudae Planchon & Triana in two rupestrian savannas of southeastern Brazil in comparison to the C3-species Eremanthus glomerulatus Less.

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In rupestrian savannas in southeastern Brazil Clusia arrudae Planchon & Triana in the dry season performed CAM-cycling with very little gas exchange in the early morning followed by a long depression during the rest of the day. CAM-cycling is considered as a survival strategy under drought and the productivity of the plant which is quite abundant must rely on performance of C 3 -photosynthesis in more favorable seasons.

Abstract

In rupestrian savannas in the Serra do Cipó (19°14′48.9″S, 43°30′36.0″W) at 1300 m a.s.l. and in the Serra de São José (21°08′S, 44°17′W) at 1010–1030 m a.s.l. in southeastern Brazil Clusia arrudae Planchon & Triana is abundant. As CAM is frequent in the genus Clusia we supposed that it would perform CAM as a drought adaptation at the very dry rupestrian savanna sites in the dry season. At the Serra do Cipó site as control we studied the obligate C3-species Eremanthus glomerulatus Less. Both species are sympatric at this site. Eremanthus glomerulatus performed C3-photosynthesis with a midday depression. The patterns of C. arrudae were completely different so that genuine C3-photosynthesis was excluded, but they were also not typical of CAM. The stomata were almost closed during the night. Some stomatal opening and net CO2 uptake occurred in the early morning hours followed by a long depression with stomatal closure throughout the rest of the day. Nevertheless, photo inhibition was limited and photosynthetic electron transport rate remained high during this time indicating that photosynthetic excitation energy was required and suggesting that CO2 assimilation was continuing behind closed stomata based on internal sources of CO2. There was some nocturnal accumulation of organic acids (malic and citric acids) which could represent a source of CO2 during the light period. Overall, the observations can be best explained by the performance of CAM-cycling by C. arrudae. However, leaf carbon gain of C. arrudae was much inferior to that of E. glomerulatus. CAM-cycling appears to be a strategy for protection from photoinhibitory damage and survival under strong conditions of drought. Steeper more vertical leaf positions observed would assist reducing overheating during stomatal closure at high irradiance. The abundance of C. arrudae suggests that the plant must have other means to sustain productivity such as full C3-photosynthesis in the more favorable seasons.

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Acknowledgments

We thank three anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and corrections. We thank Volkswagen Stiftung, Germany, for funding and CNPq (Brazilian Research Council) for productivity Grants to FRS, EAM, ACF and GWF. Logistic support was provided by Parque Nacional da Serra do Cipó-IBAMA, Planta Tecnologia Ambiental and Reserva Particular Vellozia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fundação Brasileira para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Rua Engenheiro Álvaro Niemeyer, 76, São Conrado, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 22610-180, Brazil

    Fabio R. Scarano

  2. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), CCS, IB, Caixa Postal 68020, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 21941-970, Brazil

    Fabio R. Scarano, Eduardo A. de Mattos & Pedro O. Cavalin

  3. Departamento de Botânica, Universidade de Brasília, Caixa Postal 04457, Brasília, DF, CEP 70919-970, Brazil

    Augusto C. Franco

  4. Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Forckenbeckstrasse 6, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Birgit Orthen

  5. Lab. Ecologia Evolutiva e Biodiversidade/ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, CEP 486, 30161-970, Brazil

    G. Wilson Fernandes

  6. Department of Biology, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schnittspahnstrasse 3-5, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany

    Ulrich Lüttge

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  1. Fabio R. Scarano
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  2. Eduardo A. de Mattos
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  7. Ulrich Lüttge
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Correspondence to Ulrich Lüttge.

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Communicated by J. Peñuelas.

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Scarano, F.R., de Mattos, E.A., Franco, A.C. et al. Features of CAM-cycling expressed in the dry season by terrestrial and epiphytic plants of Clusia arrudae Planchon & Triana in two rupestrian savannas of southeastern Brazil in comparison to the C3-species Eremanthus glomerulatus Less.. Trees 30, 913–922 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1331-z

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