Abstract
Although the supply of water is usually abundant in lowland and montane wet tropical forests, plants growing in these environments may be exposed to moderate tissue water deficits on a fairly regular basis. In addition, these plants may experience severe water deficits every few years. Information on the nature of these water deficits, their physiological effects on growth, and the mechanisms by which they are tolerated in wet tropical plants is reviewed in the present chapter. Special attention is given to several recent studies involving wet forest species from Hawaii and Panama. These latter studies demonstrate the importance of variation in tissue elastic and osmotic properties as a means of promoting turgor maintenance in wet tropical plants.
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Robichaux, R.H., Rundel, P.W., Stemmermann, L., Canfield, J.E., Morse, S.R., Friedman, W.E. (1984). Tissue Water Deficits and Plant Growth in Wet Tropical Environments. In: Medina, E., Mooney, H.A., Vázquez-Yánes, C. (eds) Physiological ecology of plants of the wet tropics. Tasks for vegetation Science, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7299-5_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7299-5_8
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