Opportunistic Growth and Desiccation Tolerance: The Ecological Success of Poikilohydrous Autotrophs

2007/06/20 by L. Kappen, Fernando Valladares · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Energy · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology #Algal biology and biofuel production #Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms

paper · doi:10.1201/9781420007626-2

openalex publication_date 2007/06/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/20

Abstract

This chapter discusses structural and physiological features of poikilohydrous autotrophs and the different strategies in different ecological situations. It presents examples of poikilohydrous autotrophs living under very limiting ecological conditions in many different regions of the Earth. Nonvascular autotrophs are considered constitutively poikilohydrous because they lack the means of controlling water relations. In Africa, subfruticose poikilohydrous plants such as Lindernia crassifolia and Lindernia acicularis grow in sheltered rock niches. Poikilohydrous autotrophs, therefore, have had to trade-off between surviving desiccation against uptake, transport, and storage of water. Poikilohydrous plants that possess an internal system for water transport are exposed to cavitation during desiccation, which compromise the functioning of the conducting tissues upon rehydration. Poikilohydrous autotrophs can maintain their water content at a constant level only to a limited extent, but they can extend hydration into the dry period by certain, mostly structural, mechanisms.

Citations

• Use of metabolic inhibitors to elucidate mechanisms of recovery from desiccation stress in the resurrection plant Xerophyta humilis
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• Flowering Plants. Eudicots

Cited by

• Hydration‐dependent photosynthetic production of lichens: what do laboratory studies tell us about field performance?
• Lichens Survive in Space: Results from the 2005 LICHENS Experiment
• Poikilohydry [wikipedia]