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Keywords = facultative epiphyte

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17 pages, 1627 KiB  
Article
How Epiphytic Are Filmy Ferns? A Semi-Quantitative Approach
by Gerhard Zotz and Helena J. R. Einzmann
Diversity 2023, 15(2), 270; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15020270 - 13 Feb 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4539
Abstract
Similar to plants in many other families, members of the Hymenophyllaceae use numerous substrates for growth, e.g., soil, rocks or tree bark. However, substrate preference does not only differ among species but can also vary among members of the same species. There have [...] Read more.
Similar to plants in many other families, members of the Hymenophyllaceae use numerous substrates for growth, e.g., soil, rocks or tree bark. However, substrate preference does not only differ among species but can also vary among members of the same species. There have been several attempts in the past to appropriately capture this variation, but none proved feasible or was replicated in any subsequent work. In our approach, we use textual information from numerous sources like checklists, floras and species descriptions to come up with a quantitative index of the preference of 450 species of filmy ferns (=c. 75% of all species of the family) for epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial growth. We show that the majority of species have clear habitat preferences, while strict habitat specificity is rather uncommon. Our compilation will be an important input for future ecological and phylogenetic studies in this family, but the presented approach is of much more general interest: it is immediately applicable to other taxonomic groups and should eventually allow us to replace the current approach of assigning species to distinct categories (epiphyte, lithophyte or terrestrial) by one that finally reflects biological variability more appropriately. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity in 2022)
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15 pages, 2679 KiB  
Article
Divergent Adaptation Strategies of Vascular Facultative Epiphytes to Bark and Soil Habitats: Insights from Stoichiometry
by Tingting Zhang, Wenyao Liu, Tao Hu, Dandan Tang, Yuxuan Mo and Yi Wu
Forests 2021, 12(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12010016 - 24 Dec 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5805
Abstract
Understanding the stoichiometric traits of plants is critical for studying their ecological adaptation strategies. Facultative epiphytes (which can also live on the ground) are an important component of epiphytic flora of montane forest ecosystems. However, a key gap persists in our understanding how [...] Read more.
Understanding the stoichiometric traits of plants is critical for studying their ecological adaptation strategies. Facultative epiphytes (which can also live on the ground) are an important component of epiphytic flora of montane forest ecosystems. However, a key gap persists in our understanding how facultative epiphytes can adapt different nutritional conditions of ground and canopy habitats? To study adaptive strategies of facultative epiphytes and the characteristics of the content and stoichiometric homeostasis of C, N, and P elements, we conducted a field experiment and a greenhouse N and P additions cultivation experiment. We found that epiphytic individuals of facultative epiphytes showed lower C:N and C:P ratios, higher variation in elemental composition, and more pronounced N limitation than terrestrial individuals. Moreover, facultative epiphytes showed strong control over the elemental composition of leaves, and their stoichiometric homeostasis of leaves and stems were stronger than roots. Furthermore, the homeostasis of facultative epiphytes decreased in the order N > P. Our results indicated that epiphytic and terrestrial individuals of facultative epiphytes have difference in nutrient limitation, and they use plastic strategies in different habitats. Epiphytic individuals survive in the intermittent habitat through luxury consumption of nutrient while terrestrial individuals were relatively conservative nutrient users. Furthermore, our results implied that facultative epiphytes maintain stable metabolic leaf activity via variable element concentrations of roots to adapt to highly heterogeneous forest habitats. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Forest Ecology and Management)
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