Epiphytic Plants: Perspective on Their Diversity, Distribution, Systematics and Conservation in the Changing Environment.

Epiphytic plants are vital components of tropical and subtropical forests, contributing significantly to biodiversity, ecosystem function, and structural complexity [...

Phylogenetic diversity and the structure of host-epiphyte interactions across the Neotropics.

Understanding the mechanisms driving community assembly has been a major focus of ecological research for nearly a century, yet little is known about these mechanisms in commensal communities, particularly with respect to their historical/evolutionary components. Here, we use a large-scale dataset of 4,440 vascular plant species to explore the relationship between the evolutionary distinctiveness (ED) (as measured by the 'species evolutionary history' (SEH)) of host species and the phylogenetic diversity (PD) of their associated epiphyte species. Although there was considerable variation across hosts and their associated epiphyte species, they were largely unrelated to host SEH.

Plant diversity and community composition in managed humid coastal dune slacks in NW England.

Humid coastal dune slacks are an endangered habitat in Northwestern Europe. In the UK, dune slacks are currently classified as being in 'unfavourable' condition, with projected decrease in England of up to 30% by 2036. Studies in mainland Europe suggest that regional factors (e.

A potential global surveillance tool for effective, low-cost sampling of invasive Aedes mosquito eggs from tyres using adhesive tape.

Background: The international movement of used tyres is a major factor responsible for global introductions of Aedes invasive mosquitoes (AIMs) (Diptera: Culicidae) that are major disease vectors (e.g. dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever).

Plant responses to decadal scale increments in atmospheric CO concentration: comparing two stomatal conductance sampling methods.

Our study demonstrated that the species respond non-linearly to increases in CO concentration when exposed to decadal changes in CO, representing the year 1987, 2025, 2051, and 2070, respectively. There are several lines of evidence suggesting that the vast majority of C3 plants respond to elevated atmospheric CO by decreasing their stomatal conductance (g). However, in the majority of CO enrichment studies, the response to elevated CO are tested between plants grown under ambient (380-420 ppm) and high (538-680 ppm) CO concentrations and measured usually at single time points in a diurnal cycle.

Convergence in Maximum Stomatal Conductance of C Woody Angiosperms in Natural Ecosystems Across Bioclimatic Zones.

Stomatal conductance ( ) in terrestrial vegetation regulates the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and water loss through transpiration, closely linking the biosphere and atmosphere and influencing climate. Yet, the range and pattern of in plants from natural ecosystems across broad geographic, climatic, and taxonomic ranges remains poorly quantified. Furthermore, attempts to characterize on such scales have predominantly relied upon meta-analyses compiling data from many different studies.

The Pressure Is On - Epiphyte Water-Relations Altered Under Elevated CO.

Vascular epiphytes are a major biomass component of forests across the globe and they contribute to 9% of global vascular plant diversity. To improve our understanding of the whole-plant response of epiphytes to future climate change, we investigated for the first time both individual and combined effects of elevated CO (560 ppm) and light on the physiology and growth of two epiphyte species [ (CAM) and (C3)] grown for 272 days under controlled conditions. We found that under elevated CO the difference in water loss between the light (650 μmol ms) and shade (130 μmol ms) treatment was strongly reduced.

Does Size Matter? Atmospheric CO2 May Be a Stronger Driver of Stomatal Closing Rate Than Stomatal Size in Taxa That Diversified under Low CO2.

One strategy for plants to optimize stomatal function is to open and close their stomata quickly in response to environmental signals. It is generally assumed that small stomata can alter aperture faster than large stomata. We tested the hypothesis that species with small stomata close faster than species with larger stomata in response to darkness by comparing rate of stomatal closure across an evolutionary range of species including ferns, cycads, conifers, and angiosperms under controlled ambient conditions (380 ppm CO2; 20.

Changes in the distribution of mechanically dependent plants along a gradient of past hurricane impact.

The severity of the effects that large disturbance events such as hurricanes can have on the forest canopy and the associated mechanically dependent plant community (epiphytes, climbers, etc.) is dependent on the frequency and intensity of the disturbance events. Here we investigate the effects of different structural and environmental properties of the host trees and previously modelled past hurricanes on dependent plants in Cusuco National Park, Honduras.

Modelling hurricane exposure and wind speed on a mesoclimate scale: a case study from Cusuco NP, Honduras.

High energy weather events are often expected to play a substantial role in biotic community dynamics and large scale diversity patterns but their contribution is hard to prove. Currently, observations are limited to the documentation of accidental records after the passing of such events. A more comprehensive approach is synthesising weather events in a location over a long time period, ideally at a high spatial resolution and on a large geographic scale.