Dataset Information

Regulation of water balance in mangroves.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mangroves are a group of highly salt-tolerant woody plants. The high water use efficiency of mangroves under saline conditions suggests that regulation of water transport is a crucial component of their salinity tolerance.

Scope

This review focuses on the processes that contribute to the ability of mangroves to maintain water uptake and limit water loss to the soil and the atmosphere under saline conditions, from micro to macro scales. These processes include: (1) efficient filtering of the incoming water to exclude salt; (2) maintenance of internal osmotic potentials lower than that of the rhizosphere; (3) water-saving properties; and (4) efficient exploitation of less-saline water sources when these become available.

Conclusions

Mangroves are inherently plastic and can change their structure at the root, leaf and stand levels in response to salinity in order to exclude salt from the xylem stream, maintain leaf hydraulic conductance, avoid cavitation and regulate water loss (e.g. suberization of roots and alterations of leaf size, succulence and angle, hydraulic anatomy and biomass partitioning). However, much is still unknown about the regulation of water uptake in mangroves, such as how they sense and respond to heterogeneity in root zone salinity, the extent to which they utilize non-stomatally derived CO2 as a water-saving measure and whether they can exploit atmospheric water sources.

SUBMITTER: Reef R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4332601 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Regulation of water balance in mangroves.

Reef Ruth R Lovelock Catherine E CE

Annals of botany 20140825 3

<h4>Background</h4>Mangroves are a group of highly salt-tolerant woody plants. The high water use efficiency of mangroves under saline conditions suggests that regulation of water transport is a crucial component of their salinity tolerance.<h4>Scope</h4>This review focuses on the processes that contribute to the ability of mangroves to maintain water uptake and limit water loss to the soil and the atmosphere under saline conditions, from micro to macro scales. These processes include: (1) effic ...[more]

PMID: 25157072

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Project description:Although knowledge on dispersal patterns is essential for predicting long-term population dynamics, critical information on the modalities of passive dispersal and potential interactions between vectors is often missing. Here, we use mangrove propagules with a wide variety of morphologies to investigate the interaction between water and wind as a driver of passive dispersal. We imposed 16 combinations of wind and hydrodynamic conditions in a flume tank, using propagules of six important mangrove species (and genera), resulting in a set of dispersal morphologies that covers most variation present in mangrove propagules worldwide. Additionally, we discussed the broader implications of the outcome of this flume study on the potential of long distance dispersal for mangrove propagules in nature, applying a conceptual model to a natural mangrove system in Gazi Bay (Kenya). Overall, the effect of wind on dispersal depended on propagule density (g l(-1)). The low-density Heritiera littoralis propagules were most affected by wind, while the high-density vertically floating propagules of Ceriops tagal and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza were least affected. Avicennia marina, and horizontally floating Rhizophora mucronata and C. tagal propagules behaved similarly. Morphological propagule traits, such as the dorsal sail of H. littoralis, explained another part of the interspecific differences. Within species, differences in dispersal velocities can be explained by differences in density and for H. littoralis also by variations in the shape of the dorsal sail. Our conceptual model illustrates that different propagule types have a different likelihood of reaching the open ocean depending on prevailing water and wind currents. Results suggest that in open water, propagule traits (density, morphology, and floating orientation) appear to determine the effect of water and wind currents on dispersal dynamics. This has important implications for inter- and intraspecific variation in dispersal patterns and the likelihood of reaching suitable habitat patches within a propagule's viable period.

Dataset Information

Regulation of water balance in mangroves.

Background

Scope

Conclusions

Publications

Regulation of water balance in mangroves.

Similar Datasets

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