Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 18 August 1978:
Vol. 201. no. 4356, pp. 614 - 616
DOI: 10.1126/science.201.4356.614
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Temperatures of Desert Plants: Another Perspective on the Adaptability of Leaf Size

WILLIAM K. SMITH 1

1 Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie 82071

Surface temperatures of perennial plants in the Sonoran Desert of California ranged from 20°C above air temperature to over 18°C below air temperature during rapid growth periods following rain. Desert cactus with large photosynthetic stem surfaces had the highest temperatures and lowest transpiration rates. Perennial plants with relatively small leaves had moderate transpiration rates and leaf temperatures close to air temperature. Desert perennials with relatively large leaves had leaf temperatures well below air temperature along with the greatest accompanying transpiration rates of over 20 micrograms per square centimeter per second, but also had correspondingly low temperatures for maximum photosynthesis. The low leaf temperatures measured for these large-leafed species are an exception to the more common pattern for desert plants whereby a smaller leaf size prevents overheating and leads to reductions in transpiration and increased water-use efficiency. The contribution of a larger leaf size to a lower leaf temperature, and thus higher rate of photosynthesis for these large-leafed species, may represent an adaptive pattern previously unrecognized for desert plants.

Submitted on February 28, 1978


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Light-dependent leaf trait variation in 43 tropical dry forest tree species.
L. Markesteijn, L. Poorter, and F. Bongers (2007)
Am. J. Botany 94, 515-525
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Leaf Evolution: Gases, Genes and Geochemistry.
D. J. BEERLING (2005)
Ann. Bot. 96, 345-352
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Temperature-dependent oxygen limitation in insect eggs.
H. A. Woods and R. I. Hill (2004)
J. Exp. Biol. 207, 2267-2276
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)