Drought avoidance and vulnerability in the Australian Araucariaceae

HC Zimmer; TJ Brodribb; S Delzon; PJ Baker

Journal article

Drought avoidance and vulnerability in the Australian Araucariaceae

HC Zimmer, TJ Brodribb, S Delzon, PJ Baker

Tree Physiology | Published : 2015

DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpv111

Abstract

The Araucariaceae is an iconic tree family. Once globally important, the Araucariaceae declined dramatically over the Cenozoic period. Increasing aridity is thought to be responsible for extinction and range contraction of Araucariaceae in Australia, yet little is known about how these trees respond to water stress. We examined the response to water stress of the recently discovered tree Wollemia nobilis Jones, W.G., Hill, K.D. & Allen, J.M. (Araucariaceae) and two closely related and widespread tree species, Araucaria bidwillii Hook. and Araucaria cunninghamii Mudie, and the island-endemic species, Araucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco. Leaf water potential in all Araucaria spp. remained ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Patrick Baker Author

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

H.C.Z.'s doctoral research is funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award, the Sidney Perry Foundation and the Wollemi Pine Recovery Team, which includes the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage, New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust. P.J.B. was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT120100715).