Journal article
Diurnal and seasonal variations in photosynthetic and morphological traits of the tree ferns Dicksonia antarctica (Dicksoniaceae) and Cyathea australis (Cyatheaceae) in wet sclerophyll forests of Australia
L Volkova, LT Bennett, M Tausz
Environmental and Experimental Botany | PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD | Published : 2011
Abstract
Steady state and dynamic responses of two tree fern species of contrasting origins, Dicksonia antarctica (of Gondwanan origin) and Cyathea australis (Pan-tropical), were studied over two consecutive years under field conditions in a wet sclerophyll forest of south-east Australia. Irrespective of their different origins, there were no significant differences in photosynthetic performance between the two species. Growth irradiance and leaf temperature, but not plant water status, was significantly related to photosynthetic and morphological traits. At a common leaf temperature, maximum light-use efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) was significantly lower in winter than in summer, suggesting s..
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Funding Acknowledgements
Authors acknowledge Simon Murphy from the Victorian State Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) for help with indentifying the field site; Fedor Torgovnikov, Thomas Wright, Raymond Dempsey, Hans van Veen for help with field measurements; Dave Johnson (LI-Cor Biosciences, USA) for ongoing help with the Li-Cor; Nathalie Ningre (INRA, Champenoux, France) for frond anatomical analyses; and Erwin Dreyer (INRA, Champenoux, France) for help with collecting frond samples and useful comments on the manuscript. Liubov Volkova acknowledges a Melbourne Research Scholarship (The University of Melbourne) and funding from the DSE.