1. TRANSPIRATION RESISTANCE IN VACCINIUM MYRTILLUS
- Author
-
Robert Arthur Janke
- Subjects
Vascular plant ,Resistance (ecology) ,biology ,ved/biology ,Range (biology) ,ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species ,Plant Science ,biology.organism_classification ,Vaccinium myrtillus ,Shrub ,Wind speed ,Rhizome ,Horticulture ,Botany ,Genetics ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Transpiration - Abstract
A B S T R A C T Measurements of transpiration resistance of Vaccinium myrtillus at various wind speeds indicate that this quantity is relatively insensitive to variations in wind speed in the range normally experienced under field conditions. The resistance is relatively low when compared with values reported in the literature for other plants. Placed in an identical environment, V. myrtillus plants from sunny sites were found to have measurably lower resistance and lower leaf temperatures than those from shady sites. Transpiration resistance appears to be inversely related to stomatal density. THIS INVESTIGATION of the transpiration resistance of the mountain blueberry Vaccinium myrtillus L. was made in connection with an ecological study of this plant in the Front Range of Colorado (Janke, 1968). One phase of the investigation was to determine how constant the transpiration resistance remains under the changing wind conditions which the plant normally experiences in the field. Another was to compare the transpiration resistance of plants found in the forest (shade plants) with those in the open (sun plants) under equivalent environmental conditions. Vaccinium myrtillus is a low shrub varying in height from 3-35 cm and spreading by horizontal rhizomes to form extensive clones. The leaves are small and elliptical, with an average length of 1.5 cm. In the Front Range of Colorado this species of blueberry comprises more than 95 % of the vascular plant ground cover in the sub
- Published
- 1970
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