biologia plantarum

International journal on Plant Life established by Bohumil Němec in 1959

Biologia plantarum 49:111-116, 2005 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-005-1116-0

Leaf construction cost in Avicennia germinans as affected by salinity under field conditions

N. Suárez1
1 Laboratorio de Fotosíntesis y Metabolismo Vegetal, Departamento de Biología de Organismos, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela

This study assessed the effects of salinity and drought upon leaf construction (CC) and maintenance (MC) costs in Avicennia germinans growing under contrasting soil salinities in the field. Additionally, an analysis of leaf chemical composition was carried out to determine the underlying reasons for possible variation in CC. With the increase of external salinity, leaf osmotic potential (ψs) declined and a significant negative correlation was found between both variables. Changes in average CC were about 15 % when ψs changed by 85 %. Despite this, leaf ash-free heat of combustion per unit of leaf dry mass remained relatively constant at 21.3 ± 0.9 kJ g-1 in all conditions. The estimated maximum and minimum CC for the synthesis of protein present in leaves increased significantly with total leaf CC. Conversely, the estimated CC for lipid synthesis shows a tendency to decrease with total leaf CC. Under conditions of high salinity, ash content increased by 78 % compared to that of leaves collected at low salinity. It is concluded that undergoing changes in proteins and lipids (expensive) and ash (cheap) explain the changes in CC under contrasting salinities. Additionally, the average MC remained almost constant at moderate salinity and declined by 6 % under hyper-saline conditions. Thus, differences in CC and MC with salinity are explained in part by changes in the chemical composition of different compound fractions.

Keywords: ash; crude fiber; heat of combustion; leaf maintenance cost; lipids; mangroves; osmotic potential
Subjects: Avicennia germinants; chlorophylls, salt stress; construction and maintenance costs, salt stress; growth analysis, plant development, biomass and yield enhancement; heat of combustion; leaf construction and maintenance costs, salt stress; lipids, salt stress; maintenance and construction costs, salt stress; mangroves; osmotic potential; salt stress, leaf construction costs

Received: September 11, 2003; Accepted: April 27, 2004; Published: March 1, 2005  Show citation

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Suárez, N. (2005). Leaf construction cost in Avicennia germinans as affected by salinity under field conditions. Biologia plantarum, 49(1), 111-116. doi: 10.1007/s10535-005-1116-0
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