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Physiological Ecology

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Plants on Plants – The Biology of Vascular Epiphytes

Part of the book series: Fascinating Life Sciences ((FLS))

Abstract

Plant physiological ecology (or plant ecophysiology), the topic of this chapter, is concerned with the physiological properties of species in the context of their natural environment. It is impossible to paint a simple picture of the physiology of the “typical” epiphyte because of the large variation in abiotic conditions which epiphytes face when, e.g., growing in the humid, shaded understory as compared to fully exposed conditions in the outermost regions of the forest canopy. Apart from a certain capacity to cope with intermittent water supply and mostly low nutrient input, it is hard to come up with a unifying theme. Similar to the previous treatise of functional anatomy and morphology of epiphytic plants, the basic goal of this chapter is to discuss the most important physiological traits determining growth, survival, and reproductive output in the epiphytic habitat without entirely neglecting interesting “special cases.” Based on a solid review of current knowledge, I identify promising directions for future research.

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  1. Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany

    Gerhard Zotz

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  1. Gerhard Zotz
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Zotz, G. (2016). Physiological Ecology. In: Plants on Plants – The Biology of Vascular Epiphytes. Fascinating Life Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39237-0_5

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