Carbon isotope ratio measurements of succulent plants in southern Africa

✍ Scribed by H. A. Mooney; J. H. Troughton; J. A. Berry

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1977
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 625 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0029-8549
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00399762

✦ Synopsis

Succulent plants representing 16 families and a variety of growth forms originating from winter, summer, and year-round rainfall regimes in southern Africa were analyzed for carbon isotope ratios. Most families had species with δC values indicative of CAM, particularly those from winter and year-round rainfall regimes. Plants with δC values intermediate between CAM and C, indicating flexible photosynthetic pathways, were generally leafy perennials subject to seasonal tissue dehydration. Reproductive tissue tended to have less negative δC values than vegetative tissue on the same plant, indicating drought-season origin of the former.