Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Plant water relations along a rainfall gradient, between the succulent Karoo and Mesic Mountain Fynbos, in the Cedarberg Mountains, near Clanwilliam, South Africa

The similarities in the structure of the sclerophyllus evergreen shrublands of the five disjunct mediterranean-type ecosystems is thought to be the result of convergent evolution. In the Mediterranean, California, and Chile the length of the summer drought and the cold winter temperatures are hypoth...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Miller, Jeffrey
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Biological Sciences 2016
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613217161740288
access_status_str Open Access
author Miller, Jeffrey
author_browse Miller, Jeffrey
author_facet Miller, Jeffrey
author_sort Miller, Jeffrey
collection Thesis
description The similarities in the structure of the sclerophyllus evergreen shrublands of the five disjunct mediterranean-type ecosystems is thought to be the result of convergent evolution. In the Mediterranean, California, and Chile the length of the summer drought and the cold winter temperatures are hypothesized to be the primary selective pressures. In Australia and South Africa low soil nutrients are thought to be important, as they are in defining the structurally similar heathlands found with a range of climatic types. The fynbos vegetation in an area with a mediterranean-type climate was sampled for a period with low xylem pressure potentials and restricted leif conductances to water loss during the summer drought, and the patterns of plant response to desiccation. The presence of patterns of plant water relations in the fynbos similar to those found in other mediterranean-type ecosystems could demonstrate the importance of water as a selective pressure in the fynbos.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/21931
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:37.404Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher Department of Biological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Biological Sciences
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/21931 Plant water relations along a rainfall gradient, between the succulent Karoo and Mesic Mountain Fynbos, in the Cedarberg Mountains, near Clanwilliam, South Africa Miller, Jeffrey Botany The similarities in the structure of the sclerophyllus evergreen shrublands of the five disjunct mediterranean-type ecosystems is thought to be the result of convergent evolution. In the Mediterranean, California, and Chile the length of the summer drought and the cold winter temperatures are hypothesized to be the primary selective pressures. In Australia and South Africa low soil nutrients are thought to be important, as they are in defining the structurally similar heathlands found with a range of climatic types. The fynbos vegetation in an area with a mediterranean-type climate was sampled for a period with low xylem pressure potentials and restricted leif conductances to water loss during the summer drought, and the patterns of plant response to desiccation. The presence of patterns of plant water relations in the fynbos similar to those found in other mediterranean-type ecosystems could demonstrate the importance of water as a selective pressure in the fynbos. 2016-09-25T16:51:43Z 2016-09-25T16:51:43Z 1985 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21931 eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Botany
Miller, Jeffrey
Plant water relations along a rainfall gradient, between the succulent Karoo and Mesic Mountain Fynbos, in the Cedarberg Mountains, near Clanwilliam, South Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Plant water relations along a rainfall gradient, between the succulent Karoo and Mesic Mountain Fynbos, in the Cedarberg Mountains, near Clanwilliam, South Africa
title_full Plant water relations along a rainfall gradient, between the succulent Karoo and Mesic Mountain Fynbos, in the Cedarberg Mountains, near Clanwilliam, South Africa
title_fullStr Plant water relations along a rainfall gradient, between the succulent Karoo and Mesic Mountain Fynbos, in the Cedarberg Mountains, near Clanwilliam, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Plant water relations along a rainfall gradient, between the succulent Karoo and Mesic Mountain Fynbos, in the Cedarberg Mountains, near Clanwilliam, South Africa
title_short Plant water relations along a rainfall gradient, between the succulent Karoo and Mesic Mountain Fynbos, in the Cedarberg Mountains, near Clanwilliam, South Africa
title_sort plant water relations along a rainfall gradient between the succulent karoo and mesic mountain fynbos in the cedarberg mountains near clanwilliam south africa
topic Botany
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21931
work_keys_str_mv AT millerjeffrey plantwaterrelationsalongarainfallgradientbetweenthesucculentkarooandmesicmountainfynbosinthecedarbergmountainsnearclanwilliamsouthafrica