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Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 53, No. 378, pp. 2239-2247, November 1, 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press

Drought until death do us part: a case study of the desiccation-tolerance of a tropical moist forest seedling-tree, Licania platypus (Hemsl.) Fritsch

Received 4 March 2002; Accepted 3 July 2002

Melvin T. Tyree4,1, Gustavo Vargas2, Bettina M. J. Engelbrecht3 and Thomas A. Kursar3

1 USDA Forest Service, PO Box 968, Burlington, VT 05402, USA
2 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 2072, Balboa, Republic of Panama
3 Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA

4 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +1 802 951 6368. E-mail: MelTyree{at}aol.com

Studies of the desiccation tolerance of 15-month-old Licania platypus (Hemsl.) Fritsch seedlings were performed on potted plants. Pots were watered to field capacity and then dehydrated for 23–46 d to reach various visible wilting stages from slightly-wilted to dead. Root hydraulic conductance, kr, was measured with a high-pressure flow meter and whole-stem hydraulic conductance, kws, was measured by a vacuum chamber method. Leaf punches were harvested for measurement of leaf water potential by a thermocouple psychrometer and for measurement of fresh- and dry-weight. L. platypus was surprisingly desiccation-tolerant, suggesting that most species of central Panama may be well adapted to the seasonality of rainfall in the region. The slightly-wilted stage corresponded to leaf water potentials and relative water contents of –2.7 MPa and 0.85, respectively, but plants did not die until these values fell to –7.5 MPa and 0.14, respectively. As desiccation proceeded kr and kws declined relative to irrigated controls, but kws was more sensitive to desiccation than kr. Values of kws declined by 70–85% in slightly-wilted to dead plants, respectively. By comparison, kr showed no significant change in slightly-wilted plants and fell by about 50% in plants having severely-wilted to dead shoots.

Key words: Key words: Desiccation tolerance, drought resistance, hydraulic conductance, Licania platypus, water potential.


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