We investigated changes in the pattern of stand water use in a chronosequence of four even-aged maritime pine stands, differing in age (10-, 32-, 54and 91-year old) and growing under similar environmental conditions. Extensive sap flow measurements were carried out during a period of 2 years (2001–2002), using thermal dissipation sensors located 1 m below the live crown and corrected for the ra...

Cuticular hydrocarbons of arthropods serve multiple functions, including as barriers to water loss and as pheromones and pheromone precursors. In the oviparous German cockroach, Blattella germanica, long-chain hydrocarbons are produced by oenocytes within the abdominal integument and are transported by a blood lipoprotein, lipophorin, both to the cuticular surface and into vitellogenic oocytes....

BACKGROUND The functional convergence of tree transpiration has rarely been tested for tree species growing under urban conditions even though it is of significance to elucidate the relationship between functional convergence and species differences of urban trees for establishing sustainable urban forests in the context of forest water relations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We measured sa...

Leaf-level morphological and structural adaptations to reduce water loss were examined in five olive (Olea europaea L.) tree cultivars (Arbequina, Blanqueta, Cobrançosa, Manzanilla and Negrinha) growing under field conditions with low water availability. Leaf measurements included leaf tissue thickness, stomatal density, leaf area, leaf mass per unit area, density of leaf tissue, relative water...

Plants prevent dehydration by coating their aerial, primary organs with waxes. Wax compositions frequently differ between species, organs, and developmental stages, probably to balance limiting nonstomatal water loss with various other ecophysiological roles of surface waxes. To establish structure-function relationships, we quantified the composition and transpiration barrier properties of the...