Physiological Ecology of North American Desert Plants [Paperback]

Following a description of the physical and biological characterization of the four North American deserts together with the primary adaptations of plants to environmental stress, the authors go on to present case studies of key species. They provide an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the major patterns of adaptation in desert plants, with one chapter devoted to several important exotic plants that have invaded these deserts. The whole is rounded off with a synthesis of the resource requirements of desert plants and how they may respond to global climate change.Prologue.- 1 North American Deserts: Environments and Vegetation.- 1.1 The Deserts of North America.- 1.2 Abiotic Features of North American Deserts.- 1.2.1 Climate.- 1.2.2 Geomorphology and Soils.- 1.3 North American Desert Vegetation.- 1.3.1 Communities of the Major Deserts.- 1.3.2 Historical Biogeography of North American Deserts.- 1.3.3 Spatial Pattern in Desert Vegetation.- 1.3.4 Community Dynamics: Succession, Fire and Desertification.- 1.4 Structure and Function of North American Desert Ecosystems.- 1.4.1 Primary Production.- 1.4.2 Biogeochemistry and Nutrient Cycling.- 2 Plant Processes and Responses to Stress.- 2.1 Photosynthesis in Desert Plants.- 2.1.1 Photosynthetic Pathways Among Desert Plants.- 2.1.2 Photosynthetic Responses to the Environment.- 2.1.3 Diffusional and Metabolic Limitations to Photosynthesis Rate.- 2.1.4 Diffusive Limitations of CO2 Assimilation: Trading Water for Carbon.- 2.1.5 Metabolic Limitations of CO2 Assimilation: Investing in Nitrogen Acquisition for a Profit in Carbon Acquisition.- 2.2 Desert Plant Water Relations.- 2.2.1 Adaptations to Drought.- 2.2.2 The Roles of Osmotic Adjustment and Cell Wall Elasticity in Maintaining Turgor in Desert Plants.- 2.3 Desert Plant Growth.- 2.3.1 The Nature of Internal and External Constraints to the Growth Rate of Desert Plants.- 2.3.2 Plant Phenological Controls over Growth.- 2.3.3 Root/Shoot Allocation and Its Influence on Growtl)