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- Title
Climate trends in the wood anatomy of Acacia sensu stricto (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae).
- Authors
Warwick, Nigel W. M.; Hailey, Luke; Clarke, Kerri L.; Gasson, Peter E.
- Abstract
* Background and Aims This study investigates the structural diversity of the secondary xylem of 54 species of Acacia from four taxonomic sections collected across five climate regions along a 1200 km E--W transect from sub-tropical [approx. 1400mm mean annual precipitation (MAP)] to arid (approx. 240mm MAP) in New South Wales, Australia. Acacia sensu stricto (s.s.) is a critical group for understanding the effect of climate and phylogeny on the functional anatomy of wood. * Methods Wood samples were sectioned in transverse, tangential and radial planes for light microscopy and analysis. * Key Results The wood usually has thick-walled vessels and fibres, paratracheal parenchyma and uniseriate and biseriate rays, occasionally up to four cells wide. The greater abundance of gelatinous fibres in arid and semi-arid species may have ecological significance. Prismatic crystals in chambered fibres and axial parenchyma increased in abundance in semi-arid and arid species. Whereas vessel diameter showed only a small decrease from the sub-tropical to the arid region, there was a significant 2-fold increase in vessel frequency and a consequent 3-fold decrease in the vulnerability index. * Conclusions Although the underlying phylogeny determines the qualitative wood structure, climate has a significant influence on the functional wood anatomy of Acacia s.s., which is an ideal genus to study the effect of these factors.
- Subjects
WOOD anatomy; LEGUMES; XYLEM; PLANT species; PHYLOGENY; MICROSCOPY
- Publication
Annals of Botany, 2017, Vol 119, Issue 8, p1249
- ISSN
0305-7364
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/aob/mcx019