Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (14)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by KÜRSCHNER, W. M.
Right arrow Articles by KUIPER, P. J. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by KÜRSCHNER, W. M.
Right arrow Articles by KUIPER, P. J. C.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by KÜRSCHNER, W. M.
Right arrow Articles by KUIPER, P. J. C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Annals of Botany 81: 657-664, 1998
© 1998 Annals of Botany Company

Comparison of Palaeobotanical Observations with Experimental Data on the Leaf Anatomy of Durmast Oak [Quercus petraea(Fagaceae)] in Response to Environmental Change

WOLFRAM M. KÜRSCHNER+,, INEKE STULEN, FRIEDERIKE WAGNER and PIETER J. C. KUIPER

Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584, CD, Utrecht, The Netherlands Department of Plant Biology, State University of Groningen, P.O. Box 14, 9750, AA, Haren, The Netherlands

Received: October 9, 1997 ; Returned for revision: November 13, 1997 . Accepted: January 30, 1998 .

To test whether stomatal density measurements on oak leaf remains are reliable tools for assessing palaeoatmospheric carbon dioxide concentration [CO2], under changing Late Miocene palaeoenvironmental conditions, young seedings of oak (Quercus petraea,Liebl.) were grown at elevatedvs.ambient atmospheric [CO2] and at high humidity combined with an increased air temperature. The leaf anatomy of the young oaks was compared with that of fossil leaves of the same species. In the experiments, stomatal density and stomatal index were significantly decreased at elevated [CO2] in comparison to ambient [CO2]. Elevated [CO2] induced leaf cell expansion and reduced the intercellular air space by 35%. Leaf cell size or length were also stimulated at high air humidity and temperature. Regardless of a temperate or subtropical palaeoclimate, leaf cell size in fossil oak was not enhanced, since neither epidermal cell density nor length of the stomatal apparatus changed. The absence of these effects may be attributed to the phenological response of trees to climatic changes that balanced temporal changes in environmental variables to maintain leaf growth under optimal and stable conditions.Quercus petraea,which evolved under recurring depletions in the palaeoatmospheric [CO2], may possess sufficient phenotypic plasticity to alter stomatal frequency in hypostomatous leaves allowing high maximum stomatal conductance and high assimilation rates during these phases of low [CO2].Copyright 1998 Annals of Botany Company

Atmospheric CO2, high humidity, elevated temperature,Quercus petraea,durmast oak, Late Miocene, palaeoclimates, leaf anatomy, stomatal density, stomatal index


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ScienceHome page
F. Wagner, S. J. Bohncke, D. L. Dilcher, W. M. Kürschner, B. v. Geel, and H. Visscher
Century-Scale Shifts in Early Holocene Atmospheric CO2 Concentration
Science, June 18, 1999; 284(5422): 1971 - 1973.
[Abstract] [Full Text]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.