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Variation in leaf attributes and their effects on physiological processes in Leucospermum conocarpodendron L. Buek
Two subspecies of Leucospermum conocarpodendron with considerable variation in leaf traits occur along the Cape Peninsula along clearly delimited geographical distributions. We attempted to quantify the difference in leaf trait dimensions between green (L. conocarpodendron ssp. viridum) and grey (L....
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Biological Sciences
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613337878003712 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Skelton, Robert |
| author2 | Midgley, Jeremy J |
| author_browse | Midgley, Jeremy J Skelton, Robert |
| author_facet | Midgley, Jeremy J Skelton, Robert |
| author_sort | Skelton, Robert |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Two subspecies of Leucospermum conocarpodendron with considerable variation in leaf traits occur along the Cape Peninsula along clearly delimited geographical distributions. We attempted to quantify the difference in leaf trait dimensions between green (L. conocarpodendron ssp. viridum) and grey (L. conocarpodendron ssp. conocarpodendron) individuals. Leaves from grey individuals are shown to have higher reflectance across the entire photosynthetically active region (PAR) and greater stomatal density. Leaves from grey individuals were found to have higher specific leaf area (SLA] and a greater size boundary layer. We found no correlation between the transpiration rate and stomatal density, size of the boundary layer and hairiness. We hypothesize that the leaf traits are having an effect on rate of photosynthesis and subsequently determining growth strategy of each type. Grey individuals, because of increased reflectance from the leaves are able to persist throughout summer in hot, dry conditions, although they may suffer the cost of reduced photosynthetic rate during late winter and early summer when conditions are relatively mild. Green individuals are able to start growing earlier due to higher SLA and increased rate of photosynthesis but are not able to persist for as long as the grey individuals during mid to late summer. Finally we argue that adaptation to edaphic environment may be associated with subsequent shifts in flowering phenology. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25579 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:34:32.198Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | Department of Biological Sciences |
| publisherStr | Department of Biological Sciences |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25579 Variation in leaf attributes and their effects on physiological processes in Leucospermum conocarpodendron L. Buek Skelton, Robert Midgley, Jeremy J Botany Ecology Two subspecies of Leucospermum conocarpodendron with considerable variation in leaf traits occur along the Cape Peninsula along clearly delimited geographical distributions. We attempted to quantify the difference in leaf trait dimensions between green (L. conocarpodendron ssp. viridum) and grey (L. conocarpodendron ssp. conocarpodendron) individuals. Leaves from grey individuals are shown to have higher reflectance across the entire photosynthetically active region (PAR) and greater stomatal density. Leaves from grey individuals were found to have higher specific leaf area (SLA] and a greater size boundary layer. We found no correlation between the transpiration rate and stomatal density, size of the boundary layer and hairiness. We hypothesize that the leaf traits are having an effect on rate of photosynthesis and subsequently determining growth strategy of each type. Grey individuals, because of increased reflectance from the leaves are able to persist throughout summer in hot, dry conditions, although they may suffer the cost of reduced photosynthetic rate during late winter and early summer when conditions are relatively mild. Green individuals are able to start growing earlier due to higher SLA and increased rate of photosynthesis but are not able to persist for as long as the grey individuals during mid to late summer. Finally we argue that adaptation to edaphic environment may be associated with subsequent shifts in flowering phenology. 2017-10-11T10:55:31Z 2017-10-11T10:55:31Z 2007 2017-02-07T13:50:20Z Bachelor Thesis Honours BSc (Hons) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25579 eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Botany Ecology Skelton, Robert Variation in leaf attributes and their effects on physiological processes in Leucospermum conocarpodendron L. Buek |
| thesis_degree_str | Bachelor's / Honours |
| title | Variation in leaf attributes and their effects on physiological processes in Leucospermum conocarpodendron L. Buek |
| title_full | Variation in leaf attributes and their effects on physiological processes in Leucospermum conocarpodendron L. Buek |
| title_fullStr | Variation in leaf attributes and their effects on physiological processes in Leucospermum conocarpodendron L. Buek |
| title_full_unstemmed | Variation in leaf attributes and their effects on physiological processes in Leucospermum conocarpodendron L. Buek |
| title_short | Variation in leaf attributes and their effects on physiological processes in Leucospermum conocarpodendron L. Buek |
| title_sort | variation in leaf attributes and their effects on physiological processes in leucospermum conocarpodendron l buek |
| topic | Botany Ecology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25579 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT skeltonrobert variationinleafattributesandtheireffectsonphysiologicalprocessesinleucospermumconocarpodendronlbuek |