Contribution to the ecology of the steppe vegetation of the Tihany Peninsula II. Water retention capacity of some characteristic grass and forb species

Květ, Jan and Rychnovská, Milena (1965) Contribution to the ecology of the steppe vegetation of the Tihany Peninsula II. Water retention capacity of some characteristic grass and forb species. A Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Tihanyi Biológiai Kutatóintézetének évkönyve, 32. pp. 175-288. ISSN 0365-3005

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Abstract

The rate of water loss from shoot parts of 38 various grasses and forb species growing in steppe communities during an 8 hours’ drying under constant conditions in incubators was studied. Plants from the steppe community near Tihany were compared with those from Szentendre-Sziget and Csornád. The shape of their water-loss curves and the time needed for decreasing the water content by 50% (T/2) are used for characterizing the water-retention capacity of the plants. Finally, four kinds of adaptation to desiccation have been found to be operating in the plants studied: high water-storage capacity characterizes the succulents and semi-succulents; active control of rate of water loss is characteristic of xerophytic forbs and mesophytic grasses; most of the xerophytic grasses possess little or no active control of their rate of water loss and their drought-resistance is to be explained in some other way; deep-rooted xerophytes are well supplied with water and their leaves have no protection against water loss. The relative value of each of these types of behaviour for the plants in Central European steppe communities is discussed.

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