Abstract
Plant height, light-saturated rates of photosynthesis (A max) and foliar nitrogen concentration (N 1) were measured forBartsia trixago under field conditions in Mallorca. All three variables were postively correlated, and were also positively related to the abundance of nitrogen-fixing legumes in the associated vegetation (putative host species).A max forB. trixago ranged from 7.7 to 18.8 μmol m-2 s-1; similar rates were measured for a second hemiparasiteParentucellia viscosa, and both species were within the range of rates measured for six putative hosts (10.6–19.2 μmol m-2 s-1). Fertilization of unattachedB. trixago plants with inorganic nitrogen (ammonium nitrate) elicited neither the growth nor the photosynthetic responses observed in plants considered to be parasitic on legumes and in receipt of an enriched organic nitrogen supply. Both hemiparasites had high diurnal leaf conductances (g s) (469–2291 mmol m-2 s-1) and were at the upper end of the range of those measured in putative hosts (409–879 mmol m-2 s-1). In contrast with the latter, high nocturnal rates ofg s were also recorded for the two hemiparasites (517–1862 mmol m-2 s-1). There was no clear relationship between eitherA max orN 1 and eitherg s, transpiration (E) or water use efficiency (A max/E) inB. trixago plants. The economics of water loss appear to be independent of both the supply of nitrogen from the host and autotrophic carbon fixation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson JM (1991) The effects of climate change on decomposition processes in graslands and coniferous forest. Ecol Appl 1:326–347
Atsatt PR, Strong DR (1970) The population biology of annual grassland hemiparasites. I. The host environment. Evolution 24:278–291
Cechin I, Press MC (1993) Nitrogen relations of the sorghum-Striga hermonthica host-parasite association: growth and photosynthesis. Plant Cell Environ 16:237–247
Caemmerer S von, Farquhar GD (1981) Some relationships between the biochemistry of photosynthesis and the gas exchange of leaves. Planta 153:376–387
Davidson NJ, True KC, Pate JS (1989) Water relations of the parasite: host relationship between the mistletoeAmyema linophyllum (Fenzl) Tieghem andCasuarina obesa Miq. Oecologia 80:321–330
Ehleringer JR, Schulze E-D, Ziegler H, Lange OL, Farquhar GD, Cowan IR (1985) Xylem-tapping mistletoes: water or nutrient parasites? Science 227:1479–1481
Evans JR (1989) Photosynthesis and nitrogen relationship in leaves of C3 plants. Oecologia 78:9–19
Farquhar GD, O'Leary MH, Berry JA (1982) On the relationship between carbon isotope discrimination and the intercellular carbon dioxide concentration in leaves. Aust J Plant Physiol 9:121–137
Field C, Mooney HA (1986) The photosynthesis-nitrogen relationship in wild plants. In: Givnish TJ (ed) On the economy of plant form and function. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 25–55
Gauslaa Y, Odasz AM (1990) Water relations, temperatures, and mineral nutrients inPedicularis dasyantha (Scrophulariaceae) from Svalbard, Norway. Holarct Ecol 13:112–121
Gibson CC, Watkinson AR (1989) The host range and selectivity of a parasitic plant:Rhinanthus minor L. Oecologia 78:401–406
Gibson CC, Watkinson AR (1991) Host selectivity and the mediation of competition by the root hemiparasiteRhinanthus minor. Oecologia 86:81–87
Govier RN, Nelson MD, Pate JS (1967) Hemiparasitic nutrition in angiosperms I. The transfer of organic compounds from host toOdontites verna (Bell.) Dum. (Scrophulariaceae). New Phytol 66:285–297
Graves JD, Press MC, Stewart GR (1989) A carbon balance model of the sorghum-Striga hermonthica host-parasite association. Plant Cell Environ 12:101–107
Harpe AC de la, Visser JH, Grobbelaar N (1981) Photosynthetic characteristics of some South African parasitic flowering plants. Z Pflanzenphysiol 103:265–275
Hollinger DY (1983) Photosynthesis and water relations of the mistletoe,Phoradendron villosum, and its host, the California valley oak,Quercus lobata. Oecologia 60:396–400
Hullu E de (1985) Population dynamics ofRhinanthus angustifolius in a succession series. Ph.D. thesis, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Körner C (1991) Some often overlooked plant characteristics as determinants of plant growth: a reconsideration. Funct Ecol 5:162–173
Marshall JD, Ehleringer JR (1990) Are xylem-tapping mistletoes partially heterotrophic? Oecologia 84:244–248
Marshall JD, Ehleringer JR, Schulze E-D, Farquhar GD (1993) Heterotrophic carbon gain in Australian mistletoes. Funct Ecol 7: (in press)
Molau U (1990) The genusBartsia (Scrophulariaceae-Rhinanthoideae). Opera Bot 102:5–99
Musselman LJ (1980) The biology ofStriga, Orobanche and other root parasitic weeds. Annu Rev Phytopathol 18:463–489
Okonkwo SNC (1966) Studies onStriga senegalensis II. Translocation of C14-labelled photosynthate, urea-C14 and sulphur-35 between host and parasite. Am J Bot 53:142–148
Pate JS, True KC, Rasins E (1991) Xylem transport and storage of amino acids by S.W. Australian mistletoes and their hosts. J Exp Bot 42:441–451
Peoples MB, Gifford RM (1990) Long-distance transport of carbon and nitrogen from sources to sinks in higher plants. In: Dennis DT, Turpin DH (eds) Plant physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology. Longman, London, pp 434–447
Piehl MA (1963) Mode of attachment, haustorium structure and hosts ofPedicularis canadensis. Am J Bot 50:978–985
Press MC, Shah N, Tuohy JM, Stewart GR (1987a) Carbon isotope ratios demonstrate carbon flux from C4 host to C3 parasite. Plant Physiol 85:1143–1145
Press MC, Tuohy JM, Stewart GR (1987b) Gas exchange characteristics of the sorghum-Striga host-parasite association. Plant Physiol 84:814–819
Press MC, Graves JD, Stewart GR (1988) Transpiration and carbon acquisition in root hemiparasitic angiosperms. J Exp Bot 39:1009–1014
Press MC, Smith S, Stewart GR (1991) Carbon acquisition and assimilation in parasitic plants. Funct Ecol 5:278–283
Raven JA (1983) Phytophages of xylem and phloem: a comparison of animal and plant sap-feeders. Adv Ecol Res 13:135–234
Richter A, Popp M (1992) The physiological importance of accumulation of cyclitols inViscum album L. New Phytol 121:431–438
Rogers WE, Nelson RR (1962) Penetration and nutrition ofStriga asiatica. Phytopathol 52:1064–1070
Schulze E-D, Turner NC, Glatzel G (1984) Carbon, water and nutrient relations of two mistletoes and their hosts: a hypothesis. Plant Cell Environ 7:293–299
Schulze E-D, Lange OL, Ziegler H, Gebauer G (1991) Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of mistletoes growing on nitrogen and non-nitrogen fixing hosts and on CAM plants in the Namib desert confirm partial heterotrophy. Oecologia 88:457–462
Shah N, Smirnoff N, Stewart GR (1987) Photosynthesis and stomatal characteristics ofStriga hermonthica in relation to its parasitic habit. Physiol Plant 69:699–703
Smith S, Stewart GR (1990) Effect of potassium levels on the stomatal behaviour of the hemiparasiteStriga hermonthica. Plant Physiol 94:1472–1476
Stewart GR, Press MC (1990) The physiology and biochemistry of parasitic angiosperms. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 41:127–151
Ullmann I, Lange OL, Ziegler H, Ehleringer J, Schulze E-D, Cowan IR (1985) Diurnal courses of leaf conductance and transpiration of mistletoes and their hosts in Central Australia. Oecologia 67:577–587
Wilkins DA (1963) Plasticity and establishment inEuphrasia. Ann Bot 27:533–552
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Press, M.C., Parsons, A.N., Mackay, A.W. et al. Gas exchange characteristics and nitrogen relations of two Mediterranean root hemiparasites:Bartsia trixago andParentucellia viscosa . Oecologia 95, 145–151 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00649518
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00649518