Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Photosynthetic pathway, chilling tolerance and cell sap osmotic potential values of grasses along an altitudinal gradient in Papua New Guinea

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

A total of 22 grass species were examined from 5 sites spanning the altitudinal range 1550–4350 m.a.s.l. The presence of the C3 or C4 photosynthetic pathway was determined from δ13C values and chilling tolerance was assessed on the basis of electrolyte leakage from leaf slices incubated on melting ice. Most of the grasses studied at the lower altitude sites of 1550 m.a.s.l. (annual mean of daily minimum temperature, 14.6° C) and 2600 m.a.s.l. (9.4° C) possessed C4 photosynthesis and were chill-sensitive. The single except ion was Agrostis avenacea, a montane chill-resistant C3 species which occurred at 2600 m.a.s.l. The three species apparently most sensitive to chilling were Ischaemum polystachyum, Paspalum conjugatum and Saccharum robustum, all occurring at 1550 m.a.s.l. At the higher altitude sites of 3280 (5.6° C), 3580 (4.0° C) and 4350 (−0.7°C) m.a.s.l., most of the grasses exhibited C3 photosynthesis and were chill-resistant. However, an Upland population of the C4 species, Miscanthus floridulus was found at 3280 m.a.s.l. which had acquired chill-resistance as confirmed by additional in vivo variable chlorophyll fluorescence measurements. Cell sap osmotic potential values of the upland grasses at altitudes of 3280–4350 m.a.s.l. were lower (−8.1 to −19.8 bars) than values in grasses from 1550 and 2600 m.a.s.l. (−3.9 to −7.5 bars) due mainly to the presence of non-electrolyte osmoticants, which may be involved in frost avoidance mechanism(s).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

ABA:

abscisic acid

FR :

the maximal rate of rise of induced chlorophyll fluorescence

ψs:

osmotic potential

References

  • Beck E, Senser M, Scheibe R, Steiger H-M, Pongratz P (1982) Freezing avoidance and freezing tolerance in Afroalpine “giant rosette” plants. Plant Cell Environ 5:215–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry JA, Raison JK (1981) Responses of macrophytes to temperature: In: Lange OL, Nobel PS, Osmond CB, Ziegler H (eds) Physiological plant ecology. Encycl Plant Physiol, New Series, Vol 12A. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 277–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop DG (1986) Chilling sensitivity in higher plants: the role of phosphotidylglycerol. Plant Cell Environ 9:613–616

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell MM, Osmond CB, Nott DL (1977) C4 pathway photosynthesis at low temperature in cold-tolerant Atriplex species. Plant Physiol 60:157–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen H-H, Li PH (1980) Characteristics of cold acclimation and deacclimation in tuber-bearing Solanum species. Plant Physiol 65:1146–1148

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen H-H, Li PH, Brenner ML (1983) Involvement of abscisic acid in potato cold acclimation. Plant Physiol 71:362–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Christiansen MN, St John JB (1981) The nature of chilling injury and its resistance in plants: In: Olien CR, Smith MN (eds) Analysis and improvement of plant cold hardiness. CRC Press, Boca Raton Fla.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarkson DT, Earnshaw MJ, White PJ, Cooper HD (1988) Temperature-dependent factors influencing nutrient uptake: an analysis of responses at different levels of organisation. In: Long SF, Woodward FE (eds) Plants and temperature. Symp Soc Exp Biol, Vol 42. The Company of Biologists Ltd, Cambridge, pp 281–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Dear J (1973) A rapid degradation of starch at hardening temperatures. Cryobiol 10:78–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Earnshaw MJ, Carver KA, Lee JA (1985) Changes in leaf water potential and CAM in Sempervivum montanum and Sedum album in response to water availability in the field. Oecologia 67:486–492

    Google Scholar 

  • Earnshaw MJ, Winter K, Ziegler H, Stichler W, Cruttwell NEG, Kerenga K, Cribb PJ, Wood J, Croft JR, Carver KA, Gunn TC (1987) Altitudinal changes in the incidence of crassulacean acid metabolism in vascular epiphytes and related life forms in Papua New Guinea. Oecologia 73:566–572

    Google Scholar 

  • Earnshaw MJ, Gunn TC, Croft JR (1988) Shoot temperature measurements of montane Cyathea (Cyatheaceae: Pteridphyta) species in Papua New Guinea. Fern Gaz 13:209–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer JR (1978) Implications of quantum yield differences on the distributions of C3 and C4 grasses. Oecologia 31:255–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Green DG (1972) The relationship between plant sugar concentration, osmotic potential, and frost tolerance in Kharkov MC22 winter wheat. Sugar and frost tolerance. Can J Bot 50:677–680

    Google Scholar 

  • Green DG, Ratzlaff CD (1975) An apparent relationship of soluble sugars with hardiness in winter wheat varieties. Can J Bot 53:2198–2201

    Google Scholar 

  • Hacker JB, Forde BJ, Gow JM (1974) Simulated frosting of tropical grasses. Aust J Agric Res 25:45–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Heber U, Schmitt JM, Krause GH, Klosson RJ, Santarius KA (1981) Freezing damage to thylakoid membranes in vitro and in vivo: In: Morris CJ, Clarke A (eds) Effects of low temperature on biological membranes. Academic Press, London, pp 263–283

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedberg J, Hedberg O (1979) Tropical-alpine life-forms of vascular plants. Oikos 33:297–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Henty EE (1969) A manual of the grasses of New Guinea. Botany Bull no 1, Dept Forests, Lae, Papua New Guinea

    Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington SE, Smillie RM, Hardacre AK, Eagles HA (1983a) Using chlorophyll fluorescence in vivo to measure the chilling tolerances of different populations of maize. Aust J Plant Physiol 10:247–256

    Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington SE, Smillie RM, Malagamba P, Huaman Z (1983b) Heat tolerance and cold tolerance of cultivated potatoes measured by the chlorophyll-fluorescence method. Planta 159:119–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Hincha DK, Schmidt JE, Heber U, Schmitt JM (1984) Colligative and non-colligative freezing damage to thylakoid membranes. Biochim Biophys Acta 769:8–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Hnatiuk RJ, Smith JMB, McVean DN (1976) The climate of Mt. Wilhelm. Mt. Wilhelm Studies 2. ANU BG/4, Canberra

  • Hope GS (1980) New Guinea mountain vegetation communities. In: van Royen P. The alpine flora of New Guinea, Vol. 1. J. Cramer, Vaduz, pp 113–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys GS (1984) The environment and soils of Chimbu Provice, Papua New Guinea, with particular reference to soil erosion. Research Bull 35, DPI, Port Moresby

    Google Scholar 

  • Johns RJ, Stevens PF (1971) Mount Wilhelm flora. A check list of species. Botany Bull no 6, Division Bot, Dept Forests, Lae, Papua New Guinea

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenrick JR, Bishop DG (1986) The fatty acid composition of phosphotidylglycerol and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol of higher plants in relation to chilling sensitivity. Plant Physiol 81:946–949

    Google Scholar 

  • Körner Ch, Allison A, Hilscher H (1983) Altitudinal variation of leaf diffusive conductance and leaf anatomy in heliophytes of montane New Guinea and their interrelation with microclimate. Flora 174:91–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Körner Ch, Larcher W (1988) Plant life in cold climates: In: Long SF, Woodward FI (eds) Plants and temperature. Symp Soc Exp Biol, Vol 42. The Company of Biologists Ltd, Cambridge, 25–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Körner Ch, Farquhar GD, Roksandic Z (1988) A global survey of carbon isotope discrimination in plants from high altitude. Oecologia 74:623–632

    Google Scholar 

  • Larcher W (1982) Typology of freezing phenomena among vascular plants and evolutionary trends in frost acclimation: In: Li PH, Sakai A (eds) Plant cold hardiness and freezing stress. Academic Press, New York, pp 417–426

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee ASJ, Lüttge U, Smith JAC, Cram WJ, Diaz M, Griffiths H, Popp M, Schafer C, Stimmel K-H, Thonke B (1989) Ecophysiology of xerophytic and halophytic vegation of a coastal alluvial plain in Northern Venezuela. III. Bromelia humilis Jacq., a terrestrial CAM bromeliad. New Phytol 111:253–271

    Google Scholar 

  • Li PH, Fennell A (1985) Potato frost hardiness: In: Li P (ed) Potato physiology. Academic Press, London, pp 457–479

    Google Scholar 

  • Long SP (1983) C4 photosynthesis at low temperatures. Plant, Cell Environ 6:345–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyons JM (1973) Chilling injury in plants. Ann Rev Plant Physiol 24:445–466

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyons JM, Graham D, Raison JK eds (1979) Low temperature stress in crop plants: the role of the membrane. Academic Press, London, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • MacRae EA, Hardacre AK, Ferguson IB (1986) Comparison of chlorophyll fluorescence with several other techniques used to assess chilling sensitivity in plants. Physiol Plant 67:659–665

    Google Scholar 

  • McAlpine JR, Keig G, Short K (1975) Climatic tables for Papua New Guinea, CSIRO, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Michaelis P (1934) Ökologische Studien an der alpinen Baumgrenze V. Osmotischer Wert und Wassergehalt während des Winters in den verschiedenen Höhenlagen, Jahrbuch Wiss Botanik 80:337–362

    Google Scholar 

  • Minorsky PV (1985) A heuristic hypothesis of chilling injury in plants: a role for calcium as the primary physiological transducer of injury. Plant, Cell Environ 8:75–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney HA, Billings HD (1965) Effects of altitude on carbohydrate content of mountain plants. Ecology 46:750–751

    Google Scholar 

  • Murata N (1983) Molecular species composition of phosphatidylglycerols from chilling-sensitive and chilling-resistant plants. Plant Cell Physiol 24:81–86

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Leary MH (1981) Carbon isotope fractionation in plants. Phytochemistry 20:553–568

    Google Scholar 

  • Osmond CB, Winter K, Ziegler H (1982) Functional significance of different pathways of CO2 fixation in photosynthesis: In: Lange OL, Nobel PS, Osmond CB, Ziegler H (eds) Physiological plant ecology II. Encycl Plant Physiol, New Series, Vol 12B. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 481–547

    Google Scholar 

  • Pantis JD, Diamantoglou S, Margaris NS (1978) Altitudinal variations in total lipid and soluble sugar content in herbaceous plants on Mount Olympus (Greece), Vegetatio 72:21–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson BD, Murata T, Graham D (1976) Electrolyte leakage induced by chilling in Passiflora species tolerant to different climates. Aust J Plant Physiol 3:435–442

    Google Scholar 

  • Paull RE (1981) Temperature-induced leakage from chilling-sensitive and chilling-resistant plants. Plant Physiol 68:149–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Rada F, Goldstein G, Azocar A, Meinzer F (1985) Daily and seasonal osmotic changes in a tropical treeline species. J Exp Bot 36:989–1000

    Google Scholar 

  • Raison JK, Wright LC (1983) Thermal phase transitions in the polar lipids of plant membranes: their induction by disaturated phospholipids and their possible relation to chilling injury. Biochim Biophys Acta 731:69–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Rees Tap, Dixon WL, Pollock CJ, Franks F (1981) Low temperature sweetening of higher plants. In: Friend J, Rhodes MJC (eds) Recent advances in the biochemistry of fruits and vegetables. Academic Press, New York, pp 41–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Rikin A, Blumenfeld B, Richmond AE (1976) Chilling resistance as affected by stressing environments and abscisic acid. Bot Gaz 137:307–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Rundel PW (1980) The ecological distribution of C4 and C3 grasses in the Hawaiian islands. Oecologia 45:354–359

    Google Scholar 

  • Sakai A, Larcher W (1987) Forst survival of plants. Responses and adaptation to freezing stress. Ecological Studies, Vol 62. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Siddiqi MY, Memon AR, Glass ADM (1984) Regulation of K+ influx in barley. Effects of low temperatures. Plant Physiol 74:730–734

    Google Scholar 

  • Smillie RM, Hetherington SE (1983) Stress tolerance and stress-induced injury in crop plants measured by chlorophyll fluorescence in vivo. Plant Physiol 72:1043–1050

    Google Scholar 

  • Smillie RM, Hetherington SE, Ochoa C, Malagamba P (1983) Tolerances of wild potato species from different altitudes to cold and heat. Planta 159:112–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Smillie RM, Nott R, Hetherington SE, Oquist G (1987) Chilling injury and recovery in detached and attached leaves measured by chlorophyll fluorescence. Physiol Plant 69:419–428

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith JMB (1977a) Origins and ecology of the tropicalpine flora of Mt Wilhelm, New Guinea. Biol J Linnean Soc 9:87–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith JMB (1977b) Vegetation and microclimate of east- and west-facing slopes in the grasslands of Mt Wilhelm, Papua New Guinea. J Ecol 65:39–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith JMB (1977c) An ecological comparison of two tropical high mountains. J Trop Geogr 44:71–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor AO, Halligan G, Rowley JA (1975) Faris banding in panicoid grasses. Aust J Plant Physiol 2:247–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Tieszen LL, Senyimba MM, Imbamba SK, Troughton J (1979) The distribution of C3 and C4 grasses and carbon isotope discrimination along an altitudinal and moisture gradient in Kenya. Oecologia 37:337–350

    Google Scholar 

  • van Royen P (1980) The alpine flora of New Guinea. J Cramer, Vaduz

    Google Scholar 

  • Wade LK, McVean DN (1969) Mt Wilhelm Studies I. The alpine and subalpine vegetation. AnU BG/1, Canberra

  • Walker D (1968) A reconnaissance of the non-arboreal vegetation of the Pindaunde catchment, Mount Wilhelm, New Guinea. J Ecol 56:445–466

    Google Scholar 

  • Young HJ, Young TP (1983) Local distribution of C3 and C4 grasses in sites of overlap on Mount Kenya. Oecologia 58:373–377

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Structural Biology, University of Manchester, Williamson Building, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK

    M. J. Earnshaw & K. A. Carver

  2. Biology Department, Oakham School, Oakham, LE15 6DT, Rutland, Leicestershire, UK

    T. C. Gunn & V. Harvey

  3. Division of Botany, Department of Primary Industry, Office of Forests, P.O. Box 314, Lae, Papua New Guinea

    K. Kerenga

  4. Department of Biology, The University, NE1 7RU, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    H. Griffiths & M. S. J. Broadmeadow

Authors
  1. M. J. Earnshaw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K. A. Carver
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T. C. Gunn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. K. Kerenga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. V. Harvey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. H. Griffiths
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. M. S. J. Broadmeadow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Earnshaw, M.J., Carver, K.A., Gunn, T.C. et al. Photosynthetic pathway, chilling tolerance and cell sap osmotic potential values of grasses along an altitudinal gradient in Papua New Guinea. Oecologia 84, 280–288 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318285

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318285

Key words

Search

Navigation