Abstract
Plant water relationships and hydraulic characteristics were measured for two species of the genus Acer that co-occur with Fraxinus excelsior, but differ in their habitat preference with respect to soil moisture: Acer pseudoplatanusis restricted to wet habitats, whereas Acer opalusoccurs on drier sites. The data obtained showed significantly lower hydraulic conductance and lower vulnerability to embolism in the drought-tolerant species, Acer opalus, than in the water prefering species Acer pseudoplatanus. Similar differences in hydraulic conductance and xylem vulnerability to embolism were also found under dry acclimated conditions for Fraxinus excelsior trees, indicating that the hydraulic differences observed might be attributable to the contrasting soil water conditions of the sites. The possible physiological and ecological significance of such differences are discussed, in relation to habitat preference and the distribution of each species. hydraulic conductance / xylem embolism / drought tolerance / Acer pseudoplatanus / Acer opalus / Fraxinus excelsior
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