Abstract
Summary Water-use efficiencies (WUE) were compared among three species of Peperomia (Piperaceae) selected for their diversity in photosynthetic pathways. Peperomia obtusifolia is a C 3 plant that exhibits a small degree of CAM-cycling; P. camptotricha is a C 3 -CAM intermediate, having relatively high rates of CO 2 uptake during both the day and the night; and P. scandens is a CAM plant. All three congeners have succulent leaves and share a similar ecological niche; they typically grow as epiphytes (occasionally as terrestrials) in tropical and subtropical forests. Thus, these species of Peperomia provide an ideal set of truly comparable plants to test the long-held, but recendy challenged, generalization that the WUE of CAM plants is substantially greater than that of non-CAM species. Although daytime values of WUE were lower in P. scandens than in P. obtusifolia and P. camptotricha , values of nighttime WUE and 24-hour WUE for the CAM species greatly exceeded corresponding values for the other two Peperomia species. Thus, the results of this study support past generalizations that a high WUE is a consequence of the CAM photosynthetic pathway.
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