ALPECOLE
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Alpine plants and water

Learning objectives

 

 

  • move from water relations at the ecosystem scale to those at the leaf tissue scale
     
  • model soil water regimes and thereby understand the significance of soil structure for water relations
     
  • learn that visual impressions of what is dry or not may be very misleading
     
 

  • to deal with the main drivers of the water balance equation in order to estimate the risk of moisture shortage
     
  • where and under which conditions water shortage can be a problem
     
  • about a few techniques which help assess plant and ecosystem water relations (lysimeter, stable isotopes)
     

 

  • why alpine plants and ecosystems rarely suffer from moisture shortage
     
  • the main plant strategies for the maintenance of a balanced water household
     
  • the significance of season length and plant cover as the main drivers and controls of the water balance of plants
     
 

  • differentiate between visual impression and actual risk of water shortage
     
  • distinguish between direct effects of soil moisture on vegetation and indirect ones via soil processes
     
  • judge what are true adaptational features to water shortage in plants (rather than unwarranted beliefs)
     

 

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29 August 2011
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