Mechanisms of Adaptation of Trees and Shrubs to Dry and Hot Environments.

The study of functional adaptations of plants from a mechanistic point of view is the aim of so-called plant physiological ecology, or plant ecophysiology, the section to which this issue belongs. This response may be soil mediated, as is revealed by a predictive relationship between the plant water potential at predawn (assumed to be close or equal to that in the soil) and the maximal stomatal conductance daily registered in the leaves. [Extracted from the article]