Dissertation Research: Water Relations in a Species of Aridland Shrub

植物通常有大量萌发的种子，但很少有种子在幼年(开花前)阶段存活并繁殖。对于沙漠灌木来说，幼虫的死亡往往与缺水有关。这项拟议的研究将考察幼年水的关系。利用生理学来研究一种原产于大盆地沙漠的灌木的生长和存活。研究人员将确定，在决定哪些个体存活下来时，个体的基因构成或环境更重要，以及在青少年和成年阶段之间是否存在生理变化。这个项目的意义在于将植物幼年期识别为可能有水分的阶段。使用与成虫不同的生理和选择压力。这些信息对于我们理解决定植物在经济上重要的干旱灌木生境中的建立和存活的因素是重要的。

Plants often have a large number of seeds that germinate, but few that survive the juvenile (pre.flowering) stage and reproduce. For desert shrubs, juvenile mortality is often associated with lack of water. The proposed research will examine the relationship of juvenile water.use physiology to growth and survival of a species of shrub native to the Great Basin Desert. The investigators will determine whether the genetic makeup of the individual or the environment is more important in determining which individuals survive, and if there are shifts in physiology between the juvenile and adult phases. The significance of this project is the identification of the plant juvenile period as a phase potentially having water.use physiology and selection pressures different from those of adults. This information is important in our understanding of the factors determining plant establishment and survival in economically important arid shrub habitats.