Dissertation Research: Water Relations in a Species of Aridland Shrub

植物通常有大量发芽的种子，但很少有种子能在幼年期（开花前）存活并繁殖。对于沙漠灌木，幼树的死亡通常与缺水有关。拟议的研究将考察幼水之间的关系。利用生理学来生长和生存原产于大盆地沙漠的一种灌木。研究人员将确定个体的基因构成还是环境在决定个体存活方面更重要，以及在幼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确定植物幼期是一个潜在有水的阶段。使用不同于成人的生理和选择压力。这一信息对我们了解在经济上重要的干旱灌木生境中决定植物建立和生存的因素具有重要意义。

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.