What Effect Do Oaks Trees Have On Photosynthesis?

Oaks trees (Quercus species) have adaptations to withstand drought but the trade off of those adaptations is multiple long-term negative effects on photosynthesis. These adaptations help to tolerate harsh conditions, specifically in drought. In situations of long periods of drought it has been researched that oak trees lose their ability to effectively perform photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process in which sunlight is converted in to chemical energy. Plants make their own food by using energy from the sun to make glucose. There is a practical reasoning behind understanding if adaptations in leaf traits, water transport, osmotic potentials, root depth, and tissue elasticity allow for better survival and their effects on photosynthesis.
Many morphological features have been studied to see how they change in regard to droughts. Quercus species have particular leaf traits that are used in response to drought, such as opening or closing their stoma. The stomata are small pores in the epidermis of the leaf or stem through which gases are exchanged. Abrams (1990) found that oak species in North America had …show more content…
Having too high or too low tissue elasticity can lead to reduction in tolerance toward changes in the environment. Changes can occur from various reasons such as cell size, nutrient changes, osmotic potentials, and maturity of this tissue. In the case of low tissue elasticity the water content changes, leading to a decrease in water potential. The opposite would be being able to tolerate water level changes during a drought. Tissue elasticity is used in determining the change in turgor potential in response to water content. With high elasticity the oak tree will be able to absorb greater amounts of nutrients needed for growth. Photosynthesis is negatively affected when the turgor pressures are low, as well as the overall growth of the tree (Damesin and Rambal,