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A xerophyte (from Ancient Greek ξηρός (xērós) 'dry' and φυτόν (phutón) 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water. Examples of xerophytes include cacti, pineapple and some gymnosperm plants.
Camels, for example, can maintain body temperatures that are about equal to typical desert air temperatures. This adaptations allows camels to retain large amounts of water for extended periods of time. Other examples of higher body temperature in desert mammals include the diurnal antelope ground squirrel, and the oryx. Certain desert ...
Plant ecophysiology is concerned largely with two topics: mechanisms (how plants sense and respond to environmental change) and scaling or integration (how the responses to highly variable conditions—for example, gradients from full sunlight to 95% shade within tree canopies—are coordinated with one another), and how their collective effect on plant growth and gas exchange can be ...
Adapted to the desert environment, Selaginella lepidophylla can survive without water for several years, drying up until it retains only 3% of its mass. The plant can live and reproduce in arid regions for long periods of time. When living conditions become too difficult, the plant's survival mechanism allows it to dry out gradually. Its leaves ...
The Nama Karoo of Namibia has the world's richest desert fauna. [8] The Chihuahuan desert and Central Mexican matorral are the richest deserts in the Neotropics. [9] The Carnarvon xeric shrublands of Australia are a regional center for endemism. [1] The Sonoran and Baja deserts of Mexico are unusual desert communities dominated by giant ...
Increasingly frequent and severe heat waves in the Southwest are damaging some desert plants known for thriving in harsh conditions. Saguaro cacti and agave have both suffered in sweltering ...
Some desert plants produce seed which lies dormant in the soil until sparked into growth by rainfall. With annuals, such plants grow with great rapidity and may flower and set seed within weeks, aiming to complete their development before the last vestige of water dries up. For perennial plants, reproduction is more likely to be successful if ...
The word derives from Ancient Greek ἅλας (halas) 'salt' and φυτόν (phyton) 'plant'. Halophytes have different anatomy, physiology and biochemistry than glycophytes. [1] An example of a halophyte is the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass). Relatively few plant species are halophytes—perhaps only 2% of all plant ...