Contrasting responses to water deficits of nothofagus species from tropical new guinea and high-latitude temperate forests: can rainfall regimes constrain latitudinal range?

Comparative responses of Nothofagus species to water deficits were studied to determine whether rainfall regimes could limit the latitudinal ranges of tropical and temperate forest species. Seedlings of Nothofagus species from a broad latitudinal range were grown in a common environment. Changes in conductance, relative water content and water potential were measured in detached shoots, and together with measurements of tissue injury and biomass allocation, were compared between tropical and temperate species.