Water repulsion off montane forest leaves

A study published in the November issue of the journal Biotropica looks at the ability of trees in tropical montane forests to repel water from their leaves. Holder hypothesised that trees in montane forests should be better at repelling water than trees from drier environments - dry forests in Guatemala and a semiarid grassland-foothills ecotone in Colorado. However, he found montane forest trees were less able to repel water than dry forest or temperate grassland-foothill species. Holder suggested that the increased wettability of the montane forest species may be driven by their coating of epiphylls (plant and other organisms growing on the leaf surface), while increased ability to shed water may be selected for in dry environments because it may help channel water to the roots of the plants in arid environments.

1. Holder, Curtis D. 2007. Leaf Water Repellency as an Adaptation to Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Environments. Biotropica 39 (6), 767-770. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2007.00303.x

[Read the rest of my post Like water off the back of a duck]