Impact of water stress on physiological processes of moss Polytrichum piliferum Hedw.

• Main Author: Małgorzata Romańska
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Pedagogicznego 2020-11-01
• Series: Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis Studia Naturae
• Subjects: dark respiration; hypoxia; photosynthesis; polytrichum piliferum; rehydration
• Online Access: https://aupcstudianaturae.up.krakow.pl/article/view/7523
• ISSN: 2543-8832; 2545-0999

Mosses are convenient organisms for studying the reaction to water stress because they do not have an epidermis, which makes them more sensitive to changes in humidity than most other plants. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of water stress on the course of physiological processes of mosses using Polytrichum piliferum Hedw. The present study showed that the action of the abiotic stressor, which is water, adversely affects the photosynthesis and dark respiration processes by reducing their intensity. However, it is worth noting that the respiration process is less dependent on tissue hydration than the photosynthesis, which is clearly demonstrated by the study results. The bryophytes’ resistance to stress factors is responsible for the plant’s ability to maintain homeostasis under stress conditions. The ability to change homeostasis by adapting, surviving or overcoming adverse living conditions also plays an important role.