Abstract
The critical question has been asked if it makes sense to devote a book-monograph to a single genus of neotropical trees. The diversity of tropical tree species is very large indeed. Why just select one, and why just select Clusia? One strong motivation was given by the fact that Clusias are the only trees performing crassulacean acid metabolism (Chap. 1). This in itself would not justify singling out Clusia for its own book. However, it turned out that this fact prompted a number of plant scientists for the first time in almost 25 years to study all possible aspects of Clusia’s biology in presumably quite a unique way, not only covering a very large number of aspects but also integrating them in a remarkable synthesis. It happened that in the research teams, phytogeographers, phytosociologists and ecologists became familiar with physiological approaches and physiologists took an immediate interest in community structures, aiming to advance from autecology to physiological synecology. The field-laboratory-field-laboratory-field-etc. ping pong worked effectively in all teams involved in making observations and in increasing curiosity in the field, to develop interpretations and hypotheses and to test them in laboratories and phyto-chambers, to come back to the field and check the validity of plant comportment under controlled conditions for performance in the natural environments and to increase the precision of observations.
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Lüttge U, Haridasan M, Fernandes GW, Mattos EA de, Trimborn P, Franco AC, Caldas LS, Ziegler H (1998) Photosynthesis of mistletoes in relation to their hosts at various sites in tropical Brazil. Trees 12:167–174
Sternberg L da SL, Ting IP, Price D, Hann J (1987) Photosynthesis in epiphytic and rooted Clusia rosea Jacq. Oecologia 72:457–460
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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Lüttge, U. (2007). Synthesis. In: Lüttge, U. (eds) Clusia. Ecological Studies, vol 194. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-37243-1_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-37243-1_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-37242-4
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