Responses to moisture stress in male and female plants of Rumex acetosella L. (Polygonaceae)

Summary Male and female plants of Rumex acetosella were grown on a moisture gradient to measure possible differences in the drought tolerance of the sexes. The growth of both sexes declined under water stress but males were significantly more drought tolerant. This could not be explained by greater water use efficiency in the male plants; measured rates of both photosynthesis and leaf conductance did not differ significantly between the sexes. Multiple discriminant analysis showed that the sexes differed at all moisture regimes in their overall patterns of biomass allocation. Males had proportionately greater investment in root and leaf tissue which could explain their growth advantage over females under water stress. Despite essentially equal water use efficiencies, on a per plant basis males, with more leaf and root biomass, could fix more carbon and more rapidly exploit the local water resource than females. Thus the pattern of biomass allocation rather than intrinsic physiological differences appears to explain the greater drought tolerance of male plants of Rumex acetosella.