Ecophysiological Responses of Tropical Plants to Varying Resources Availability

Plant ecology has long been concerned with determining the factors that influence distribution of plant species. A fundamental premise of plant ecophysiology is that the relationship between plants and their environmental elements is considerably influenced by plant distribution. Ecophysiology and plant distributions are therefore inextricably linked. This chapter elaborates on what is recognized about tropical trees’ responses to varying resource availability and how this knowledge is essential for designing a more comprehensive picture of the tropical forest’s capabilities to respond to a changing environment. At the minimum, five trends of interacting ecophysiological variables may enable a plant to attain a broad range and higher level of tropical forest: (1) light availability; (2) elevated temperature; (3) rising atmospheric CO₂ concentration; (4) nutrient distribution; and (5) altered phytohormones disturbance regimes in response to stress conditions. Tropical forests emit slightly more CO₂ from the atmosphere than any other terrestrial biosphere ecosystem. Similarly, the global carbon balance estimate for the coming century is three times higher in this latitude than in others. While several environmental factors have gradients in tropical forests, the intensity of irradiance, water availability, and nutritional composition are the most distinct and perform a significant function in assessing the ecophysiological aspects of forest trees. Increased CO₂ levels might have a deliberate impact on different physiological processes, but how these changes are reflected in linked ecosystems is debatable. Globalization appears to be having a significant impact on the world’s tropical regions, undermining the critical balance between ecosystem stability and resource availability. Even apart from the emerging challenges of climatic change, deforestation, and changes in spatial patterns, a drought storm affects life forms. Seasonal fluctuations in environmental factors and interactions between abiotic and biotic stresses have consequences on the physiological responses of plants growing in their native environments. Furthermore, essential nutrients and phytohormones and scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are primary mechanisms for dealing with environmental stresses. This chapter discusses the issues, identifying information gaps and the status of the stated resources, and their implications for the ecophysiological responses of tropical forests.