Comparison of Photosynthesis among Three Chaparral Species in the Family Anacardiaceae

Recent argumentative data showed a lack of niche differentiation amongst three Banksia species in Australia conducted by Lamont and Bergl, and the Anacardiaceae family in the native chaparral of the Santa Monica Mountains are supposed to be significantly similar1. Because of this we wanted to test if there would be a significant difference between the stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, and water potential in samples of the Rhus ovata, Rhus integrifolia, and Malosma laurina (Rhus laurina) species. We tested this idea by collecting the stomatal conductance and photosynthetic rates of each plant species in the same general location with an LI-6400XT gas exchange machine and tested water potential before sun rise and during the largest amount of sun exposure with a water pressure chamber. We compared the data with and found that the only significant difference was the photosynthetic rates between the Malosma laurina and Rhus integrifolia. From our results we concluded that the species in the Anacardiaceae family were mostly homologous in there performances in the same general location