OOS 20-5 - CANCELLED - Rain and condensation capture by a mixed epiphyte community in coastal Georgia (USA)

Land surface and climate model predictions can be impacted by a gap in foundational knowledge related to the storage and evaporation of rain and condensation from tree canopies. In many types of canopies, the largest water storage capacities are not observed for leaves or bark, but for the vegetation residing on these surfaces (epiphytes). Epiphytes’ provide numerous ecoservices to their soil-rooted hosts, but their role in storing and evaporating atmospheric moisture sources – a crucial component of their survival – is comparatively under-researched. A basic assessment may reasonably begin by focusing on epiphytes types categorized by the three principal water acquisition strategies: (a) passive water uptake and release (poikilohydry); (b) active water uptake and control of internal water content (homoiohydry); and (c) active water uptake but minimal control of internal water (partial poikilohydry). This study examines a rain and condensation dynamics in a mixed epiphyte community with members in each of these groups on a single host tree species, Quercus virginiana (southern live oak) at Skidaway Island (Savannah, Georgia). This epiphyte community includes poikilohydric lichens, a homoiohydric bromeliad (Tillandsia usneoides), and a partially poikilohydric fern (Pleopeltis michauxiana). In-canopy temperature, humidity, and wind sensors were used to measure (a) the frequency and duration of saturation by rain and condensation, (b) evaporation rates, and (c) acquisition rates of water via condensation during humid time periods. Our findings shed light on the dynamics of rain and condensation in this mixed epiphyte community and provide insights into their role in the storage and evaporation of atmospheric moisture.