Found out that pine trees actually breathe differently at night

I was reading a forest ecology paper from Oregon State and learned that pines switch to a different gas exchange at night. They actually close their stomata to save water but still take in some CO2 through a backup process. Anyone else run across weird night behavior in plants?

2 comments

2 Comments

uma6851mo ago

close their stomata to save water" - yeah that's totally real. Ive been growing pines in my backyard for years and noticed the needles feel different at night, sort of slightly damp even when it hasn't rained. That backup CO2 process is called crassulacean acid metabolism, or CAM for short. Most people think only succulents and cacti do that but some conifers pull it off too. If you're trying to water them, do it in the morning so the stomata are open and they can actually use the moisture. I started doing that and my trees looked way healthier after a few months.

luna8911mo ago

Wow, that's actually really cool! I had no idea pines could pull off CAM photosynthesis. I always thought that was just a succulent thing, but it makes sense that some conifers evolved similar tricks to survive in dry climates. The damp needle thing is wild too - I bet that's the tree sweating out excess moisture or something from the night-time process. Kinda makes me want to go touch my neighbor's pine tree at midnight now just to check lol. Good tip about morning watering too, I'll have to tell my dad who keeps killing his pine seedlings.