{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T02:01:23Z","timestamp":1760148083845,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,27]],"date-time":"2023-03-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1679875200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"ECOSERVE-BiodivERsA\/001\/2014-BiodivERsA\/FACCE-JPI","award":["SFRH\/BPD\/100865\/2014","UIDB\/04004\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SFRH\/BPD\/100865\/2014","UIDB\/04004\/2020"]}]},{"name":"R&amp;D Unit Center for Functional Ecology-Science for People and the Planet (CFE)","award":["SFRH\/BPD\/100865\/2014","UIDB\/04004\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SFRH\/BPD\/100865\/2014","UIDB\/04004\/2020"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Enhanced drought, more frequent rainfall events and increased inter-annual variability of precipitation are the main trends of climate expected for the Mediterranean. Drought is one of the most important stressors for plants and significantly impacts plant communities causing changes in plant composition and species dominance. Through an experiment under controlled conditions, we assessed the response of Mediterranean species from different functional groups (annual grass, annual forb, annual legume, and perennial shrub) to moderate and severe water deficit. Changes in plant traits (leaf dry matter), biomass and physiology (water status, photosynthesis, pigments, and carbohydrate) were evaluated. The studied species differed in their response to water deficit. Ornithopus compressus, the legume, showed the strongest response, particularly under severe conditions, decreasing leaf relative water content (RWC), pigments and carbohydrates. The grass, Agrostis pourreti and the forb, Tolpis barbata, maintained RWC, indicating a higher ability to cope with water deficit. Finally, the shrub, Cistus salviifolius, had the lowest response to stress, showing a higher ability to cope with water deficit. Despite different responses, plant biomass was negatively affected by severe water deficit in all species. These data provide background for predicting plant diversity and species composition of Mediterranean grasslands and Montado under climate change conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants12071471","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,28]],"date-time":"2023-03-28T01:41:34Z","timestamp":1679967694000},"page":"1471","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Functional Groups Response to Water Deficit in Mediterranean Ecosystems"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Helena","family":"Castro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Functional Ecology, TERRA Associate Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Cal\u00e7ada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3083-6218","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Celeste","family":"Dias","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Functional Ecology, TERRA Associate Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Cal\u00e7ada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9 Paulo","family":"Sousa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Functional Ecology, TERRA Associate Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Cal\u00e7ada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1907-9615","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Helena","family":"Freitas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Functional Ecology, TERRA Associate Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Cal\u00e7ada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"IPCC (2021). 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