ALBERT

Description: ‘White oaks’—one of the main groups of the genus Quercus L.—are represented in western Eurasia by the ‘roburoid oaks’, a deciduous and closely related genetic group that should have an Arcto-Tertiary origin under temperate-nemoral climates. Nowadays, roburoid oak species such as Quercus robur L. are still present in these temperate climates in Europe, but others are also present in southern Europe under Mediterranean-type climates, such as Quercus faginea Lam. We hypothesize the existence of a coordinated functional response at the whole-shoot scale in Q. faginea under Mediterranean conditions to adapt to more xeric habitats. The results reveal a clear morphological and physiological segregation between Q. robur and Q. faginea , which constitute two very contrasting functional types in response to climate dryness. The most outstanding divergence between the two species is the reduction in transpiring area in Q. faginea , which is the main trait imposed by the water deficit in Mediterranean-type climates. The reduction in leaf area ratio in Q. faginea should have a negative effect on carbon gain that is partially counteracted by a higher inherent photosynthetic ability of Q. faginea when compared with Q. robur , as a consequence of higher mesophyll conductance, higher maximum velocity of carboxylation and much higher stomatal conductance ( g s ). The extremely high g s of Q. faginea counteracts the expected reduction in g s imposed by the stomatal sensitivity to vapor pressure deficit, allowing this species to diminish water losses maintaining high net CO 2 assimilation values along the vegetative period under nonlimiting soil water potential values. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that Q. faginea can be regarded as an example of adaptation of a deciduous oak to Mediterranean-type climates.