10.18453/rosdok_id00001058 Lehde, Nikola Nikola Lehde http://d-nb.info/gnd/1027033822 Universität Rostock 2012 580 Botanical sciences 2012 en http://purl.uni-rostock.de/rosdok/id00001058 urn:nbn:de:gbv:28-diss2012-0097-0 The research questions of the thesis were if, how and to what extent desiccation tolerance is represented on a morpho-anatomical level in vascular plants. A comparative study showed that a universal morpho-anatomical syndrome within desiccation-tolerant vascular plants does not exist. However, some traits seem to be of adaptive value: a parallel leaf nervature, leaf involution respective rolling and stabilizing tissues. Additionally, ecological studies were conducted. The desiccation-tolerant species Afrotrilepis pilosa was chosen to test the desiccation tolerance productivity trade-off hypothesis.