In the facultative halophytic species Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) may be induced by a range of a biotic factors including drought, salinity, high light intensity, low temperature, and anoxia [CAM plants take up CO2 at night and store it in the vacuoles, as malic acid that can be broken down during the day for sugars]. It appears that it is the flexibility of CAM and the associated large phenotypic plasticity of CAM plants that constitute the advantage of CAM for acquisition of ecological niches.
Photographic credit: Ahmed El Aboudi - Image size: 1559x1263 px (716.77 Ko)