Semi-arid environments characterized by low rainfall are subject to soil desertification processes. These environments have heterogeneous landscapes with patches of vegetation known as resource islands that are generated by nurse species that delay the desertification process because they increase the availability of water and nutrients in the soil. The study aimed to characterize some foliar physiological, biochemical, and anatomical traits of three nurse tree species that form resource islands in the semi-arid environment of La Guajira, Colombia, i.e., Haematoxylum brasiletto, Pithecellobium dulce, and Pereskia guamacho. The results showed that H. brasiletto and P. dulce have sclerophyllous strategies, are thin (0.2 and 0.23 mm, respectively), and have a high leaf dry matter content (364.8 and 437.47 mg/g). Moreover, both species have a high photochemical performance, reaching Fv/Fm values of 0.84 and 0.82 and PIABS values of 5.84 and 4.42, respectively. These results agree with the OJIP curves and JIP parameters. Both species had a compact leaf with a similar dorsiventral mesophyll. On the other hand, P. guamacho has a typical succulent, equifacial leaf with a 97.78% relative water content and 0.81 mm thickness. This species had the lowest Fv/Fm (0.73) and PIABS (1.16) values and OJIP curve but had the highest energy dissipation value (DIo/RC).
Keywords: chlorophyll a fluorescence; leaf anatomy; leaf physiological traits; nurse trees; pigments.