With the purpose of understanding the survival strategies used by Caatinga species to face the weather conditions, the water potential and quantical photosynthetic efficiency of some species were studied. The data were obtained through the fluorescence of 11 species: Myracrodruon urundeuva, Schinopsis brasiliensis, Amburana cearensis, Capparys cynophallophora, Anadenanthera colubrine var. cebil, Pseudobombax sp., Commiphora leptophloeos, Ziziphus joazeiro, Bumelia sartorum, Caesalpinia ferrea, Maytenus rigidat. Two observation conditions of weather, the dry period and the wet one were studied, in which possible stress characteristics were verified. The study of the water potential presented statistical differences between the studied periods of climate. However, what drew attention were the high levels of water potential, even in the dry period, a situation in which commonly occurs water stress due to absence of soil water. The fluorescence data showed that the photosynthetic states were good with no apparent deficiency of water. In conclusion, it was verified that the survival strategies of these species are efficient and result from a highly complex evolution.
water potential; quantical efficiency; semi arid and natural resources
