Trunk water holding capacity was measured for five
trunks of each host species at the Dalco Creek field
site. Two samples of root-mantle, approximately 2 cm2
in size, were taken from each fern (10 samples of
each host species in total), from approximately 30 cm
and 150 cm height on the trunk. The samples were
immersed in tap water for 24 h followed by complete
drainage for a further 20 h before being weighed. The
samples were oven-dried at 60∞C for 24 h, weighed
again, and the water holding capacity was calculated
as a percentage of the dry weight.