Studies on the Status of Unburnt Eucalyptus Woodland at Ocean Grove, Victoria. V. The Interactive Effects of Droughting and Shading on Seedlings Under Competition.

1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 285 ◽  
Author(s):  
JR Withers

Casuarina littoralis seedlings are inherently more drought-resistant than Eucalyptus ovata seedlings over a wide range of environmental conditions. Moderate shade pre-treatment (30% of full daylight) decreased the drought resistance of seedlings of E. ovata, Acacia pycnantha and C. stricta but not that of C. littoralis seedlings. Deep shade pre-treatment (8 % of full daylight) decreased the drought resistance of all species and was associated with decreased rootlshoot ratios. Both shaded and non-shaded C. littoralis seedlings closed stomata at higher relative water contents (about 80% and 88 % respectively) than did E. ovata seedlings (about 36 % and 63 % respectively). Shading decreased the relative water content at which E. ovata closed stomata and reduced the relative decrease in water potential which occurred with unit decreases in relative water content. When E. ovata and C. littoralis seedlings were grown in competition, the larger E. ovata dominated the drought response of plants under both high and low light conditions. E. ovata rapidly depleted moisture supplies thereby subjecting C. littoralis to greater stress and earlier death than it experienced in monoculture. C. littoralis seedlings grown and droughted in competition with E. ovata exhibited smaIIer decreases in water potential per unit decrease in relative water content than seedlings grown in monoculture. The height growth of E. ovata grown in monoculture and in competition with C. littoralis was reduced for at least 10-15 weeks after the wilting treatment, but height growth of C. littoralis was not affected. Eucalypts wilted at higher water potentials (-4.3 MPa) than did C. littoralis seedlings (- 6.3 MPa). It is suggested that the replacement of E. ovata by C. littoralis at Ocean Grove, Vic. may be partly due to the differential effects of shading on the drought resistance of seedlings which become established in the grass sward of canopy gaps.

HortScience ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 477d-477
Author(s):  
Chuhe Chen ◽  
J. Scott Cameron ◽  
Ann Marie VanDerZanden

Leaf water potential (LWP). relative water content (RWC), gas exchange rates and 4th-derivative spectra were measured in water-stressed and normally Irrigated plank of Totem' strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) grown in a growth chamber. CO2 assimilation rate (A) dropped sharply when LWP decreased from -0.5 to -1.2 MPa and almost ceased as LWP fell below -1.5 MPa. There was a significant but more gradual decline of A as RWC decreased form 90% to 55%. An exponential relationship with A was observed across a wide range of LWP and RWC (Rz= 0.64, 0.86, respectively). LWP was more closely related with transpiration and leaf and stomatal conductances than with A and water use efficiency. RWC was highly correlated with all gas exchange parameters. Under moderate water stress, younger leaves maintain higher RWC and A than older leaves. There was no relationship between LWP and leaf age. RWC and A were both negatively correlated with peak amplitudes of Ca 684 and Ca 697 and positively correlated with Ca 693 in their 4th-derivative spectra of chlorophyll. LWP had a negative correlation with Cb 640.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Barbanti ◽  
Ahmad Sher ◽  
Giuseppe Di Girolamo ◽  
Elio Cirillo ◽  
Muhammad Ansar

A better understanding of plant mechanisms in response to drought is a strong premise to achieving high yields while saving unnecessary water. This is especially true in the case of biomass crops for non-food uses (energy, fibre and forage), grown with limited water supply. In this frame, we investigated growth and physiological response of two genotypes of biomass sorghum (<em>Sorghum bicolor</em> (L.) Moench) to contrasting levels of soil moisture in a pot experiment carried out in a greenhouse. Two water regimes (high and low water, corresponding to 70% and 30% field capacity) were applied to JS-2002 and Trudan-8 sorghum genotypes, respectively bred for dry sub-tropical and mild temperate conditions. Two harvests were carried out at 73 and 105 days after seeding. Physiological traits (transpiration, photosynthesis and stomatal conductance) were assessed in four dates during growth. Leaf water potential, its components and relative water content were determined at the two harvests. Low watering curbed plant height and aboveground biomass to a similar extent (ca. 􀀀70%) in both genotypes. JS-2002 exhibited a higher proportion of belowground to aboveground biomass, <em>i.e</em>., a morphology better suited to withstand drought. Despite this, JS-2002 was more affected by low water in terms of physiology: during the growing season, the average ratio in transpiration, photosynthesis and stomatal conductance between droughty and well watered plants was, respectively, 0.82, 0.80 and 0.79 in JS-2002; 1.05, 1.08 and 1.03 in Trudan-8. Hence Trudan-8 evidenced a ca. 20% advantage in the three traits. In addition, Trudan-8 could better exploit abundant moisture (70% field capacity), increasing aboveground biomass and water use efficiency. In both genotypes, drought led to very low levels of leaf water potential and relative water content, still supporting photosynthesis. Hence, both morphological and physiological characteristics of sorghum were involved in plant adaptation to drought, in accordance with previous results. Conversely, the common assumption that genotypes best performing under wet conditions are less suited to face drought was contradicted by the results of the two genotypes in our experiment. This discloses a potential to be further exploited in programmes of biomass utilization for various end uses, although further evidence at greenhouse and field level is needed to corroborate this finding.


1995 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.C. Diaz-Pérez ◽  
K.A. Shackel ◽  
E.G. Sutter

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 2548-2551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shen Hui-Juan ◽  
Zeng Bin

The drought resistance of black locust (Robiniapseudoacacia L.) seedlings was increased by pretreatment of seeds with 250 ppm paclobutrazol. Treated seeds produced seedlings with thick roots and higher root/shoot ratios. During osmotic stress, treated plants displayed greater relative water content, lower electrolyte leakage, and fewer symptoms of wilt when compared with untreated black locust seedlings. Paclobutrazol-treated seedlings accumulated more proline than untreated seedlings in response to drought. However, osmotically induced accumulation of putrescine, a possible marker of cellular stress, was reduced in the treated plants.


2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
REJANE J. MANSUR C. NOGUEIRA ◽  
JOSÉ ANTÔNIO P. V. DE MORAES ◽  
HÉLIO ALMEIDA BURITY ◽  
EGÍDIO BEZERRA NETO

Young sexually and assexually propagated Barbados cherry plants were submitted to water deficit (20 days without irrigation). During this period the accumulation of proline, water potential of branches, osmotic potential, the relative water content of leaves, the leaf diffusive resistance, the transpiration rate and leaf temperature in the cuvette were determined. In addition, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) were measured in the porometer cuvette. The concentration of proline for both types of plants began to increase on the fifth day without watering, and reached 38.1 times the concentration in the control plants grown from seeds and 26.4 times the concentration in grafted plants on the tenth day without watering. The lowest levels of leaf water potential in the plants suffering from severe water stress varied from -4.5 to -5.7 MPa, the lowest values being observed in the sexually propagated plants. These plants also showed the highest values for transpiration (0.9 mmol.m-2.s-1) and proline concentration (20.42 mg.g-1 DM), the lowest for relative water content of the leaves (38.4%) and diffusive resistance (940 s.m-1) at the end of the experiment. The Barbados cherry plants developed strategies for surviving drought, with differences between various characteristics, resulting from prolonged stress, which significantly influenced the parameters evaluated, with the exception of leaf temperature.


1984 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Bennett ◽  
K. J. Boote ◽  
L. C. Hammond

Abstract Limited data exist describing the physiological responses of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) plants to tissue water deficits. Detailed field experiments which accurately define the water status of both the plant and soil are required to better understand the effects of water stress on a peanut crop. The objectives of the present study were 1) to describe the changes in leaf water potential components during a drying cycle, and 2) to define the relationships among soil water content, leaf water potential, leaf turgor potential, relative water content, leaf-air temperature differential, and leaf diffusive resistance as water stress was imposed on a peanut crop. During a 28-day drying period where both rainfall and irrigation were withheld from peanut plants, midday measurements of the physiological parameters and volumetric soil water contents were taken concurrently. As soil drying progressed, water extraction from the upper soil depths was limited as soil moisture approached 0.04 m3m-3. Leaf water potentials and leaf turgor potentials of nonirrigated plants decreased to approximately −2.0 and 0 MPa, respectively, by the end of the experimental period. Leaf water potentials declined only gradually as the average volumetric soil water content in the upper 90 cm of soil decreased from 0.12 to 0.04 m3m-3. Further reductions in soil water content caused large reductions in leaf water potential. As volumetric soil moisture content decreased slightly below 0.04 m3m-3 in the upper 90 cm, leaf relative water content dropped to 86%, leaf water potential approached −1.6 MPa and leaf turgor potential decreased to 0 MPa. Concurrently, stomatal closure resulted and leaf temperature increased above air temperature. Osmotic potentials measured at 100% relative water content were similar for irrigated and nonirrigated plants, suggesting little or no osmotic regulation.


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