Effect of salinity on water stress, growth, and yield of maize and sunflower

Maize and sunflower were grown in tanks filled with loam and clay, and were irrigated with water of three different levels of salinity. Predawn leaf-water potential and stomatal conductance were used as parameters for water stress. The predawn leaf-water potential of maize was higher than that of sunflower, but the effect of salinity and soil texture on the predawn leaf-water potential was the same for both crops. The stomatal conductance of sunflower was much higher and more severely affected by salinity and soil texture than the stomatal conductance of maize.

Although salinity had a more serious effect on the development of leaf area and canopy dry matter of sunflower, its effect on evapotranspiration and grain yield was the same for both crops. Soil texture had a stronger effect on the development of leaf area and canopy dry matter of sunflower, which also appeared in the evapotranspiration and grain yield, indicating that sunflower is more sensitive to drought than maize.     

Response of tomatoes,a crop of indeterminate growth,to soil salinity

Tomatoes were grown in tanks filled with loam and clay, and were irrigated with waters of three different levels of salinity. Osmotic adjustment was determined by analysing the pressure–volume curves at four growth stages. Owing to the osmotic adjustment, tomatoes are able to maintain the turgor potential and the stomatal conductance at the same value for the lower values of the leaf-water potential. Salinity affected the pre-dawn leaf-water potential, stomatal conductance, evapotranspiration, leaf area and fruit yield on both soils. Soil texture only affected the fruit yield. The evapotranspiration showed a moderate decrease, owing to the small decrease in leaf area and the effect of osmotic adjustment on the stomatal conductance, whereas the fruit yield decreased strongly. The tomato plant apparently favours under saline conditions, the growth of foliage at the expense of fruit formation.     

盐胁迫下水氮处理对小桐子生理特性的影响

为研究盐胁迫条件下不同水氮处理对小桐子幼树生理特性的影响,采用3个灌水水平(灌水处理的每次灌水量分别为T1:3.2 L/株,T2:5.4 L/株,T3:9.6 L/株),4个施氮水平(NZ:0 g,NL:10 g,NM:30 g,NH:50 g),共12个处理,6次重复,进行温室小区试验.结果表明:盐胁迫下适当增加灌水量可以有效提高小桐子的净光合速率;在盐胁迫且不施氮条件下,与T1相比T2和T3能促进小桐子的光合特性、叶水势增加;适宜的土壤水氮调控有助于增加小桐子的光合作用;在盐胁迫与灌水量相同处理条件下,与NZ相比,NL,NM,NH下的小桐子的光合作用显著,且叶水势减小.与T3NH比,T3NM的净光合速率、蒸腾速率、气孔导度、叶水势分别显著提高4.98%,6.01%,9.14%,22.97%.在盐胁迫下,有利于小桐子生理特性的最优处理是T3NM.     

Canopy temperature as a measure of salinity stress on sorghum

Summary A complete understanding of plant response to combined water and salinity stress is desirable. Previous growth chamber and greenhouse experiments with sorghum and maize indicate that soil salinity, by negatively affecting growth processes, may reduce consumptive water use, thus prolonging the supply of available soil moisture. In the present field experiment, canopy temperature measurements were used to examine the effect of soil salinity on the plant-soil water relations of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. cv. Northrup King 1580). An infrared thermometer was used to measure canopy temperature during a 9-day period including two irrigations in plots of various salinities. The salinity treatments were created by a dual line-source sprinkler irrigation system, which applied waters of different quality. Excess irrigation allowed soil moisture to be uniform across the salinity treatments at the beginning of the measurement period. Consumptive water use and soil salinity were measured to quantify the salinity and water treatments. Grain and dry matter yields provided measures of plant response. Canopy temperature measurements were sensitive enough to detect differences across the salinity treatments when soil moisture was uniform for several days following irrigation. However, over the 9-day measurement period, plants in the low-salt plots used more water than plants in the high-salt plots. This differential water use eventually offset the salinity-induced stress, with the result that temperature differences were eliminated. Differences in temperature were observed again following irrigation. The results demonstrate that canopy temperature can be used as a tool to detect salinity stress on sorghum. Timing of measurements with regard to irrigation is identified as a key factor in detecting temperature differences that can be attributed to the presence of soil salinity.     

Isohydrodynamic behavior in deficit-irrigated Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec and its relationship between yield and berry composition

Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec grapevines were irrigated at 70 or 23 % of estimated crop evapotranspiration throughout berry development over four growing seasons. Stomatal behavior was characterized by relating predawn leaf water potential and mid-morning stomatal conductance to mid-morning leaf water potential. Seasonal average weekly midday leaf water potential was lower in Cabernet Sauvignon than Malbec despite similar irrigation amounts. Both cultivars exhibited anisohydric behavior with midday leaf water potential decreasing linearly with declining predawn leaf water potential (r ² = 0.51) and stomatal conductance (r ² = 0.42). However, both cultivars utilized hydrodynamic mechanisms to maintain a soil-to-leaf water potential gradient of ?0.62 (±0.03) MPa under standard irrigation and ?0.75 (±0.04) MPa under reduced irrigation. Berry fresh weight and titratable acidity decreased, and the concentration of total anthocyanins increased in both cultivars in response to decreases in midday leaf water potential. The slope of regression equations for seasonal mean midday leaf water potential was used to estimate cultivar-specific levels of water stress associated with changes in berry weight and berry composition at fruit maturity.     

Whole-tree water balance and indicators for short-term drought stress in non-bearing ‘Barnea’ olives

Drainage-weighing lysimeters allowed monitoring of water balance components of non-bearing olive (Olea europaea cv Barnea) trees over a 3-month period including short-term events of controlled but severe water stress. The objective of the study was to evaluate a variety of soil and plant-based water status and drought stress monitoring methods on the basis of tree-scale evapotranspiration (ET). As the trees entered into and recovered from water stress, meteorological data, actual ET (ET_a), soil water content and changes in leaf turgor pressure were continuously monitored. Additionally, midday measurements of stem water potential, stomatal conductance, canopy temperature, and quantum yield of PSII photochemistry were conducted. Diurnal (dawn to dusk) measurements of all the above were made hourly on days of maximum stress. Shoot elongation rate was measured for periods of stress and recovery. Quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, stomatal conductance, and stem water potential all successfully indicated reductions in whole-tree water consumption beginning at moderate stress levels. These measured parameters fully recovered to the levels of non-stressed trees soon after water application was renewed. Shoot elongation was reduced 25-30% for the 10-day period during and following drought and recovered thereafter to levels of non-stressed trees. Whole-tree ET_a was reduced by as much as 20% even following full recovery of the leaf level parameters, suggesting reduced canopy size and growth due to the stress period. Non-destructive, continuous (turgor pressure) and remotely sensed (canopy temperature) methods showed promising potential for monitoring effects of water stress, in spite of technological and data interpretation challenges requiring further attention.     

Influence of water stress on kiwifruit growth

Summary An irrigation experiment was conducted on young kiwifruit vines over two seasons to examine effects of water stress on fruit development. Vines were grown outdoors in a sandy, rooting medium enclosed within a polythene-lined trench with removable surface covers to enable strict control of the water supply. Measurements of fruit growth, leaf water potential, and stomatal conductance were made throughout the season in conjunction with periods of water stress imposed at different times, and for varying durations. Fruit development was very responsive to water stress with mean fruit size per vine at harvest varying from 60 to 130 cm³ as a result of various stress treatments. Fruit expansion ceased when predawn leaf water potentials fell below –0.1 MPa. Upon rewatering, leaf turgor was regained within 24 h even after severe, prolonged stress. Any turgor loss associated with fruit softening was quickly made up, and thereafter fruit growth continued at the same rate concurrently exhibited on continuously well-watered vines. Suggesting that stomatal conductance did not follow the rapid recovery of leaf water potentials and fruit expansion may be more closely linked to water supply than to the concurrent rate of photosynthesis. Despite the large range in mean fruit size, the shape of the fruit size distribution at harvest was not affected by water stress and it is concluded that harvest yields can be adequately modelled by assuming a normal distribution with a fixed standard deviation.     

Water relations of field grown Pomegranate trees (Punica granatum) under different drip irrigation regimes

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a deciduous fruit tree native of central Asia included in the so-called group of minor fruit tree species, not widely grown but of some importance in the south east of Spain. Fruit consumption interest is due to the organoleptic characteristics and to the beneficial effects on health. Pomegranate tree are considered as a culture tolerant to soil water deficit. However, very little is known about pomegranate orchard water management. The objective of this work was to characterize, for the first time in P. granatum, water relations aspects of applied significance for irrigation scheduling. Trees under different irrigation regimes were used and midday stem water potential (Ψ_stem) and midday leaf gas exchange were periodically measured over the course of an entire season. During spring and autumn, Ψ_stem did not show significant differences between irrigation treatments while there were considerable differences in leaf photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, suggesting a near-isohydric behaviour of pomegranate trees. This might explain why the signal intensity of Ψ_stem was lower than those of gas exchange indicators during the experimental period. Thus, leaf photosynthesis rates and stomatal conductance might have a greater potential for irrigation scheduling of pomegranate trees than Ψ_stem measured at solar noon.     

Effects of frequency of irrigation and gypsum treatment on leaf water potential and leaf stomatal conductance of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) grown on a heavy clay soil

Summary Concurrent diurnal measurements of water potential, osmotic potential and conductance were made on leaves of lucerne grown under weekly (W) and fortnightly (F) irrigation on gypsum-treated (G) and untreated soil (C). Measurements were made throughout the period of vegetative growth.Leaf water potentials were lower both at dawn and in the afternoon under fortnightly as compared to weekly irrigation. Gypsum application led to a slower decline in water potential under fortnightly irrigation, although the effect was small compared with more frequent irrigation. Stomatal conductance was reduced under treatments F_G and F_C during the later stages of vegetative growth, coinciding with leaf water potentials of less than c. –1.6 MPa.The relationship between leaf water potential and turgor potential changed with time such that positive turgor was maintained as leaf water potential declined. Turgor maintenance was achieved through a decrease in leaf osmotic potential. These data suggest that lucerne is capable of osmotic adjustment.Stomatal conductance declined rapidly below a leaf turgor potential of c. 0.1 MPa. It is hypothesised that osmotic adjustment enabled stomatal adjustment, which contributed to continued assimilation despite increasing soil moisture deficits.     

Response of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) to mulching practices under planted greenhouse condition

Mulch is considered a desirable management technology for conserving soil moisture, improving soil temperature and soil quality. This study aimed to investigate soil conditions and hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) performance in terms of leaf photosynthetic capacity, fruit yield and quality, and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) under such practices in greenhouse condition. A field experiment across 3 years was carried out with four types of mulch (without mulch [CK], wheat straw mulch [SM], plastic film mulch [FM], and combined mulch with plastic film and wheat straw [CM]). Mulch could improve soil physical properties regardless of mulch materials. FM and CM treatments improved soil moistures status and soil temperature in comparison to CK control, while SM increased soil water content and decreased soil temperature. Mulch increased leaf net photosynthesis rate (P_N), stomatal conductance to water vapor (gs), intercellular CO₂ concentration (Ci), and transpiration rate (E), but declined instant water use efficiency (WUEi). No significant effect of mulch application on chlorophyll fluorescence was existent for the entire growth season. Fruit yield and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) showed some increment under all the mulch conditions. Compared to CK, the yield was enhanced by 82.3%, 65.0%, and 111.5% in 2008; 38.1%, 17.4%, and 46.5% in 2009; and 14.3%, 6.5%, and 19.6% in 2010 under SM, FM, and CM conditions, respectively. Although FM produced better fruit quality than other treatments, CM is the recommended practice for hot pepper cultivation in greenhouse condition due to working well to facilitate soil condition (moisture and temperature), plant growth, and marketable yield.     

干热河谷区橙子树蒸腾耗水环境响应与生理调节研究

为探究西南干热河谷地区典型经济林木橙子树的蒸腾耗水机制,利用热扩散式探针TDP、冠层分析仪、土壤水分传感器TDR、全自动气象站等设备获取橙子树蒸腾量、叶面积指数、土壤含水率和气象因子（气温、辐射、饱和水汽压差、降雨量等）的长期数据。对橙子树蒸腾规律的环境控制和生理调节特征进行系统研究,结果表明：相比于干季和雨季,干热季橙子树表现出较为保守的水分利用机制,日蒸腾量、冠层导度和退耦系数都显著低于其他两个季节。干季和雨季,橙子树蒸腾活动受太阳辐射和饱和水汽压差的交替控制,而干热季蒸腾活动主要受饱和水汽压差的驱动。冠层导度与气象因子日内动态变化特征之间存在时滞效应,且这种效应在不同天气不同季节具有差异。受叶面积指数影响,饱和水汽压差与冠层导度在整个年份呈负对数相关关系,其他环境因子与冠层导度在叶面积指数小于4m2/m2时呈负对数相关关系,大于等于4m2/m2时呈二次函数相关关系。不同环境条件下虽然冠层导度对饱和水汽压差的敏感性不同,但蒸腾耗水在大多数环境条件下基本遵循等水势调节策略,但个别环境条件下存在环境胁迫应对失衡风险。研究结果可为干热河谷区橙子园环境胁迫诊断提供直接依据,有利于灌溉制度的科学优化和节水调控技术体系的高效制定。     

Osmotic adjustment of sugar beets in response to soil salinity and its influence on stomatal conductance,growth and yield

Sugar beets were grown in tanks filled with loam and clay, and were irrigated with waters of three different levels of salinity. Osmotic adjustment was determined by analyzing the pressure-volume curves at three growth stages. Sugar beets showed osmotic adjustment in two ways: with their phenological development and towards salinity. Owing to the latter adjustment sugar beets are able to maintain the turgor potential at the same value for lower values of the leaf water potential, to maintain stomatal conductance and photosynthesis and finally their production under severe water stress.Salinity affected the pre-dawn leaf water potential, stomatal conductance and evapotranspiration on both soils, but leaf area and yield only on loam.Soil texture affected stomatal conductance, evapotranspiration, leaf area and yield. As the latter was about 35% lower on clay, whereas the evapotranspiration decreased 10 to 15%, the water use efficiency was about 25% lower on clay compared with loam.     

Computational water stress indices obtained from thermal image analysis of grapevine canopies

Thermal imaging of crop canopies has been proposed more than a decade ago as a sensitive methodology to determine the water status of different crops. This paper describes the development of a semi-automated and automated methodology using MATLAB? programming techniques to analyse the infrared thermal images taking into consideration the pitfalls pointed out previously in the literature. The proposed method was tested in an irrigation reduction and recovery trial for Chardonnay in the 2010–2011 season and in the 2009–2010 season from seven varieties in field conditions. There was a clear separation (assessed by principal component analysis) between control and recovery compared to stress treatments using leaf area index (LAI), stomatal conductance, stem water potential and indices derived from canopy temperatures measured by infrared imaging. High and significant correlations were found between canopy temperature indices and other measures of water stress obtained in the same vines that were independent of LAI. Furthermore, a fully automated analysis method has been proposed using ancillary weather information obtained from the same locations of infrared thermal images. This paper is a first step towards automation of infrared thermography acquisition and analysis in the field for grapevines and other crops.     

温室环境因子驱动甜瓜水分传输机理分析与模拟

利用人工气候室控制空气温度、相对湿度和光合有效辐射量,根据水量平衡法控制土壤含水率,按照四因素五水平的二次回归正交旋转组合设计,对甜瓜蒸腾量进行模拟,并探讨各因子调控水分传输的机制。基于Jarvis模型建立环境因素驱动的多元非线性气孔导度模型,结合水汽扩散原理建立蒸腾量模型,模型预测精度良好。探究因素交互作用及其耦合调控效应,结果表明:除相对湿度对蒸腾表现为抑制作用,土壤含水率、空气温度和光合有效辐射均对蒸腾具有促进作用;土壤含水率与空气温度的单因素效应相似,随因素水平增加,蒸腾量线性升高;光合有效辐射量驱动蒸腾的单因素效应为开口向下的二次函数,当因素水平超过阈值后,蒸腾量逐渐下降。环境因素在驱动和调控蒸腾过程中均存在密切耦合和反馈效应,土壤含水率与温度对蒸腾调控的耦合效应趋近于平滑曲面,蒸腾量随两因素水平的升高而升高,在试验水平内两因素对蒸腾表现为协同促进效应;空气相对湿度减弱了水汽扩散驱动力,进而抑制温度和土壤含水率对蒸腾的驱动作用,且这种抑制作用随相对湿度的升高而更明显。     

Plant response to the soil water reserve: Consequences of the root system environment

Summary The ability of water balance models based on the concept of Transpirable Soil Water to predict the occurrence of water stress and the need for irrigation was tested for several environmental conditions of the root system, to determine in which conditions errors are likely to be appreciable. The response of evapotranspiration, stomatal conductance and leaf water potential to soil water reserve was studied under three conditions: (i) in pots with maize plants, (ii) in the field with deep soil and the root system placed in favourable conditions, with wheat during a dry year and with maize during four years with contrasting climate, (iii) in the field, with soil compaction which disturbed the maize root system, decreasing its efficiency for water uptake, during four year. (i) In the pot experiment, where the volume of the Transpirable Soil Water (TSW) is well defined, the responses followed the hypothesis of water balance models. (ii) The soil depletion was higher than the calculated TSW during two dry years in the field, because of an appreciable contribution of the non-rooted soil layers to the water balance. As a consequence, evapotranspiration, stomatal conductance and predawn water potential did not decrease over the whole range of soil water reserve. Grain yield was no lower in those years than in the wet years, in spite of the fact that the soil water reserve was depleted. Thus, a water balance based on the TSW would have underestimated in these conditions the ability of plants to withdraw soil water, overestimating the necessity of irrigation. Predawn water potential gave, on the contrary, indications consistent with the responses of the stomatal conductance and the net CO₂ assimilation. (iii) The water uptake by plants would have been overestimated in the case of compacted soil. Stomatal conductance was low even for high levels of the soil water reserve, except if the densely rooted top 0.1 m layer of soil was rewatered by irrigation. Water stress could not have been diagnosed in this case from indications of soil water potential or of pre-dawn water potential. These data confirm that some knowledge of the environmental conditions of the root system is necessary to determine if errors made using water balance models are likely to be appreciable, and to know if they lead to an underestimation or overestimation of the risk of water stress.     

The effect of leaf water status on stomatal activity,transpiration and nitrate reductase of sweet potato

The diffusive resistance, transpiration, and nitrate reductase activity were examined in two field grown sweet potato (Convolvulus batatas L.) genotypes. A relationship between leaf water potential and activity of each measured physiological parameter was established.Slight increases in leaf diffusive resistance were observed as leaf water potential decreased, although complete closure of stomata due to water stress was not observed. No genotypic difference was ascertained in the relationship between leaf water potential and diffusive resistance. The stomatal response to humidity deficit is genotype-dependent, and gives a variation in water transport efficiency.The activity of leaf nitrate reductase was adversely affected by leaf water potential. Distinct genotypic differences were observed in the nitrate reductase activity. The data indicated that the stomata of field grown sweet potato are relatively insensitive to water stress, although the leaf nitrate reductase activity is influenced by it. Therefore, measurement of leaf diffusive resistance may not be a reliable estimate of plant water status and related physiological activity.     

Influence of irrigation rate on the rehydration of olive tree plantlets

The scarcity of water for use in agriculture - a consequence of its use in other areas - has made deficit irrigation common on irrigated farmland. Regulated deficit irrigation involves scheduling periodic cycles of water stress over the growing season that result in no (or only a very slight) reduction in yield. The complete recovery of plant water status is, however, necessary if losses are to be minimised. In this work, cv. Picual olive plants, grown in pots in Ciudad Real (Spain), were withheld irrigation for 26 days, and then subjected to one of three different irrigation rates during the recovery period. Two treatments were designed to provide rapid recovery but had different soil moisture targets: T1 involved irrigation to field capacity, and T2 replaced half of the water consumed during the drought period. The third treatment, T3, allowed rehydration to field capacity but at a lower irrigation rate than in either T1 or T2; the pots only reached this soil moisture level after 2 weeks. Compared to a fully irrigated control, the delay in recovery between leaf conductance and mid-day stem water potential was shorter in T1 and T2 (just 1 day) than in T3 (11 days). The T2 plants showed a trend towards lower stem water potentials compared to the controls, while the T3 plants showed a trend towards lower leaf conductance. In all treatments the recovery of water potential was very fast—less than 5 days. The differences in the recovery of leaf conductance and mid-day stem water potential are probably related to root flow. Varying irrigation rates could provide a new means of controlling - and even reducing - the intensity and length of water stress during the recovery period. Measuring the water potential alone during this period may not provide an accurate picture of plant water relations.     

Drought response of rice at different nitrogen levels using line source sprinkler system

Summary In rainfed rice, the nitrogen status of soil and plant is closely related to the moisture regime in the soil. The lower the soil moisture content, the lower the nitrogen use efficiency in the plants.In this study, the yield and growth responses of four rice cultivars to seven irrigation and three nitrogen levels were evaluated using the line source sprinkler system. Visual observations on the degree of drought reaction and measurement of leaf water potential (LWP) were also made.The effect of drought was least on the traditional variety Kinandang Patong and most on the modern variety IR 20. Increasing nitrogen levels from 0 (no nitrogen fertilizer) to 60 and 120 Kg N/ha increased the degree of water stress. This also resulted in decreased LWP especially when the total water applied was minimal. At all levels of nitrogen, Kinandang Patong had significantly higher LWP than IR 20. There was a curvilinear decrease in the number of days to heading and a linear increase in plant height and dry matter production with increase in total water applied.The yield-water-fertilizer relationships of the four cultivars revealed different production surfaces. The early-maturing IR 52 rice gave the highest grain yield at 120 kg N/ha and with maximum water application of 850 mm. Without nitrogen fertilizer application, Kinandang Patong gave the highest predicted yield with 550 mm of water applied. At 120 kg N/ha and 550 mm of water, IR 36 was superior in yield to other rices tested.Results suggest that in areas of uncertain moisture supply, nitrogen application rate should be reduced from that normally used for irrigated rice.     

Relationships between available soil water and indicators of plant water status of sweet sorghum to be applied in irrigation scheduling

Optimal crop production depends greatly on available soil water, and it is therefore important to know when and how much to irrigate in order to attain agronomic potential. In this work, plant indicators are used to assess water stress. These are compared with available soil water to find the critical point for irrigation scheduling of sweet sorghum. The experimental trial was carried out in Bečej, in the Vojvodina region, on a sweet sorghum crop, grown in moderate climatic conditions on a well-drained, deep chernozemolic meadow soil. Plant indicators tested were predawn and midday leaf water potential and crop and air temperature difference. All the methods were sensitive to water deficit in plants, but not all can be used for irrigation scheduling. The predawn leaf water potential was the most reliable parameter among those tested due to its relative independence from weather conditions and a valid indicator of plant water status. This was not the case with canopy-air temperature difference. The predawn leaf water potential corelation with available soil water indicates that the threshold value for irrigation scheduling of sweet sorghum is when the former has decreased to –0.45 MPa. This corresponds to a soil water depletion to about 10% of available water in the active root zone. The canopy-air temperature difference was sufficiently sensitive to indicate the onset of mild plant water stress, although it showed a certain threshold value when water shortage appeared, which occurred when the air and canopy temperature were the same. Received: 9 April 1996     

晚稻蒸腾速率及其影响因素试验研究

根据国家“863”节水农业重大专项“江西示范区晚稻控制灌溉”试验资料,分析了水稻蒸腾速率日变化、全生育期变化的规律以及不同生育阶段蒸腾速率与环境因子、气孔导度和土壤水分状况的相互关系。研究结果表明,田间土壤含水率的降低推延了蒸腾速率日最大值的出现;常灌处理水稻蒸腾速率一般高于控灌处理,但控灌午后的蒸腾速率等于或高于常灌;空气温度、叶面温度、饱和水汽压差和气孔导度是影响水稻的蒸腾速率的关键因素,并在水稻不同生育阶段表现不同的影响程度;气孔导度与晚稻蒸腾速率具有一定相关性;蒸腾速率受土壤含水率变化的影响,且在恢复供水后,蒸腾速率出现一定的反弹现象并表现出不同程度的滞后性。