scholarly journals Drought Differentially Affects Growth, Transpiration, and Water Use Efficiency of Mixed and Monospecific Planted Forests

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Sinacore ◽  
Heidi Asbjornsen ◽  
Virginia Hernandez-Santana ◽  
Jefferson S. Hall

Drought conditions may have differential impacts on growth, transpiration, and water use efficiency (WUE) in mixed species and monospecific planted forests. Understanding the resistance (i.e., the capacity to maintain processes unchanged) of different tree species to drought, and how resistance is affected by complementary interactions within species mixtures, is particularly important in the seasonally dry tropics where projected increases in the frequency and severity of drought threaten tree planting efforts and water resources. Complementary interactions between species may lead to more resistant stands if complementarity leads to greater buffering capacity during drought. We examined growth, transpiration, and WUE of mixtures and monocultures of Terminalia amazonia (J.F. Gmel.) Exell and Dalbergia retusa Hemsl. before and during a prolonged drought using intensive measurements of tree sap flow and growth. Tree sapwood area growth was highest for T. amazonia in mixtures during normal (6.78 ± 4.08 mm2 yr−1) and drought (7.12 ± 4.85 mm2 yr−1) conditions compared to the other treatments. However, stand sapwood area growth was greatest for T. amazonia monocultures, followed by mixtures, and finally, D. retusa monocultures. There was a significant decrease in stand transpiration during drought for both mixtures and T. amazonia monocultures, while Dalbergia retusa monocultures were most water use efficient at both the tree and stand level. Treatments showed different levels of resistance to drought, with D. retusa monocultures being the most resistant, with non-significant changes of growth and transpiration before and during drought. Combining species with complementary traits and avoiding combinations where one species dominates the other, may maximize complementary interactions and reduce competitive interactions, leading to greater resistance to drought conditions.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Jia ◽  
Ke Mao ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
Yu Wang ◽  
Xumei Jia ◽  
...  

AbstractWater deficit is one of the major limiting factors for apple (Malus domestica) production on the Loess Plateau, a major apple cultivation area in China. The identification of genes related to the regulation of water use efficiency (WUE) is a crucial aspect of crop breeding programs. As a conserved degradation and recycling mechanism in eukaryotes, autophagy has been reported to participate in various stress responses. However, the relationship between autophagy and WUE regulation has not been explored. We have shown that a crucial autophagy protein in apple, MdATG8i, plays a role in improving salt tolerance. Here, we explored its biological function in response to long-term moderate drought stress. The results showed that MdATG8i-overexpressing (MdATG8i-OE) apple plants exhibited higher WUE than wild-type (WT) plants under long-term moderate drought conditions. Plant WUE can be increased by improving photosynthetic efficiency. Osmoregulation plays a critical role in plant stress resistance and adaptation. Under long-term drought conditions, the photosynthetic capacity and accumulation of sugar and amino acids were higher in MdATG8i-OE plants than in WT plants. The increased photosynthetic capacity in the OE plants could be attributed to their ability to maintain optimal stomatal aperture, organized chloroplasts, and strong antioxidant activity. MdATG8i overexpression also promoted autophagic activity, which was likely related to the changes described above. In summary, our results demonstrate that MdATG8i-OE apple lines exhibited higher WUE than WT under long-term moderate drought conditions because they maintained robust photosynthesis, effective osmotic adjustment processes, and strong autophagic activity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saqib Saleem Akhtar ◽  
Daniel Buchvaldt Amby ◽  
Josefine Nymark Hegelund ◽  
Lorenzo Fimognari ◽  
Dominik K. Großkinsky ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 389 ◽  
pp. 285-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eladio H. Cornejo-Oviedo ◽  
Steven L. Voelker ◽  
Douglas B. Mainwaring ◽  
Douglas A. Maguire ◽  
Frederick C. Meinzer ◽  
...  

1973 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 797 ◽  
Author(s):  
GG Johns ◽  
A Lazenby

Measurements were made over a 12-month period of the herbage production of both dryland and irrigated monoculture swards of four temperate pasture species under two defoliation regimes. By relating herbage production to the previously reported water use results for these swards, water use efficiencies (WUE) have been computed. Dryland clover produced 2000 kg/ha less herbage than did the dryland grasses, although it used a similar quantity of water. Consequently, the WUE of dryland clover was substantially less than that of the dryland grasses. Under dryland conditions, fescue not only produced more herbage, but also used water more efficiently than did the other species. Similar amounts of irrigation enabled the clover to yield an extra 6000 kg/ha of herbage compared with a mean grass response of 1760 kg/ha. The irrigated clover swards generally used water much more efficiently than the dryland clover swards. In contrast, the grasses generally used water with similar efficiency under both irrigated and dryland conditions. Under both irrigated and dryland conditions the frequently defoliated swards usually outyielded those cut infrequently as well as making more efficient use of water. The response of pastures to irrigation is discussed in terms of the effects of irrigation on the water status of the plants and the availability of nutrients in the rhizosphere.


Author(s):  
Luiz Fernando Ganassali de Oliveira Júnior ◽  
Patrícia Lima de Souza Santos ◽  
Roberta Samara Nunes de Lima ◽  
Maria Priscilla Celestino Silveira ◽  
Jailson Lara Fagundes ◽  
...  

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of CaO-based particle film on the physiological parameters of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) subjected to water restriction. Plants were subjected to two levels of soil moisture and three concentrations of the film, as follows: control, without film + 100% crop evapotranspiration (ETc); without film + 50% ETc; 5% CaO + 50% ETc; 10% CaO + 50% ETc; 5% CaO + 100% ETc; and 10% CaO + 100% ETc. Plants treated with 50% ETc remained stable with the application of 10% CaO particle film and showed high photosynthetic assimilation of CO2 (32 μmol m-2 s-1), moderate transpiration (5.6 mmol m-2 s-1), maintenance of chlorophyll content, and greater intrinsic water-use efficiency (IWUE, 226.65 μmol mol-1) and instantaneous water-use efficiency (6.06 μmol mmol-1) than plants of the other treatments. Control plants and plants at 5% CaO + 50% ETc showed, respectively, photosynthetic assimilation of CO2 at 15.34 and 15.94 μmol m-2 s-1, transpiration at 3.51 and 3.45 mmol m-2 s-1, and IWUE at 177.7 and 198.9 μmol mol-1. The CaO-based particle film is effective in protecting bean plants subjected to water restriction.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mutiara K. Pitaloka ◽  
Robert S. Caine ◽  
Christopher Hepworth ◽  
Emily L. Harrison ◽  
Jen Sloan ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundRice (Oryza sativa) is one of the world’s most important crops and is especially important in Asia. Because irrigated rice consumes about 34–43% of the total water used for irrigation globally, increasing drought and global temperature will increase the risk of rice crop loss. However, rice is among the least efficient crops in terms of water use, whereby most of the uptaken water is used for transpirational cooling via stomatal pores on the leaf blades and sheaths. To increase the water-use efficiency of rice, alterations in stomatal density and size may help to reduce transpiration and thereby increase water-use efficiency (WUE). ResultsWe identified four stomatal model lines—with either high-density (HD) or low-density (LD) stomata and small-sized (SS) or big-sized (BS) stomata—from the Mutant Core Collection (MCC) of 216 mutants. Gas exchange analysis revealed that the stomatal model lines have similar photosynthetic assimilation (A) and chlorophyll fluorescence. With increasing CO2 concentration, A of all stomatal model lines was observed to respond similarly at 100–600 ppm CO2, but beyond this point, SS was more responsive to increasing CO2 concentration than the other stomatal model lines. HD had higher stomatal conductance (gs) and gsmax than the other stomatal model lines. In response to a mild heat at 30 °C, both SS and LD had higher canopy temperature than HD, BS, and JHN-wt as a result of heat retention. All stomatal model lines are also similar in their rhythmic stomatal responses to ten-minute dark/light transition cycles, except that initial stomata closure in SS was more rapid than in BS. The stomatal model lines did not show any significant differences in the response to short-term water stress. Long-term water stress had less impact on leaf drying, Fv/Fm, grain yield, and harvest index in LD and SS. In the field, all stomatal model lines and JHN-wt had similar WUE in the sufficient-water treatment. LD had the highest WUE and biomass/plant than any stomatal model lines in the long-term restricted-water treatment. ConclusionsTaken together, our results suggest that induced alterations in stomata density and size influence rice WUE and the responses to drought and heat stresses, providing further understanding of the roles of stomata density and size in related processes. The low-density and small stomata lines have high potential as genetic donors for improving WUE and drought in climate-ready rice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omkar Maharudra Limbalkar ◽  
Rajendra Singh ◽  
Parvesh Kumar ◽  
Joghee Nanjundan ◽  
Chiter Mal Parihar ◽  
...  

Among Brassica species, Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata A. Braun) is known to tolerate most abiotic stresses, including drought. Drought caused by low and erratic rainfall in semi-arid regions consistently challenges rapeseed mustard productivity. Development of B. carinata-derived lines (CDLs) in Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. nuclear background, carrying genomic segments from B. carinata, are expected to tolerate moisture deficit stress conditions. The present study was, thus, aimed to establish the phenomenon “heterosis” for drought tolerance and water use efficiency by evaluating 105 hybrids developed from intermating 15 CDLs in half diallel fashion. Data on 17 seed yield and yield contributing traits were recorded under two different environments, viz., irrigated and rainfed conditions. Traits under study were found to be governed by both additive and non-additive types of gene action. Average degree of dominance was higher (>2) for yield and yield contributing traits, viz., secondary branches/plant, point to first siliqua on main shoot, total siliquae/plant, 1,000-seed weight, seed yield/plant, biological yield, harvest index, and seed yield/hectare under rainfed conditions, clearly indicating that higher productivity under drought conditions can be realised through the development of hybrids. Out of 15, highly significant general combining ability (GCA) effects for seven CDLs were observed under rainfed condition. Furthermore, nine and six hybrids expressed highly significant specific combining ability (SCA) effects and > 50% heterobeltiosis for yield contributing traits under rainfed and irrigated conditions, respectively. Water use efficiency (WUE) of parental CDLs and hybrids varied from 2.05 to 2.57 kg m–3 under rainfed, while 1.10 to 1.28 kg m–3 under irrigated conditions. Hybrids expressed higher WUE than parental lines under both water regimes. Furthermore, selection indices such as drought tolerance index (DTI) and mean relative performance (MRP) were identified to be efficient in the selection of productive CDLs and hybrids under drought conditions. Nine hybrids, identified as highly productive in the present study, can further be exploited for improving the yield of Indian mustard in drought-prone areas. Usefulness of interspecific hybridisation in the development of B. carinata-derived B. juncea lines for improving heterosis and WUE is, thus, well demonstrated through the present study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Getachew Assefa ◽  
Mengistu Urge ◽  
Getachew Animut ◽  
Getnet Assefa

Maize varieties BH540, BH660, BH661, and MVFG (unknown variety as local check) were evaluated at low (5.6 kg m-2), medium (7.6 kg m-2), and high (9.6 kg m-2) seed rate for hydroponic fodder productivity. A 3 ? 4m wide and 3 m height low-cost plastic house made of translucent plastic and a plastic trays made by bisecting a 25 liter capacity plastic oil container into two equal parts were used for growing the hydroponic fodder. The bottoms of the trays were drilled to open holes to drain excess water during irrigation and placed on shelves.The BH661 exhibited significantly (p<0.01) higher dry fodder yield (6.63 kg) per square meter and per kg seed than the other varieties. Among the seed rates, the high seed rate has a higher (P< 0.01) Dry Mater (DM) fodder yield, but the medium and low seed rates had greater DM fodder conversion efficiency and lower cost per kg DM fodder production. Water use efficiency was lower for BH540 (64 kg DM fodder per cubic meter water) as compared to the other varieties that had similar values (90 to 95kg DM fodder per cubic meter water). Medium and high seed rates exhibited similar water use efficiency, and it is higher than the low seed rate. Therefore, the use of BH661 variety at medium seeding rate is recommended for maize hydroponic fodder production.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceres Duarte Guedes Cabral de Almeida ◽  
Leandro Candido Gordin ◽  
Alexsandro Cláudio dos Santos Almeida ◽  
José Amilton Santos Júnior ◽  
Brivaldo Gomes de Almeida ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;Several methodologies and techniques are available for irrigation management in protected environments. Despite the cultivation of vegetables in the greenhouse is largely present in the northeastern region of Brazil, not many research has been aimed at supporting growers for accurate irrigation management.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The objective of this study is to evaluate yield and irrigation water use efficiency of Capsicum crop cultivated in a greenhouse under different methods to define the daily irrigation depth, based on the soil water status and the atmospheric evaporative demand. Moreover, two different strategies to apply the estimated irrigation depths (single or double daily application) were also examined.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse in the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), northeastern of Brazil (8&amp;#176; 01&amp;#8217; 07&amp;#8221; S and 34&amp;#176; 56&amp;#8217; 53&amp;#8221; W, altitude 6.50 m). Based on a completely randomized design, the experimental units were distributed according to a 4 x 2 factorial scheme with eight replications, with a total of 64 experimental units. Four methods to estimate daily irrigation water requirement were evaluated: two based on soil sensors (soil water content sensors EC-5, SWS, and tensiometers, TS), whereas the other two were based on the atmospheric evaporative demand (weighing lysimeter, WL, and Pich&amp;#233; evaporimeter, PE). Moreover, the daily irrigation depths were applied with a single watering (at 8:00 am) or split into two applications (the half at 8:00 am and the half at 4:30 pm). The commercial yield of the examined crop was calculated through the relationship between the weight of fresh fruit and the area occupied by the plant.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The statistical analysis showed that the water use efficiency, the total water volume applied and the commercial yield of capsicum were significantly influenced by the method used to estimate crop water requirement, as well as the irrigation strategies. The total irrigation depth applied during the entire crop cycle resulted in equal to 509 mm, 678 mm, 716 mm, and 790 mm for treatments with WL, PE, SWS, and TS, respectively. The seasonal applied irrigation depths corresponded to an average daily crop water requirement ranging, according to the treatments, from 5.4 to 8.3 mm day&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;; these values are consistent for the examined crop cultivated under protected conditions. The highest yields of commercial fruits were obtained in the treatments in which the highest irrigation depth (SWS and TS) was applied. On the other hand, the highest values of water use efficiency were obtained in those treatments in which the irrigation depth was defined based on SWS and WL. Splitting the estimated daily irrigation depth in two applications promoted greater commercial productivity and water use efficiency (10.73 t ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; and 1.60 kg m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;) compared to a single application (8.14 t ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; and 1.22 kg m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;), with an increase of both variables of about 31%. These results evidenced that splitting the daily irrigation depth is a promising strategy to increase water use efficiency for vegetable crops in protected environments.&lt;/p&gt;


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