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Water relations and stomatal characteristics of Mediterranean plants with different growth forms and leaf habits: responses to water stress and recovery

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to extent the range of knowledge about water relations and stomatal responses to water stress to ten Mediterranean plants with different growth forms and leaf habits. Plants were subjected to different levels of water stress and a treatment of recovery. Stomatal attributes (stomatal density, StoD), stomatal conductance (g s), stomatal responsiveness to water stress (SR), leaf water relations (pre-dawn and midday leaf water potential and relative water content), soil to leaf apparent hydraulic conductance (K L) and bulk modulus of elasticity (ε) were determined. The observed wide range of water relations and stomatal characteristics was found to be partially depended on the growth form. Maximum g s was related to StoD and the stomatal area index (SAI), while g s evolution after water stress and recovery was highly correlated with K L. Relationships between SR to water deficit and other morphological leaf traits, such as StoD, LMA or ε, provided no general correlations when including all species. It is concluded that a high variability is present among Mediterranean plants reflecting a continuum of leaf water relations and stomatal behaviour in response to water stress.

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Acknowledgements

Drs. Hans Lambers, Martin AJ Parry, Fernando Valladares and Javier Gulías are acknowledged for their helpful comments on a previous version of the manuscript. JG was supported by grants from Programa de Formació de Professorat Universitari, UIB. This work was partly funded by Projects REN2001-3506-CO2-O2 and BFU2005-03102/BFI (Plan Nacional, Spain).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grup de Recerca en Biologia de les Plantes en Condicions Mediterrànies, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Carretera de Valldemossa km 7.5, 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Jeroni Galmés, Jaume Flexas & Hipólito Medrano

  2. Departament de Tecnologia Hortícola, Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Carretera de Cabrils s/n, 08348, Cabrils, Spain

    Robert Savé

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  1. Jeroni Galmés
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  2. Jaume Flexas
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  4. Hipólito Medrano
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Correspondence to Jeroni Galmés.

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Galmés, J., Flexas, J., Savé, R. et al. Water relations and stomatal characteristics of Mediterranean plants with different growth forms and leaf habits: responses to water stress and recovery. Plant Soil 290, 139–155 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-006-9148-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-006-9148-6

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