Plant and Soil

, Volume 121, Issue 1, pp 57–66 | Cite as

Root respiration during grain filling in sunflower: The effects of water stress

  • A. J. Hall
  • D. J. Connor
  • D. M. Whitfield
Article
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Abstract

Instantaneous rates of (soil + root) respiration were measured periodically during grain filling in sunflower crops that were i) irrigated at weekly intervals and ii) subjected to water stress for the last 25 days of the 40-day grain filling period. Daily (soil + root) respiration was calculated using instantaneous respiration rates, an empirically determined temperature response function, and diurnal records of soil temperature. Daily soil respiration was estimated using empirically determined functions linking soil respiration to soil temperature and water content. Between anthesis and maturity, daily root respiration of the irrigated crop dropped by about one half from ca. 1.8 g C m-2 d-1, exhibiting a strong association with daily crop gross photosynthesis. Water stress brought about a rapid decrease in root respiration, which fell to about 0.1 g C m-2 d-1 at maturity. Root respiration during grain filling was 46 and 30 g C m-2 for irrigated and stressed crops, respectively.

Key words

crop carbon budget grain filling root respiration soil respiration sunflower temperature response water-stress 
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Copyright information

© Kluwer Academic Publishers 1990

Authors and Affiliations

  • A. J. Hall
    • 1
  • D. J. Connor
    • 1
  • D. M. Whitfield
    • 2
  1. 1.School of Agriculture and ForestryUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleAustralia
  2. 2.Institute for Irrigation and Salinity ResearchTaturaAustralia

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