Summary
The dynamics of stress development in crops involves a decrease in turgor potential of leaves which causes decreases in leaf expansion, photosynthesis, and transpiration. A study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of three possible adaptive mechanisms in maintaining turgor potential and growth. These mechanisms — osmotic adjustment, increased root growth, and increased stomatal resistance at full turgor — were examined by a simulation experiment using a dynamic model of the soil-crop-atmospheric system. Osmotic adjustment was found to be ineffective in maintaining turgor for crops grown in a sandy soil because of the rapid development of stress. When a ten-day drying cycle was simulated for a clay soil, cumulative transpiration, photosynthesis and growth were increased by osmotic adjustment, indicating an improved ability of the crop to maintain turgor under the simulated conditions for the clay soil. increased stomatal resistance was ineffective for the simulated conditions because of a concomitant decrease in photosynthetic rate. Increased soil volume occupied by roots was found to be the most effective adaptive mechanism for maintaining turgor, transpiration, photosynthesis and growth of crops in both soil types.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brown KW (1969) A model of the photosynthesizing leaf. Physiol Plant 22:620
Brown KW, Jordan WR, Thomas JC (1976) Water stress induced alterations of the stomatal response to decreases in leaf water potential. Physiol Plant 37:1
Burch GJ (1979) Soil and plant resistances to absorption by plant root systems. Aust J Agric Res 30:279
Cutler JM, Shahan KW, Steponkus PL (1980) Alteration of the internal water relations of rice in response to drought hardening. Crop Sci 20:307
Fischer RA, Turner NC (1978) Plant productivity in the arid and semiarid zones. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 29:277
Gardner WR (1960) Dynamic aspects of water availability to plants. Soil Sci 89:63
Gardner WR, Ehlig CF (1965) Physical aspects of the internal water relations of plant leaves. Plant Physiol 40:705
Hsiao TC (1973) Plant responses to water stress. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 24:519
Jones HG (1976) Crop characteristics and the ratio between assimilation and transpiration. J Appl Ecol 13:605
Jones JW, Zur B, Boote KJ (1983) Field evaluation of a water relations model for soybean. II. Diurnal fluctuations. Agron J 75:281
Jones MM, Turner NC (1978) Osmotic adjustment in leaves of sorghum in response to water deficits. Plant Physiol 61:122
Jordan WR, Miller FR (1980) Genetic variability in sorghum root systems: Implications for drought tolerance. In: Turner NC, Kramer PJ (eds) Adaptation of plants to water and high temperature stress. John Wiley & Sons, New York
Jordan WR, Ritchie JT (1971) Influence of soil water stress on evaporation, root absorption and internal water status of cotton. Plant Physiol 48:783
Levitt J (1972) Response of plants to environmental stress. Academic Press, New York
Maximov NA (1929) The plant in relation to water. Allen and Unwin, London
McCree KJ (1974) Changes in the stomatal response characteristics of grain sorghum produced by water stress during growth. Crop Sci 14:273
Monteith JL (1965) Evaporation and environment. Symp Soc Exp Biol 19:205
Parker J (1968) Drought-resistance mechanisms. In: Kozlowski TT (ed) Water deficits and plant growth, Vol 1. Academic Press, New York, pp 195–234
Penman HL (1948) Natural evaporation from open water, bare soil and grass. Proc R Soc (London) 193:120
Taylor HM, Klepper B (1978) The role of rooting characteristics in the supply of water to plants. Adv Agron 30:99
Thomas JC, Brown KW, Jordan WR (1976) Stomatal response to leaf water potential as affected by preconditioning water stress in the field. Agron J 68:706
Turner NC, Begg JE, Tonnet ML (1978) Osmotic adjustment of sorghum and sunflower crops in response to water deficits and its influence on the water potential at which stomata close. Aust J Plant Physiol 5:597
Turner NC, Jones MM (1980) Turgor maintenance by osmotic adjustment: A review and evaluation. In: Turner NC, Kramer PJ (eds) Adaptation of plants to water and high temperature stress. John Wiley & Sons, New York
Zur B, Boote KJ, Jones JW (1981) Changes in internal water relations and osmotic properties of leaves in maturing soybean plants. J Exp Bot 32:1181
Zur B, Jones JW (1981) A model for the water relations, photosynthesis and expansive growth of crops. Water Resour Res 17:311
Zur B, Jones JW, Boote KJ (1983) Field evaluations of a water relations model for soybean. I. Validity of some basic assumptions. Agron J 75:272
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Contribution from Department of Agricultural Engineering, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Supported in part by Grant No. FL-AGO-1911 Cooperative Research, United States Department of Agriculture. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal No. 2657
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jones, J.W., Zur, B. Simulation of possible adaptive mechanisms in crops subjected to water stress. Irrig Sci 5, 251–264 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00258178
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00258178