Abstract
The aim of this work was to determine two types of photosynthetic water-use efficiency in order to examine their utility as selection criteria for tolerance of energy crops to soil water deficit. Furthermore, effects of crop cultivation on soil water content and storage were investigated. Seven energy crops were examined: miscanthus, prairie cordgrass, willow, thorn-free rose, Virginia mallow, Bohemian knotweed, and topinambour. The highest values of instantaneous (WUE) and intrinsic (WUEi) water-use efficiencies were found for miscanthus and prairie cordgrass. The reduction of WUE and/or WUEi was caused mainly by a rapid rise in the transpiration rate and a greater stomatal conductance, respectively. Principal component analysis showed that neither WUE nor WUEi could be recommended as universal selection criteria for the drought tolerance in different energy crops. The proper localization of soil with a good supply of water is most the important condition for energy crop plantations.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- Ap, Bt, C:
-
soil diagnostic horizons (based on FAO classification)
- CV:
-
coefficient of variation
- C4G:
-
C4 grasses
- DM:
-
dry mass
- E :
-
transpiration rate
- g s :
-
stomatal conductance
- HPP:
-
herbaceous perennial plants
- LAI:
-
leaf area index
- NADP-ME:
-
malate dehydrogenase (oxaloacetate-decarboxylating)
- PCA:
-
principal component analysis
- PEPCK:
-
phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase
- P N :
-
net photosynthetic rate
- SRC:
-
short-rotation coppices
- WUE:
-
instantaneous water-use efficiency
- WUEi :
-
intrinsic water-use efficiency
- Φ:
-
diameter
References
Bacon M.A.: Water Use Efficiency in Plant Biology. Pp. 344. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford 2004.
Balogh L.: Japanese, giant and Bohemian knotweed (Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr., F. sachalinensis (Frdr. Schmidt) Ronse Decr. and F. × bohemica (Chrtek et Chrtková) J. P. Bailey). — In: Botta-Dukát Z., Balogh L. (ed.): The most Important Invasive Plants in Hungary. Pp. 13–33. Institute of Ecology and Botany, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Vácrátó 2008.
Biniak-Pieróg M.: Dynamics of water content in light bare soil in summer half-year in the period of 2003–2012 and its agrometeorological determinants. — J. Water Land Dev. 22: 41–50, 2014.
Blanco-Canqui H.: Energy crops and their implications on soil and environment. — Agron J. 102: 403–419, 2009.
Blum A.: Drought resistance, water-use efficiency, and yield potential–are they compatible, dissonant, or mutually exclusive? — Aust. J. Agr. Res. 56: 1159–1168, 2005.
Blum A.: Effective use of water (EUW) and not water-use efficiency (WUE) is the target of crop yield improvement under drought stress. A review. — Field Crop. Res. 112: 119–123, 2009.
Buchmann N., Brooks J.R., Rapp K.D., Ehleringer J.R.: Carbon isotope composition of C4 grasses is influenced by light and water supply. — Plant Cell Environ. 19: 392–402, 1996.
Clifton-Brown J.C., Lewandowski I., Andersson B. et al.: Performance of 15 Miscanthus genotypes at five sites in Europe. — Agron J. 93: 1013–1019, 2001.
Condon A.G., Richards E.A., Rebetzke G.J., Farquhar G.D.: Improving intrinsic water-use efficiency and crop yield. — Crop Sci. 42: 122–131, 2002.
El Bassam N.: Energy Plant Species: Their Use and Impact on Environment and Development. Pp. 321. James & James Sci. Publ. Ltd., London 1998.
El Bassam N.: Handbook of Bioenergy Crops: A Complete Reference to Species. Pp. 545. Earthscan Ltd., London–Washington, DC, 2010.
Fan Y., Wang Q., Kang L. et al.: Transcriptome-wide characterization of candidate genes for improving the water use efficiency of energy crops grown on semiarid land. — J. Exp. Bot. 66: 6415–6429, 2015.
Hall R.L.: Grasses for Energy Production Hydrological Guidelines. DTI New and Renewable Programme. Pp. 15. Crown Copyright, Wallingford 2003.
Jollife T.T.: Principal Component Analysis, 2nd ed. Springer Series in Statistics. Pp. 488. Springer Verlag, New York–Berlin–Heidelberg 2002.
Kocacinar F., Sage R.F.: Photosynthetic pathway alters xylem structure and hydraulic function in herbaceous plants. — Plant Cell Environ. 26: 2015–2026, 2003.
Lewandowski I., Scurlock J.M.O., Lindvall E., Christou M.: The development and current status of perennial rhizomatous grasses as energy crops in the US and Europe. — Biomass Bioenerg. 25: 335–361, 2003.
Long S.P.: Ecology of C4 photosynthesis. — In: Sage R.F., Monson R.K. (ed.): C4 Plant Biology. Pp. 215–242. Academic Press, San Diego 1999.
Long S.P.: Ecology of C4 photosynthesis. 7. Environmental responses. — In: Sager R.F., Monson R.K. (ed.): C4 Plant Biology. Pp. 215–243. Academic Press, San Diego 2003.
Long S.P., Zhu X.G., Naidu S.L., Ort D.: Can improvement in photosynthesis increase crop yields? — Plant Cell Environ. 29: 315–330, 2006.
Ripley B.S., Frole K., Gilbert M.: Differences in drought sensitivities and photosynthetic limitations between cooccurring C3 and C4 (NADP-ME) Panicoid grasses. — Ann. Bot.-London 105: 493–503, 2010.
Sokal R.R., Rohlf F.J.: Biometry. 3rd ed. Pp. 937. WH Freeman & Co., New York 1995.
Sosulski T., Szara E., Stępień W., Rutkowska B.: The influence of mineral fertilization and legumes cultivation on the N2O soil emissions. — Plant Soil Environ. 61: 529–536, 2015
Tambussi E.A., Bort J., Araus J.L.: Water use efficiency in C3 cereals under Mediterranean conditions: a review of physiological aspects". — Ann. Appl. Biol. 150: 307–321, 2007.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
This article is published with open access at link.springer.com
Acknowledgements: We thank the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of The Republic of Poland for financing our research in the form of scientific grant No. N N310 308734 ‘Agricultural productivity and energy and emission value of biomass of energy crops grown under differentiated soil moisture conditions’.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Podlaski, S., Pietkiewicz, S., Chołuj, D. et al. The relationship between the soil water storage and water-use efficiency of seven energy crops. Photosynthetica 55, 210–218 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-017-0697-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-017-0697-0