Plant Response to the Environment

Abstract

As mentioned in the preceding chapter, it is very important to include a plant growth sub-model in the total model. However, plant growth, particularly under cover, is sophisticated, and modeling it is not simple. This is one of the main reasons why most greenhouse models do not have or have only rather simple sub-models of plant growth. In the open field, the time courses of environmental conditions such as air temperature and carbon dioxide concentration are smoother than those in some greenhouses where the objective is to optimize the environment. Basic response curves, such as photosynthesis and respiration responses to light and temperature conditions, have been studied for many years and are useful for modeling plant growth in open fields. In protected cultivation such as heated greenhouses with CO₂ enrichment facilities, some conditions can be changed drastically and positively.