Publication details
Stem water potential, stomatal conductance and yield in irrigated apple trees
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Plant, soil and environment |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.agriculturejournals.cz/pdfs/pse/2023/07/01.pdf |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/160/2023-PSE |
| Keywords | drought; water dynamic; fruit trees; gas exchange; deficit; abiotic stress |
| Description | Plant-based indicators of water status, such as midday stem water potential (?stem) and leaf stomatal conductance (gs), are used to optimise irrigation scheduling in horticultural crops because they integrate the effect of soil and climatic conditions and the internal physiological constraints. The use of these indicators relies on experimentally acquired thresholds that relate the value of the indicator to negative effects on yield. In five irrigation treatments, we monitored yield, fruit size and the courses of ?stem and gs throughout four consecutive growing seasons. We found that ?stem was more sensitive to irrigation treatment than gs. Both indicators increased with available soil water content (ASWC) and decreased with evaporative demands of the atmosphere (ETC). On a seasonal basis, crop load had a stronger impact on gs than ?stem. In summary, our study explored the effect of environmental conditions and crop load on plant-based indicators of tree water status and can be useful for establishing thresholds for irrigation scheduling in apple tree orchards. |