Response of stomatal conductance of two tree species to vapor pressure deficit in three climate zones

Stomatal behavior is a central topic of plant ecophysiological research under global environmental change. However, the physiological mechanism controlling the response of stomata to vapor pressure deficit （VPD） or relative humidity （RH） has been inadequately understood till now. In this study, responses of stomatal conduc- tance （gs） to VPD in two species of trees （Fraxinus chinensis Roxb., Populus alba L. var. pyramidalis Bge.）in three different climate zones （Jinan with typical warm humid/semi-humid climate, Urumqi with temperate continental arid climate and Turpan with extreme arid desert climate） were measured. Levels of two phytohormones （abscisic acid, ABA; indole-3-acetic acid, IAA） in the leaves of the two tree species at these three sites were also measured by high performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that the responses of gs to an increasing VPD in these two tree species at the three sites had peak curves which could be fitted with a Log Normal Model （gs=a.exp（-O.5（In（DIc）lb）2）. The VPD/RH values corresponding to the maximum g, can be calculated using the fitting models for the two tree species in the three sites. We found that the calculated g, -VPD correlated nega- tively with relative air humidity in the three sites during the plant growth period （April to October 2010）, which showed the values of g,-max-VPD were related to the climate conditions. The prevailing empirical stomatal model （Leuning model） and optimal stomatal behavior model could not properly simulate our measured data. The water use efficiency in the two tree species did not show obvious differences under three very different climatic conditions, but the highest gs, photosynthetic and transpiration rates occurred in P. alba var. of Turpan. The sensitivity in re- sponse of g~ to VPD in leaves of the two trees showed positive correlations with the concentration of ABA, which implied that ABA level could be used as an indicator of the sensitivity of stomatal response to VPD. Our results confirmed that the prediction of the response of gs to VPD might be incomplete in the two current popular models. Therefore, an improved g, model which is able to integrate the results is needed. Also, the stomatal response mechanism of single peak curves of g~ to VPD should be considered.

Quantifying key model parameters for wheat leaf gas exchange under different environmental conditions

The maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco(Vcmax)and maximum rate of electron transport(Jmax)for the biochemical photosynthetic model,and the slope(m)of the Ball-Berry stomatal conductance model influence gas exchange estimates between plants and the atmosphere.However,there is limited data on the variation of these three parameters for annual crops under different environmental conditions.Gas exchange measurements of light and CO2 response curves on leaves of winter wheat and spring wheat were conducted during the wheat growing season under different environmental conditions.There were no significant differences for Vcmax,Jmax or m between the two wheat types.The seasonal variation of Vcmax,Jmax and m for spring wheat was not pronounced,except a rapid decrease for Vcmax and Jmax at the end of growing season.Vcmax and Jmax show no significant changes during soil drying until light saturated stomatal conductance(gssat)was smaller than 0.15 mol m^–2 s^–1.Meanwhile,there was a significant difference in m during two different water supply conditions separated by gssat at 0.15 mol m^–2 s^–1.Furthermore,the misestimation of Vcmax and Jmax had great impacts on the net photosynthesis rate simulation,whereas,the underestimation of m resulted in underestimated stomatal conductance and transpiration rate and an overestimation of water use efficiency.Our work demonstrates that the impact of severe environmental conditions and specific growing stages on the variation of key model parameters should be taken into account for simulating gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere.Meanwhile,modification of m and Vcmax(and Jmax)successively based on water stress severity might be adopted to simulate gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere under drought.