Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T11:41:28.801Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effects of drought on barley growth: models and measurements showing the relative importance of leaf area and photosynthetic rate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

B. J. Legg ,
W. Day ,
D. W. Lawlor  and
K. J. Parkinson
B. J. Legg
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire
W. Day
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire
D. W. Lawlor
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire
K. J. Parkinson
Affiliation:
Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In a field experiment on the effects of drought on spring barley the crop was protected from rain by automatic rain shelters. Various plots received irrigation at different times to give a range of drought treatments from full irrigation to no irrigation between emergence and harvest. The foliage area, light interception, stomatal resistance and leaf photosynthesis rate of five treatments were measured throughout the growing season, and a mathematical model has related the computed whole canopy photosynthesis to the measured total dry-matter yields at harvest. Hence, it was possible to estimate tha independent influences of drought on radiation interception, efficiency of use of intercepted radiation, and respiration. The analysis shows that for all treatments the decrease of intercepted radiation was the major factor in reducing yield, and it accounted for a loss of 30–40% for treatments that were stressed from the beginning of the season, and of 10–20% for treatments that were stressed after mid-May. Stomatal closure caused a reduction of up to 11% in daily photosynthesis, and the maximum effect was on plants that acquired a large leaf area before being stressed. However, the effect of stomatal closure integrated over the whole season was only 6% or less. Our measurements of internal resistance to carbon dioxide transfer were not precise enough to show significant differences between treatments; but increases of internal resistance, caused by stress, may have contributed to loss of yield.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 92 , Issue 3 , June 1979 , pp. 703 - 716
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Austin, R. B., Ford, M. A., Edrick, J. A. & Hooper, B. E. (1976). Some effects of posture on photosynthesis and yield in wheat. Annals of Applied Biology 83, 425–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Begg, J. E. & Turner, N. C. (1976). Crop water deficits. Advances in Agronomy 29, 161–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biscoe, P. V., Littleton, E. J. & Scott, R. K. (1973). Stomatal control of gas exchange in barley awns. Annals of Applied Biology 75, 285–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biscoe, P. V., Gallagher, J. N., Littleton, E. J., Monteith, J. L. & Scott, R. K. (1975 a). Barley and its environment. IV. Sources of assimilate for the grain. Journal of Applied Ecology 12, 295–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biscoe, P. V., Scott, R. K. & Monteith, J. L. (1975 b). Barley and its environment. III. Carbon budget of the stand. Journal of Applied Ecology 12, 269–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyer, J. S. (1976). Water deficits and photosynthesis. In Water deficits and Plant Growth, vol. IV (ed. Kozlowski, T. T.), pp. 153–190. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Day, W. (1977). A direct reading continuous flow porometer. Agricultural Meterology 18, 81–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Day, W., Legg, B. J., French, B. K., Johnston, A. E., Lawlor, D. W. & de, C.Jeffers, W. (1978). A drought experiment using mobile shelters: the effects of drought on barley yield, water use and nutrient uptake. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 91, 599–623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, J. N. & Biscoe, P. V. (1978). Radiation absorption, growth and yield of cereals. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 91, 47–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsiao, T. C. (1973). Plant responses to water stress. Annual Review of Plant Physiology 24, 519–570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsiao, T. C. & Acevedo, E. (1974). Plant responses to water deficits, water use efficiency, and drought resistance. Agricultural Meterology 14, 59–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawlor, D. W. (1976). Water stress induced changes in photosynthesis, photorespiration, respiration and CO2 compensation concentration of wheat. Photosynthetica 10, 378–387.Google Scholar
Legg, B. J., Day, W., Brown, N. J. & Smith, G. J. (1978). Small plots and automatic rain shelters: a field appraisal. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 91, 321–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Littleton, E. J. (1971). The gas exchange of barley leaves and ears. Ph. D. thesis, University of Nottingham.Google Scholar
Long, I. F. & French, B. K. (1967). Measurement of soil moisture in the field by neutron moderation. Journal of Soil Science 18, 149–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCree, K. J. (1970). An equation for the rate of respiration of white clover plants grown under controlled conditions. In Prediction and Measurement of Photosynthetic Productivity (ed. Setlick, I), pp. 221–230. Wageningen: Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation.Google Scholar
McCree, K. J. (1974). Equations for the rate of dark respiration of white clover and grain sorghum, as functions of dry weight, photosynthetic rate, and temperature. Crop Science 14, 509–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milthorpe, F. L. & Penman, H. L. (1967). The diffusive conductivity of the stomata of wheat leaves. Journal of Experimental Botany 18, 422–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monteith, J. L. (1963). Gas exchange in plant communities. In Environmental Control of Plant Growth (ed. Evans, L. T.), pp. 95–111. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monteith, J. L. (1965). Light distribution and photosynthesis in field crops. Annals of Botany, N. S. 29, 17–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monteith, J. L. (1972). Solar radiation and productivity in tropical ecosystems. Journal of Applied Ecology 9, 747–766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monteith, J. L. (1977). Climate and the efficiency of crop production in Britain. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B 281, 277–294.Google Scholar
Scott, R. K. & Wilcockson, S. J. (1978). Application of physiological and agronomic principles to the development of the potato industry. In The Potato Crop (ed. Harris, P. M.), pp. 678–704. London: Chapman and Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheehy, J. E. & Cooper, J. P. (1973). Light interception, photosynthetio activity, and crop growth rate in canopies of six temperate forage grasses. Journal of Applied Ecology 10, 239–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slatyer, R. O. (1973 a). The effect of internal water status on plant growth, development and yield. In Plant Response to Climatic Factors (ed. Slatyer, R. O.), pp. 171–191. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Slatyer, R. O. (1973 b). Effects of short periods of water stress on leaf photosynthesis. In Plant Response to Climatic Factors (ed. Slatyer, R. O.), pp. 271–276. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Szeicz, G. (1974 a). Solar radiation for plant growth. Journal of Applied Ecology 11, 617–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szeicz, G. (1974 b). Solar radiation in crop canopies. Journal of Applied Ecology 11, 1117–1156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welbank, P. J. & Williams, E. D. (1968). Root growth of a barley crop estimated by sampling with portable powered soil-coring equipment. Journal of Applied Ecology 5, 477–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar