ALBERT

Notes: Summary The photosynthesizing branches of Hammada scoparia, one of the typical dwarf shrubs of the Negev desert, undergo a seasonal change from succulent to xeromorphic anatomy. This trend is accompanied by a marked decrease of water content and of total water Ψ plant and osmotic Ψ π plant potential. Irrigated plants do not show such transitions. The daily courses of Ψ plant and Ψ π plant showed minima around noon and a tendency for maxima before sunrise. Turgor pressure Ψ p plant reached minima around noon and became negative (until ca.-10 bars). Generally, Ψ plant decreases with increasing water vapour concentration difference between plant and air (WD) in the first half of the day, and in the second half the reversal of this trend occurs. Mostly smaller increments of Ψ plant were correlated with larger increases in WD which lead to the conclusion that stomates closed enough to maintain transpiration at a constant value. Non-irrigated and irrigated plants showed different hysteresis loops of relation between Ψ plant and WD. Regulatory reduction of transpiration appears largely independently of Ψ plant which is in spring and with irrigated plants on a high level, with non-irrigated plants in summer on a low level. In summer the continous but decreasing drop of Ψ plant with increasing WD was interpreted as caused by a change in soil or root resistance. Independent of the seasonal state and of the Ψ plant level, H. scoparia regulates its water status within limited ranges of Ψ p plant changes: the irrigated plants on a higher level, the non-irrigated on a lower level of Ψ p plant . The water contents of the tissues of H. scoparia are linearily related to Ψ plant as well as Ψ p plant . Steeper slopes with non-irrigated plants in summer than with spring palnts and with irrigated plants during the whole season signify that in the latter a certain increment in turgor pressure corresponds to a large gain in water content while in the non-irrigated summer plants it varies only little for an identical change in Ψ p plant . This behaviour of non-irrigated wild plants apparently is due to the change of the elastic properties of the tissues in the assimilating branches.

Notes: Summary Measurements of CO2 and water vapor exchange were performed on Prunus armeniaca L. with humidity- and temperature-controlled chambers under the climatic conditions of a desert habitat. In apricot, the stomatal response to changes in temperature and water-vapor concentration difference between leaf and air (WD) significantly determined the rates of gas exchange during the day (parts I and II). The effect of climate-controlled stomatal response on the transpiration/net photosynthesis (T/P)-ratio was analyzed and simulated using experiments conducted at constant temperature and/or humidity conditions for input parameters. The measured values of the T/P-ratio at naturally varying conditions of humidity and temperature were compared with calculated results of a model in which it was assumed, (1) that stomata and photosynthetic activity are not affected by air humidity and temperature, (2) that the stomata only respond with a constant photosynthetic activity to changes in WD, and (3) that the stomata respond to both, leaf temperature and air humidity with a constant photosynthetic activity. These simulations facilitated an analysis of the naturally observed changes in the T/P-ratio. The calculated T/P-ratios were very small if the simulation assumed that stomata only respond to WD at a constant photosynthetic activity. These low predicted values of the T/P-ratio were not obtained under natural conditions, since an increase in WD during the day was correlated with a temperature rise which tended to open stomata and change the photosynthetic activity. Humidity induced stomatal closure did appear to substantially reduce T/P-ratios. The measured T/P-ratio changed considerably during the year. The lowest T/P-ratios were obtained in the middle of the dry season at a time when stomata responded strongly to air humidity and when optimum of photosynthesis was reached at high temperatures. The daily average T/P-ratio calculated from the daily sum of P and T showed little change during the seasons. A high T/P-ratio was also observed at reduced rates of gas exchange. The T/P-ratios of apricot were compared with different species in different environments.

Notes: Summary The gas exchange of the apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) growing in the runoff farm at Avdat (Negev, Israel) was measured during its growing period using temperature- and humidity-controlled chambers. Water potentials of the xylem were measured with a pressure bomb, and the mesophyll internal CO2 concentration was calculated from simultaneous measurements of net photosynthesis and transpiration. The daily changes in water potential Ψ had only little effect on the daily course of stomatal resistance. The early morning peak of CO2 uptake was reached when Ψ had already dropped to very low values. On dry days, Ψ and the relative water content of the leaf were improved at noon during the time of stomatal closure. On humid days, Ψ dropped to very low values (43.5 bar) at a high transpiration rate without causing stomatal closure, as much as on the dry days when stomata where more closed at less water stress. The observed changing sensitivity of the stomata to changes in air humidity during the season is related to the water status in the plant. This change is possibly caused by a long-term effect of stress in this habitat. The daily changes in stomatal diffusion resistance did not consistently correlate with changes of the CO2 concentration in the intercellular air spaces. In the morning a decreasing internal CO2 concentration was even inversely correlated to the stomatal response. In the afternoon the effect of an increasing internal CO2 concentration and the effect of external climate on stomatal response could be additive. However, at the time, when CO2 uptake reached a second peak in the afternoon the same value of diffusion resistance is reached at very different levels of internal CO2 concentration as compared to the morning. For the regulation of the diffusion resistance in apricot under the natural conditions, the effects of plant internal control mechanisms are overruled and/or modified by the external climatic factors of air humidity and temperature. The significance of the climate-controlled stomatal response for the existence and cultivation of this plant species in an arid habitat is discussed.

Notes: Summary As described earlier, the native arido-active perennial Hammada scoparia and the cultivated Prunus armeniaca exhibit characteristic seasonal shifts of their temperature optimum of net photosynthesis (OP) under desert conditions in the Negev. In the present paper the OP values were compared with the actual tissue temperatures of the experimental plants. During the growing period from March to September the duration of optimal temperatures for net photosynthesis (OP±3°C) experienced by the plants was 32.2% of the total time at light saturation for P. armeniaca and 27.8% for H. scoparia. For optimal photosynthesis the branchlets of H. scoparia are too cold for 66.1% of the time span and too warm for 6.1% of the time. The respective values for the leaves of the apricot are 28.6% and 39.2%. Simulations at changed tissue temperature show, that for P. armeniaca neither a higher nor a lower temperature regime would lengthen the time span for optimal thermal conditions. For H. scoparia, however, an increase of the general temperature level by 6°C would considerably improve the temperature-related photosynthetic efficiency. The natural temperature responses of the plants were compared with simulations using OP values which are supposed not to shift but to stay constant from March through September at their spring minimum, their summer maximum, or at an intermediate value. For P. armeniaca such constant OP values would result in a shorter duration of optimal temperature conditions. With this plant the natural seasonal shift of the temperature characteristics appears to provide an advantage in respect to its photosynthetic capacity. Contrary to this, for H. scoparia a constant OP value at the low spring level or even at the intermediate level during all the season would result in a substantially prolonged period of favourable temperature conditions for photosynthesis. In this case the seasonal change of optimum temperature for photosynthesis with higher OP values in summer signifies a disadvantage with respect to the temperature-related photosynthetic capacity at the habitat in the central Negev. Apparently this C4 plant is adapted to higher temperatures than were present. It appears that “acclimations” of native plants are not always beneficial.

Notes: Summary In a previous paper seasonal shifts of the temperature optimum (OP) and of the upper temperature compensation point (CP) of net photosynthesis were described for Hammada scoparia growing wild, and for Prunus armeniaca cultivated in the Negev Desert (Israel). In this paper the relationships between these shifts and the microclimatic conditions, plant-water relations, and plant development are studied. The energy budged of the thin, round photosynthesizing stems of H. scoparia growing in an open desert habitat differes from that of the broad leaves of P. armeniaca within the orchard. This explains the fact that daily maximum temperatures of the apricot increased until August and September, whereas maximum temperatures of H. scoparia reached a peak in May and June and decreased thereafter during the second half of the growing season. For H. scoparia a correspondence was found between the daily maximum tissue temperatures (and also the average temperatures of the warmest periods of the day) and the seasonal changes of the OP and CP values. This may indicate that the shifts in the temperature sensitivity of net photosynthesis of this plant are adaptations to the temperature conditions of the plant. This, however, cannot be the case for P. armeniaca, where during the second part of the growing season a period of rising leaf temperatures coincides with a period of decreasing OP and CP values. Therefore, the seasonal changes of the temperature dependence of net photosynthesis of P. armeniaca could not always be considered an adaptation to the prevailing temperature conditions of the plant. In this case, the changes in temperature sensitivity of photosynthesis could be due to developmental processes such as aging. In both lants the seasonal changes of the OP and CP values correspond to changes of the daily photoperiod and to changes of the daily average light intensity. It appears possible that this correlation indicates a causal relationship.