Representativeness of Scholander chamber measurements as a function of time after leaf removal

• Published in: International journal of biometeorology Vol. 61; no. 9; pp. 1699 - 1701
• Main Authors: Dalmago, Genei Antonio, da Cunha, Gilberto Rocca, Santi, Anderson, Fochesatto, Elizandro, Kovaleski, Samuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-09-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Air temperature; Animal Physiology; Biological and Medical Physics; Biophysics; Blocking; Cereal crops; Corn; Crops; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Health; Fabaceae - metabolism; Leaf water potential; Leaves; Meteorology; Packing; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plant Physiology; Plant Transpiration; Plants; Short Communication; Solar radiation; Soybeans; Sunlight; Temperature; Temperature effects; Water - metabolism; Water potential; Zea mays - metabolism; Leaf water potential; Plant ecophisiology; Plant-water relationship; Evaluation methodology
• ISSN: 0020-7128; 1432-1254
• DOI: 10.1007/s00484-017-1351-z

The objectives of the study were to determine the maximum tolerable period between leaf removal from a plant and the determination of leaf water potential (
Ψ
l
), and to evaluate different ways of packing leaves after their removal from a plant (
LR
). Two experiments (
Exp
) were conducted in a randomized complete block design with four replicates, using bean, maize, and soybean crops. The predawn leaf water potential (
Ψ
PD
) (
Exp1
) and the minimum leaf water potential (
Ψ
min
) (
Exp1
and
Exp2
) were determined. The maximum tolerable period between
LR
varied among species, ranging from 80 to 90 min for bean and soybean, and from 40 to 60 min for maize. A box with low interior air temperature and capable of blocking the effect of solar radiation reduced variation in leaf water potential. These results indicate that the determination of the
Ψ
l
in bean, soybean, and maize crops does not need to be carried out immediately after leaf removal.