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Water relations of winter wheat. 5. The root system and osmotic adjustment in relation to crop evaporation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. McGowan
Affiliation:
Nottingham University School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicester
P. Blanch
Affiliation:
Nottingham University School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicester
P. J. Gregory
Affiliation:
Nottingham University School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicester
D. Haycock
Affiliation:
Nottingham University School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicester

Summary

Shoot and root growth and associated leaf and soil water potential relations were compared in three consecutive crops of winter wheat grown in the same field. Despite a profuse root system the crop grown in the second drought year (1976) failed to dry the soil as throughly as the crops in 1975 and 1977. Measurements of plant water potential showed that the restricted utilization of soil water reserves by this crop was associated with failure to make any significant osmotic adjustment, leading to premature loss of leaf turgor and stomatal closure. The implications of these results for models to estimate actual crop evaporation from values of potential evaporation are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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