Seed morph, abiotic conditions and time of germination can affect plant fitness, but few studies have tested their combined effects on plasticity of plant life history traits. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that seed morph, germination season and watering regime influence phenotypic expression of post-germination life history traits in the diaspore-heteromorphic cold desert winter annual/spring...

the effect of seed inoculation by phosphate solubilizing microorganisms on growth, yield and nutrient uptake of maize (zea mays l. sc. 704) was studied in a field experiment. this experiment was conducted in meshkin abad experimental station during 2005. the experiment design consisted of four randomized complete blocks in a split-factorial arrangement. the main-plots regarding simulating water...

Droughtis oneof the most importantfactors limitingcrop productioninarid and semiaridregions, such as Iran.In order to study drought stress in four grain sorghum varieties (Kimia, Sepideh, KGS15 and KGS23), an experiment was laid in randomized complete block design with three replications in a split plot arrangement. Water treatments were considered the main plot at three levels: irrigation afte...

The experiment was carried out in pots in a glasshouse, with one plant per pot and nine repetitions per treatment. The treatments consisted of free or restricted leaves, submited to 90-100% or 60-70% soil field capacity (FC). Only independent effects of water availability or leaf movement were observed on yield components. Plants under well-watered conditions and with freely orienting leaves we...

Survival of seeds in the seed bank is important for the population dynamics of many plant species, yet the environmental factors that control seed survival at a landscape level remain poorly understood. These factors may include soil moisture, vegetation cover, soil type, and soil pathogens. Because many soil fungi respond to moisture and host species, fungi may mediate environmental drivers of...

Ten-year-old 'Tai So' lychee (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) trees growing on a sandy loam soil in subtropical South Africa (latitude 25 degrees S) were watered weekly (well-watered treatment) or droughted from late July until January (drought treatment). After 16 weeks, at which time the trees obtained most of their water from below 150 cm, average soil water content at 0 to 150 cm depth was 14.5 +/-...

Effective and efficient irrigation practices are critical to successful rice production and to the sustainability of rice production. To better understand how to address the issue of water management in rice we initially installed water flow meters on two studies that were designed to evaluate disease incidence using fertility, variety/hybrid, and water management as treatment variables. One st...

The influences of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus on growth, gas exchange, chlorophyll concentration, chlorophyll fluorescence and water status of maize (Zea mays L.) plants were studied in pot culture under well-watered and drought stress conditions. The maize plants were grown in a sand and black soil mixture for 4 weeks, and then exposed to drought stress for 4 weeks. Drought stress signi...

This work aims to characterize the physiological response of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cv. Tempranillo to UV-B radiation under water deficit conditions. Grapevine fruit-bearing cuttings were exposed to three levels of supplemental biologically effective UV-B radiation (0, 5.98 and 9.66kJm(-2)day(-1)) and two water regimes (well watered and water deficit), in a factorial design, from fruit-s...