THE LEAF CARBON BUDGET OF SALT-STRESSED OLIVE PLANTS

The carbon budget of fully-expanded leaves was calculated from diurnal profiles of gas exchange in one-year-old olive (Olea europaea L. cvs.
Frantoio and Leccino) plants growing in soil culture and treated with 100 mM NaC1 (external solution) for seven weeks.
Daily leaf photosynthetic uptake of control plants was 0.375 and 0.520 mol CO₂ m^-2 leaf area over the 14.5 h light period for "Frantoio" and "Leccino" respectively, whereas respiratory losses during the night period were 0.104 and 0.068 mol CO₂ m^-2 for the same two cultivars.
The daily carbon gain of stressed leaves was 63 and 42% of the controls in "Frantoio" and "Leccino" respectively.
After seven weeks of stress, leaf maintenance payments were 9–17% and 23–29% of daily carbon gain in control and salt-treated plants of the two cultivars respectively.
The expense of leaf growth was estimated as 14–44% of the daily carbon gain in control plants, whereas leaf growth required 34–72% of the daily carbon gain of current season’s leaves in salt-stressed plants.

III International Symposium on Olive Growing

R. Gucci, E. Gravano, A. Moing, J.P. Gaudillère, M. Tattini

olive, photosynthesis, respiration, salinity

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1999.474.94