DROUGHT STRESS - Methods
Soil moisture methods (review and tests)
PLANT WATER STATUS
- The pressure chamber for plant water status measurement
- Relative water content (RWC) as a measure of plant water status
- Detailed discussion of measurements and their theoretical basis – including more intricate methods such as thermocouple psychrometry
- Osmotic adjustment and its measurement
- Fast indirect estimate of osmotic adjustment for large breeding populations
- See remote sensing methods of plant stress – above
A NEW NON-EVASIVE TURGOR RELATED MONITORING OF PLANT WATER STATUS
An electronic potometer for studying plant water use in real time
Stomatal condcutance (an example from CIMMYT; instruments may vary)
Rapid colorimetric assay for epicuticular wax – Tested against the classical gravimetric method
‘Stay-green’ laboratory assay under non-stress conditions (sorghum)
Using PEG for controlling plant water status in experiments
o XYLEM VULNERABILITY TO CAVITATION AND EMBOLISM IN WOODY PLANTS
§ Conduits in wood – their measurements and the assessment of hydraulic vulnerability
§ More on Xylem vulnerability curves
§ Visualizations of Drought-Induced Embolism
§ Methods of measuring Vulnerability to cavitation
o IMPROVING WHEAT GRAIN FILLING UNDER STRESS BY STEM RESERVE UTILIZATION
§ Water Soluble Carbohydrates (WSC) determination in stems (wheat example from CIMMYT).
§ Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) for quantifying stem carbohydrates
o The Drought (Stress) Resistance Index – Estimating drought resistance in terms of yield or biomass
o C-isotope composition as a measure of intrinsic water-use efficiency
o THE MANAGED DROUGHT STRESS ENVIRONMENT IN THE FIELD
§ An Australian case for wheat
§ Rainout shelters – some basic principles of design and operation
