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Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 51, No. 351, pp. 1741-1749, October 2000
© 2000 Oxford University Press

Original Papers

In situ observation of stomatal movements and gas exchange of Aegopodium podagraria L. in the understorey

Hartmut Kaiser1 and Ludger Kappen

Botanisches Institut der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Olshausenstraße 40, D-24098 Kiel, Germany

Observations of stomata in situ while simultaneously measuring CO2 gas exchange and transpiration were made in field experiments with Aegopodium podagraria in a highly variable light climate in the understorey of trees. The low background photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) caused a slight opening of the stomata and no visible response to sporadic lightflecks. However, if lightflecks were frequent and brighter, slow opening movements were observed. Small apertures were sufficient to allow maximal photosynthetic rates. Therefore, the small apertures observed in low light usually only caused minor stomatal limitations of lightfleck photosynthesis. The response of stomata to step-wise changes in PPFD under different levels of leaf to air vapour pressure difference ({Delta}W) was observed under controlled conditions. High {Delta}W influenced the stomatal response only slightly by reducing stomatal aperture in low light and causing a slight reduction in the initial capacity to utilize high PPFD levels. Under continuous high PPFD, however, stomata opened to the same degree irrespective of {Delta}W. Under high {Delta}W, opening and closing responses to PPFD-changes were faster, which enabled a rapid removal of the small stomatal limitations of photosynthesis initially present in high {Delta}W after longer periods in low light. It is concluded that A. podagraria maintains a superoptimal aperture in low light which leads to a low instantaneous water use efficiency, but allows an efficient utilization of randomly occurring lightflecks.

Key words: Stomata, light environment, CO2 exchange, transpiration, Aegopodium podagraria, stomatal conductance.


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