The role of air humidity and leaf temperature in controlling stomatal resistance of Prunus armeniaca L. under desert conditions: II. The significance of leaf water status and internal carbon dioxide concentration

The gas exchange of the apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) growing in the runoff farm at Avdat (Negev, Israel) was measured during its growing period using temperature- and humidity-controlled chambers. Water potentials of the xylem were measured with a pressure bomb, and the mesophyll internal CO₂ concentration was calculated from simultaneous measurements of net photosynthesis and transpiration. The daily changes in water potential Ψ had only little effect on the daily course of stomatal resistance. The early morning peak of CO₂ uptake was reached when Ψ had already dropped to very low values. On dry days, Ψ and the relative water content of the leaf were improved at noon during the time of stomatal closure. On humid days, Ψ dropped to very low values (43.5 bar) at a high transpiration rate without causing stomatal closure, as much as on the dry days when stomata where more closed at less water stress. The observed changing sensitivity of the stomata to changes in air humidity during the season is related to the water status in the plant. This change is possibly caused by a long-term effect of stress in this habitat. The daily changes in stomatal diffusion resistance did not consistently correlate with changes of the CO₂ concentration in the intercellular air spaces. In the morning a decreasing internal CO₂ concentration was even inversely correlated to the stomatal response. In the afternoon the effect of an increasing internal CO₂ concentration and the effect of external climate on stomatal response could be additive. However, at the time, when CO₂ uptake reached a second peak in the afternoon the same value of diffusion resistance is reached at very different levels of internal CO₂ concentration as compared to the morning. For the regulation of the diffusion resistance in apricot under the natural conditions, the effects of plant internal control mechanisms are overruled and/or modified by the external climatic factors of air humidity and temperature. The significance of the climate-controlled stomatal response for the existence and cultivation of this plant species in an arid habitat is discussed.