Leaf Gas Exchange Characteristics of Four Eucalypt Clones Planted on Paddy Bunds in Chachoengsao Province

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Sapit Diloksumpun
Duriya Staporn
Narakorn Srilert

Abstract

Leaf gas exchange characteristics play an important role in tree growth and carbon storage. In this study, the leaf gas exchange characteristics of four eucalypt clones planted on paddy bunds were investigated in two on-farm study sites in Chachoengsao province. Specifically, four leaf gas exchange characteristics were measured in the wet and dry seasons: light-saturated net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, transpiration and intrinsic water-use efficiency, which is a ratio of light-saturated net photosynthesis to stomatal conductance. The correlation between these characteristics, as well as leaf area index and carbon storage in tree biomass, was also analyzed.


Differences in the four leaf gas exchange characteristics were statistically significant among clones, but not between the two study sites, while stomatal conductance, transpiration and water-use efficiency, but not light-saturated net photosynthesis, were significantly different between wet and dry seasons. The seasonal variation indicated that the water limitation imposed during the dry season induced partial stomatal closure, leading to a decrease in water loss through leaf transpiration, but did not considerably limit leaf photosynthetic activity. The correlation analysis further revealed that tree carbon storage was positively correlated with leaf water-use efficiency in the wet season and leaf area index, but negatively correlated with stomatal conductance and transpiration in both seasons, as well as with light-saturated net photosynthesis in the dry season. On the other hand, no correlation between tree carbon storage and light-saturated net photosynthesis in the wet season and leaf water-use efficiency in the dry season was observed. The findings suggested that variation in the leaf gas exchange characteristics were due to differences in the genetic background of the trees and these characteristics played a significant role in carbon storage in the eucalypt clones studied.


Keywords:  eucalypt, clone, leaf gas exchange, carbon storage

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How to Cite
Diloksumpun, S. ., Staporn, D. ., & Srilert, N. . (2022). Leaf Gas Exchange Characteristics of Four Eucalypt Clones Planted on Paddy Bunds in Chachoengsao Province. Thai Journal of Forestry, 28(3), 85–96. Retrieved from https://li01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/tjf/article/view/255788
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