CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

There is wide consensus about the significance of monitoring plant responses during flooding when evaluating specific tolerance. Nonetheless, plant recovery once water recedes has often been overlooked. This note highlights the importance of registering plant performance during a recovery phase. Two opposite types of plant-growth-responses, during and after flooding, are discussed. It is shown that an apparently poor performance during flooding does not necessarily involve a reduced tolerance, as plants can prioritize saving energy and carbohydrates, for later on resuming a vigorous growth during recovery. Conversely, maintenance of positive plant growth during flooding can imply extensive depletion of reserves, consequently constraining future plant growth. Therefore, plant performance should be appraised during both, flooding and recovery periods, to accurately estimate its real tolerance to this stress.