Responses to different degrees of water flooding of six willows families

LUQUEZ VIRGINIA M.C.; RODRÍGUEZ MARÍA EMILIA; DOFFO, GUILLERMO; CERRILLO TERESA

Estocolmo

Congreso; Plant Biology Scandinavia 2015; 2015

Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society

Morphological andphysiological responses of willows to flooding have been characterized, butless is known about what happens in the post-flooding period. Flooding canreduce growth, but after the end of the stress episode, plants could modifysome leaf and plants traits to compensate for the biomass losses.The aims of thiswork were: 1- To analyze morphological and physiological traits related toproductivity in willows during the post- flooding period, 2- To analyze ifthese traits are modified in a different way according to the genotype and the deepof the floodwater.We analyzed three individualsof six willows families, growing in pots in a greenhouse. The plants weresubjected to two treatments: 1 ? Partial flooding: flooding of the roots only, for2 months; 2 ? Deep flooding: flooding in a pool up to 65 cm of water for 1 month. Bothtreatments were followed by 1 month of recovery (without flooding). The traitsanalyzed were growth, leaf size, specific leaf area, root to shoot ratio, leafnitrogen content, stomatal conductance and electron transport rate.Some traits changedin the same way in both flooding treatments and different genotypes, like shootto root ratio. But most traits changed in a different manner during the postflooding period, depending on the treatment and genetic background. The resultsobtained could help to identify traits that minimize biomass losses underflooding in willows, and this would be useful for breeding in flood risk areas.