Abstract
Water relations of plant cenopopulations of understorey species (7 herbaceous perennials, 1 shrub, and 1 tree seedling) growing in an oak-hornbeam forest in SW. Slovakia is markedly influenced by natural sunflecks moving on the forest floor, where stomatal conductance and transpiration rate are significantly higher than in shade areas. In the course of a day, the leaf stomatal conductance fluctuates, following irradiance of the leaf, from minimum in full shade to maximum in sunflecks, including intermediate values in transient conditions. Therefore, there is also a large variability in water saturation deficit and transpiration rate within the cenopopulations of the understorey species. These variations should be considered in modelling the physiology of woodland understorey species.
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Eliáš, P. Water relations pattern of understorey species influenced by sunflecks. Biol Plant 25, 68–74 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02878269
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02878269