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Effects of Relative Humidity on Carbon Isotope Fractionation in Plants
Author(s) -
Madhavan S.,
Treichel Isabel,
O'Leary Marion H.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
botanica acta
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.871
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1438-8677
pISSN - 0932-8629
DOI - 10.1111/j.1438-8677.1991.tb00232.x
Subject(s) - relative humidity , fractionation , humidity , isotopes of carbon , isotope , flux (metallurgy) , chemistry , carbon fibers , stable isotope ratio , environmental chemistry , botany , biology , materials science , total organic carbon , chromatography , meteorology , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , composite number , composite material
Four C 3 plants and a C 4 plant were grown from seeds at four levels (30, 45, 60, and 75 %) of relative humidity. All plants were subjected to a 16 h day, at 500 μE/m 2 .s −1 photon flux density. Mature leaves were analyzed for their carbon isotopic composition. Isotope fractionation decreased by up to 3 ‰ with decreasing relative humidity in all C 3 plants, while the opposite trend was observed in the C 4 plant. The observed shifts in both C 3 and C 4 plants are attributed to decreased stomatal conductance at low relative humidity, resulting in a smaller P i .