Direct and indirect effects of light on stomata. I. In Scots pine and Sitka spruce

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Abstract. The response of stomatal conductance to broadband blue and red light was measured in whole shoots of Scots pine and Sitka spruce, two species which have low stomatal sensitivity to CO2. In Scots pine, blue light was more than three times more effective than red light (on an incident quantum basis) in opening stomata, particularly at low quantum flux densities (<100μmiol m−2 s−1). However, the apparent quantum yield of net CO2 assimilation rate in blue light was only half that in red light. The contrasting effects of red and blue light on conductance and assimilation led to higher intercellular CO2 concentrations (Ci) in blue light (up to 100 μmol mol−1 higher) than in red light. Similar results were obtained with Sitka spruce shoots, though differences in the effectiveness of red and blue light were less marked. In both species, both red and blue light increased conductance in normal and CO2‐free air, indicating that neither red nor blue light exert effects through changes in Ci or mesophyll assimilation. However, decreases in Ci caused increases in conductance in both red and blue light, suggesting that these direct effects of light are not wholly independent of CO2.