Drought tolerance of woody vines of the Vitaceae Juss. family under conditions of introduction in the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine

Abstract

Purpose. Investigate the drought tolerance of woody vines of Ampelopsis Michx and Parthenocissus Planch. genera introduced in the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine on the specificity of leaf surface anatomical and morphological structure, peculiarities of water regime of the leaves and characteristics of physicochemical processes inside their tissues during wilting. Methods. Field surveys, morphometric, physiological, statistical. Results. The drought resistance of woody vines of the Ampelopsis and Parthenocissus genera of the Vitaceae family collection at the M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden collection site “Climbing plants” was studied. According to visual observations, during periods with a low level of moisture supply, there was no damage to leaves, turgor did not decrease. The main differences in the structure of the abaxial epidermal surface of woody vine leaves of the Ampelopsis and Parthenocissus genera are in the form of epidermal cells and a number of stomata. The electrical conductivity of the leaves of all the studied plants decreased stably during wilting (on average, by 0.12–0.19 mcS in two hours of wilting). The leaf water loss as a result of wilting was 10.05–25.63%. In conditions of insufficient moisture supply water deficit of leaves was at the level of 6.16–8.87%. Conclusions. According to the value of average long-term assessment of actual drought tolerance, the studied plants have a high degree of drought tolerance. The stomatal apparatus of woody vines of the genus Ampelopsis is distinguished by a greater manifestation of signs of xeromorphism than members of the genus Parthenocissus. High adaptability of the studied plants to growing conditions was revealed. High level of water holding capacity of the leaves was determined. It was revealed that in the period with low moisture provision the water stress in the leaves was low. The studied representatives are distinguished by a high degree of drought resistance due to the presence of signs of xeromorphism in the anatomical and morphological structure of the leaf surface, as well as the peculiarities of water regime and physicochemical processes inside leaf tissues, which makes it possible to use them extensively in the conditions of introduction.