Gas Exchange Characteristics in Selected Accessions of <i>Dendrocalamus strictus</i> Roxb. (Male Bamboo)

Abstract

Five selected accessions of Dendrocalamus strictus Roxb. were evaluated for gas exchange characteristics at Forest Research Institute Campus, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Physiological attributes were monitored using LICOR 6400 Portable Photosynthetic system. Variations in Photosynthetic rate (A) which was maximum (11.54 μmol CO m -2 s -1 ) in accession of Uttarakhand while minimum in accession of Gujarat whereas transpiration rate (E) was maximum (5.88 m mol H 2O m -2 s -1 ) in accession of Uttar Pradesh and minimum in accession of Himachal Pradesh followed by Uttarakhand. The stomatal conductance to H 2 O (G s ) was maximum (0.18) in accession of Uttar Pradesh in consonance with maximum (294.05 μmol CO 2 mol -1 ) intercellular CO 2 (Ci) where transpiration (E) and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) were minimum in Uttarakhand accession. Instaneous water used efficiency (WUE ins ) was also maximum in accession of Uttarakhand coupled ins with maximum A and lower E. Among the various accessions, Uttarakhand depicted highest A coupled with high instaneous water use efficiency (WUE ins ), thus could be exploited for large scale planting with higher ins productivity.