Abstract
Photosynthesis is the most fundamental and intricate physiological process in all green plants. For the fruitful occurrence of photosynthesis, each plant has certain environmental requirements. They are impacted by the environmental factors and stress during all phases of growth and development. Examples include light availability, water (soil moisture), senescence, carbon strategy and nutrient deficiencies etc. that cause alteration of the net photosynthesis rate of plants. In this study, to determine the effect of different environmental factors on photosynthesis, a number of experiments were conducted where the net photosynthesis, transpirations, water use efficiency and photoinhibition were measured. To study the effect of light intensity, soil moisture, senescence, on net photosynthesis, respectively Ocimum basilicum, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Cotinus coggygria, were used. To compare carbon strategy, Pisum sativum and Zea mays were grown under similar condition. How variable nutrient conditions can affect the photosynthesis was studied using a light adapted plant Epilobium augustifolium and shaded tolerant plant Glechoma hederacea. Observations resulted that light intensity at mid-range increases the rate of photosynthesis but exceeding a certain amount caused lowering the efficiency. Net photosynthesis was the maximum under moist condition for Vaccinium vitis- idaea. On the other hand, the senescent leaf had highly similar transpiration rates as the healthy green leaf. Net photosynthesis rate of C4 plants were higher than C3 plants. Overall, the impact of environmental factors on the photosynthesis rate of different plant species was quite apparent.
Highlights
Photosynthesis is the process by which light energy is usedOcimum basilicum was used to determine the effect of light intensity on net photosynthesis
To study the effect of environmental and stress factors on plants several experiments were conducted where net photosynthesis, transpiration, water use efficiency and photoinhibition were measured for plants in each treatment
The first experiment involving the intensity of light shows that at mid-range intensities the rate of photosynthesis begins to climb, but once the intensity exceeds a certain amount, the ability of a plant to photosynthesize effectively slows
Summary
Photosynthesis is the process by which light energy is used. Ocimum basilicum was used to determine the effect of light intensity on net photosynthesis. To study the effect of environmental and stress factors on plants several experiments were conducted where net photosynthesis, transpiration, water use efficiency and photoinhibition were measured for plants in each treatment. Vaccinium vitis-idaea was used to study the effect of soil moisture (moist and dry treatments) and temperature (cold). Pisum sativum (C3) and Zea mays (C4) were grown under the same conditions to compare carbon strategy. A light adapted plant, Epilobium angustifolium, and a shade tolerant plant, Glechoma hederacea, were grown in variable light and nutrient conditions. Light conditions were either full light or shade. Shading was done with a mesh net, so plants only received 50% full light intensity. Nutrient levels were either irrigated with fertilized water or tap water without added fertilizers
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