Abstract
Drought and predicted changes in climate, such as increased atmospheric CO2 concentration and high temperature, may affect the growth and productivity of crop plants and generate varying responses, including morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular changes. Water deficit negatively affects photosynthesis, while increasing CO2 can benefit plants and attenuate photo-oxidative damage, especially in C3 metabolism species. However, the excess heat associated with this increase can affect photosynthetic efficiency differently, depending on the species and/or variety studied. In addition, the responses to the combination of these factors are poorly understood and cannot be extracted directly from the effects of each of these agents applied in isolation. This review sought to address the isolated and combined effects of water deficit and climate change on agricultural production, reporting how plant metabolism is affected by rising temperatures and high CO2 concentration. This understanding is important to monitor the behavior of plants in the face of future climatic scenarios in order to develop strategies that can confer resistance to plants and ensure food security for agricultural production.
Highlights
Water constraints caused by changing weather conditions, especially rainfall, tend to impact crop production in many areas, affecting food security in vulnerable environments such as arid and semi-arid regions, creating a level of uncertainty for agricultural systems (Daryanto, Wang & Jacinthe, 2017)
Analysis of plant performance patterns under water stress is important mainly because impacts are related to both endogenous factors such as size and stomatal density, root size or plant height, as well as environmental conditions such as temperature of air and soil, moisture, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) (Bollig & Feller, 2014)
Osmotic adjustment and accumulation of compatible solutes are directly related to the plant's role in adapting to dehydration, mainly by maintaining turgor and protecting specific cellular functions (Blum, 2017)
Summary
Water constraints caused by changing weather conditions, especially rainfall, tend to impact crop production in many areas, affecting food security in vulnerable environments such as arid and semi-arid regions, creating a level of uncertainty for agricultural systems (Daryanto, Wang & Jacinthe, 2017). A study of national grain production losses worldwide, based on extreme weather disasters reported during 19642007, found that drought resulted in a reduction of approximately 10.1% of all production, and that this damage is mainly associated with a decrease in harvested area and crop yields of 5.1% and 4.1% respectively (Lesk, Rowhani & Ramankutty, 2016). Another estimate ensures that in China, average drought-related grain loss reaches nearly 39.2 billion kilograms per year (Leng, Tang & Rexburg, 2015)
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