Agaves can grow in marginal arid and semiarid lands where their special ecological and physiological adaptations to environmental conditions give them the potential to produce substantial biomass. Agave americana was the first agave species shown to be a Crassulacean Acid Metabolism plant, with CO2 uptake occurring primarily at night and with high wateruse efficiency (photosynthesis/transpirati...

he efficiency of photosynthesis continues to interest biochemists, biologists, and plant physiologists. Scientists interested in CO2 uptake are concerned about the extent to which the uptake rate is limited by such factors as stomatal diffusion and the chemistry of the CO2 absorption process. The fractionation of carbon isotopes that occurs during photosynthesis is one of the most useful techni...

Water available for irrigation is declining in many rice-growing regions around the world. Global populations continue to rise increasing crop production demand. Rice production systems must face the dilemma of maintaining or increasing yields with less water available to irrigate. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) has shown to be an effective tool for water conservation in irrigated rice syst...

Maydup ML, Antonietta M, Guiamet JJ, Graciano C, Lopez JR, Tambussi EA. 2010. The contribution of ear photosynthesis to grain filling in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Field Crops Research 119, 48–58. Motzo R, Giunta F. 2002. Awnedness affects grain yield and kernel weight in near-isogenic lines of durum wheat. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 53, 1285–1293. Rebetzke GJ, Bonnett...

Timely irrigation of cotton has been shown to increase yields, but almost every year producers and researchers observe poor plant development even with irrigation under some condition. Adequate moisture must be present when the cotton crop needs it, but saturated soil conditions deprive the roots of necessary oxygen. Current recommendations lack detail concerning irrigation management. Use of t...

1. Leaf traits are commonly associated with the life history, distribution and resource requirements of a species. To improve our understanding of the ecological and physiological differences between tropical savanna and forest trees, we compared leaf traits of species native to savanna and gallery (riverine) forests in the Cerrado region of central Brazil. 2. Congeneric species pairs from 14 d...

[1] Anthropogenic increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations may affect vegetation distribution both directly through changes in photosynthesis and wateruse efficiency, and indirectly through CO2-induced climate change. Using an equilibrium vegetation model (BIOME4) driven by a regional climate model (RegCM2.5), we tested the sensitivity of vegetation in the western United Sta...

The southeastern United States is one of the most rapidly growing human population regions in continental United States, and as the population increases, the demand for commercial, industrial, and residential water will also increase (USWRC, 1978). Forest species type, stand age, and the climate all influence the amount of water use and yield from these areas (Swank et al., 1988). Because fores...