Leaf-to-branch scaling of C-gain in field-grown almond trees under different soil moisture regimes.

Branch/tree-level measurements of carbon (C)-acquisition provide an integration of the physical and biological processes driving the C gain of all individual leaves. Most research dealing with the interacting effects of high-irradiance environments and soil-induced water stress on the C-gain of fruit tree species has focused on leaf-level measurements. The C-gain of both sun-exposed leaves and branches of adult almond trees growing in a semi-arid climate was investigated to determine the respective costs of structural and biochemical/physiological protective mechanisms involved in the behaviour at branch scale.

Effects of water stress on irradiance acclimation of leaf traits in almond trees.

Photosynthetic acclimation to highly variable local irradiance within the tree crown plays a primary role in determining tree carbon uptake. This study explores the plasticity of leaf structural and physiological traits in response to the interactive effects of ontogeny, water stress and irradiance in adult almond trees that have been subjected to three water regimes (full irrigation, deficit irrigation and rain-fed) for a 3-year period (2006-08) in a semiarid climate. Leaf structural (dry mass per unit area, N and chlorophyll content) and photosynthetic (maximum net CO(2) assimilation, A(max), maximum stomatal conductance, g(s,max), and mesophyll conductance, g(m)) traits and stem-to-leaf hydraulic conductance (K(s-l)) were determined throughout the 2008 growing season in leaves of outer south-facing (S-leaves) and inner northwest-facing (NW-leaves) shoots.

Partial rootzone drying improves almond tree leaf-level water use efficiency and afternoon water status compared with regulated deficit irrigation.

To determine whether partial rootzone drying (PRD) optimised leaf gas exchange and soil-plant water relations in almond (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.

Disentangling the contributions of ontogeny and water stress to photosynthetic limitations in almond trees.

Very few studies have attempted to disentangle the respective role of ontogeny and water stress on leaf photosynthetic attributes. The relative significance of both effects on photosynthetic attributes has been investigated in leaves of field-grown almond trees [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.

Seasonal effects of deficit irrigation on leaf photosynthetic traits of fruiting and non-fruiting shoots in almond trees.

We investigated seasonal trends in, and relationships between, leaf structural properties, leaf nitrogen concentration, and maximum (A(m)) and potential (A(p)) leaf net CO(2) assimilation of 1-year-old fruiting (f) and current-year non-fruiting (nf) shoots in 5-year-old almond trees (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.