Responses by Stomata on Leaves to Microenvironmental Conditions

 

Carol Brewer

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 1992, Volume 13

Abstract

Stomatal aperture provides much information about how leaves sense and respond to environmental conditions. Recent evidence suggests many species have nonuniform stomatal opening under both laboratory and field conditions, for example, different areas of the same leaf seem capable of responding independently to microenvironmental conditions. This exercise demonstrates how stomata respond to microenvironmental conditions by making casts of leaf surfaces and using them to evaluate stomatal opening and closing. It can be conducted in conjunction with discussions of photosynthesis and transpiration, as well as the implications of microenvironmental conditions to gas exchange.

Keywords:  stomatal aperature, ecophysiology, microenvironment, leaf surface replica

University of Wyoming, Laramie (1991)