Biologia plantarum 37:85-91, 1995 | DOI: 10.1007/BF02913002
Relationship between plant type and canopy apparent photosynthesis in maize (Zea mays L.)
- 1 Maize Research Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, P. R. China
Experiments were conducted to study the effect of plant type on canopy photosynthesis under field conditions. A chamber made of aluminium frame covered with clear plastic material was used to estimate canopy CO2-exchange rates over a land area of 1.33 m2. The plant type of maize "Shendan 7" [planophile type, original-type (OT)] was changed to erectophile type [altered-type (AT)] at silking stage. The rates of canopy apparent photosynthesis (CAP) were measured in both types of maize grown at five plant densities during the reproductive phase. It was shown that AT canopies had greater rates (about 17.2%) of CAP than did OT canopies and the yield increased by about 5.9-8.6% in AT canopies. The vertical distribution of photosynthetic photon flux density and CO2 concentration in AT canopies were more uniform than those in OT ones. It was suggested that the compact architecture of maize canopy was excellent for photosynthesis and yield formation.
Keywords: erectophile type; light interception; light penetration; planophile type; yield formation
Received: March 29, 1994; Accepted: June 13, 1994; Published: March 1, 1995 Show citation
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