Effects of Moisture and Mycorrhiza on Stomatal Conductance and Xylem Pressure Potential of Faidherbia albida (Del.) A. Chev

Abstract

The effects of moisture and mycorrhizal inoculation on stomatal conductance and xylem pressure potential of Faidherbia albida (Del.) A. Chev. were investigated in the semi arid environment of
Sokoto, Nigeria. A complete randomized block design with five replications and factorical combination of three watering regimes (daily for unstressed plant, twice weekly for partially stressed plants and once a week for moisture stressed plants) and three mycorrhizal treatments namely; endomycorrhizal plants, ectomycorrhizal plants and non mycorrhizal plants were used. Both the ecto and endo mycorrhizae significantly (P<0.05)affected the Stomatal Conductance and Xylem Pressure Potential of the plant even under stressed conditions. The use of mycorrhiza is thus recommended as a strategy for efficient water utilization and water conservation.

KEYWORDS: Faidherbia albida, mycorrhiza, stomatal conductance, xylem pressure