The objective of this study was to assess the photosynthetic efficiency and water use by eucalyptus clones submitted to the herbicide glyphosate. The experiment was performed in a 4 x 5 factorial, with four eucalyptus clones (57, 386, 1203 and 1213), four doses of glyphosate (43.2, 86.2, 129.6 and 172.8 g ha-1) and a control without herbicide, considered zero dose, with four replications. At 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after herbicide application (DAA), plant intoxication was evaluated and at 7 and 21 DAA, stomatal gas flow (U - mmol s-1), photosynthetic activity (A -mmol m-2 s-1), stomatal conductance (Gs - mol m-1 s-1), transpiration (E - mol H2O m-2 s-1) and water use efficiency (WUE - mol CO2 mol H2O-1). At 50 DAA, the eucalyptus plants were collected and placed in a forced-ventilation oven at 70 °C until constant weight to determine dry mass. At 21 DAA, clone 1203 was found to be the most sensitive to the herbicide. There was no difference among the clones for the assessed physiological variables. At 21DAA, it was verified that increasing doses of glyphosate led to a reduction in stomatal conductance, stomatal gas flow rate, photosynthetic rate and water use efficiency. Plants of clones 1213 and 1203 showed a higher accumulation of dry mass. Increasing doses of glyphosate promoted less accumulation of dry mass in the eucalyptus plants. Glyphosate negatively affected growth, photosynthetic efficiency and water use of the evaluated clones.
drift; Eucalyptus spp; plant physiology; transpiration
