Water is a critical component of plant metabolism, and a reduction in soil water availability may affect crop growth, development and yield. The objective of this study was to quantify the influence of soil water deficit on transpiration and on some growth (plant height and stem diameter) and development (main stem leaf number) parameters of Eucalyptus grandis (Hill ex Maiden) and E. saligna (Smith) seedlings. For this purpose, a greenhouse experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Santa Maria, RS, Brazil). The seedlings were planted on 10/1/2005 (PD1) and 5/12/2006 (PD2). Soil available water, expressed as the fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW), and other parameters were measured daily during the period of water stress. Transpiration, which is an indicator of stomata closure, started to decrease at a FTSW of 0.9 (PD2) or 0.7 (PD1) in E. grandis, and at 0.7 for planting dates for E. saligna. These results suggest that stomata closure, in response to soil water deficit, occurs earlier in these two perennial species than in annual agricultural crops. Seedling growth and development parameter values began to decrease immediately after the onset of soil water deficit, even before transpiration was affected by the reduced soil water availability.
fraction of transpirable soil water; water stress; Eucalyptus grandis; Eucalyptus saligna
