Joan Girona

Bio: Joan Girona is an academic researcher from University of Naples Federico II. The author has contributed to research in topics: Deficit irrigation & Irrigation. The author has an hindex of 34, co-authored 80 publications receiving 3098 citations.

Mapping crop water stress index in a ‘Pinot-noir’ vineyard: comparing ground measurements with thermal remote sensing imagery from an unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract: Characterizing the spatial variability in water status across vineyards is a prerequisite for precision irrigation. The crop water stress index (CWSI) indicator was used to map the spatial variability in water deficits across an 11-ha ‘Pinot noir’ vineyard. CWSI was determined based on canopy temperatures measured with infrared temperature sensors placed on top of well-watered and water-stressed grapevines in 2009 and 2010. CWSI was correlated with leaf water potential (ΨL) (R 2 = 0.83). This correlation was also tested with results from high resolution airborne thermal imagery. An unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a thermal camera was flown over the vineyard at 07:30, 09:30, and 12:30 h (solar time) on 31 July 2009. At about the same time, ΨL was measured in 184 grapevines. The image obtained at 07:30 was not useful because it was not possible to separate soil from canopy temperatures. Using the airborne data, the correlation between CWSI and ΨL had an R 2 value of 0.46 at 09:30 h and of 0.71 at 12:30 h, suggesting that the latter was the more favorable time for obtaining thermal images that were linked with ΨL values. A sensitivity analysis of varying pixel size showed that a 0.3 m pixel was needed for precise CWSI mapping. The CWSI maps thus obtained by airborne thermal imagery were effective in assessing the spatial variability of water stress across the vineyard.

The use of midday leaf water potential for scheduling deficit irrigation in vineyards

Abstract: Midday leaf water potential (Ψmd) was monitored for 3 years at a commercial vineyard (cv. Pinot Noir) under four irrigation strategies. Three treatments were established based on irrigating vines with 4–6 mm/day, when daily measured Ψmd was more negative than the pre-defined threshold. After the first experimental year, thresholds were adjusted for each treatment as: (1) Control (C), irrigated when Ψmd was less than −0.6 MPa at the beginning of the season and gradually fell to −0.8 MPa at about mid-June, after which the threshold was maintained at −0.8 MPa until harvest. (2) Control–Deficit (CD), irrigated as C from bud-break to mid-June (around the middle of Stage II of fruit growth), and from then until harvest when Ψmd decreased below −1.2 MPa. (3) Deficit–Deficit (DD), irrigated when Ψmd was less than −1.0 from bud break to mid-May (about the middle of fruit growth Stage I), and after that time the Ψmd threshold became −1.2 MPa until harvest. A fourth treatment was applied following a soil water budget approach (WB). All treatments were replicated five times but irrigation in the Ψmd-based treatments were independently applied to each of the replicate plots, whereas irrigation for WB was applied equally to all replications. The more site-specific information obtained from Ψmd thresholds in C provided substantial advantages for yield homogeneity and repeatability of results with respect to WB, thus demonstrating the method’s greater ability to account for spatial variability. Average applied water for the 3 years in C, CD, and DD was 374, 250, and 178 mm, respectively, while the yields were 11.8, 9.2, and 6.1 kg/vine, respectively. The CD treatment produced better juice quality than C, and was superior in other quality parameters to both C and DD. However, over the study period, an important carryover effect was observed in the yields and the grape size of CD, which tended to diminish from year to year relative to C.

Sensitivity of Continuous and Discrete Plant and Soil Water Status Monitoring in Peach Trees Subjected to Deficit Irrigation

Abstract: To characterize tree responses to water deficits in shallow and deep rooted conditions, parameters developed using daily oscillations from continuously measured soil water content and trunk diameter were compared with traditional discrete monitoring of soil and plant water status in lysimeter and field-grown peach trees ( Prunus persica (L.) Batsch 'O'Henry'). Evaluation occurred during the imposition of deficit irrigation for 21 days followed by full irrigation for 17 days. The maximum daily available soil water content fluctuations (MXAWCF) taken at any of the four monitored root zone depths responded most rapidly to the deficit irrigation. The depth of the MXAWCF increased with time during the deficit irrigation. Differences relative to a fully irrigated control were greater in the lysimeter than the field-grown trees. Minimum daily trun k diameter (MNTD) and maximum daily trunk shrinkage (MDS) responded sooner than midday stem water potential (stem Ψ), predawn or midday leaf water potential (predawn leaf Ψ and leaf Ψ), or photosynthesis (A). Parameters based on trunk diameter monitoring, including maximum daily trunk diameter (MXTD), correlated well with established physiological parameters of tree water status. Statistical analysis of the differences in the measured parameters relative to fully irrigated trees during the first 10 days of deficit irrigation ranked the sensitivity of the parameters in the lysimeter as MXAWCF > MNTD > MDS > MXTD > stem Ψ = A = predawn leaf Ψ = leaf Ψ. Equivalent analysis with the field-grown trees ranked the sensitivity of the parameters as MXAWCF > MNTD > MDS > stem Ψ = leaf Ψ = MXTD = predawn leaf Ψ > A. Following a return to full irrigation in the lysimeter, MDS and all the discrete measurements except A quickly returned to predeficit irrigation levels. Tree recovery in the field-grown trees was slower and incomplete due to inadequate filling of the root zone. Fruit size was significantly reduced in the lysimeter while being minimally affected in the field-grown trees. Parameters only available from continuous monitoring hold promise for improving the precision of irrigation decision-making over the use of discrete measurements.

Peach tree response to single and combined regulated deficit irrigation regimes under shallow soils

Abstract: Productive and vegetative tree responses were analyzed during 3 consecutive years in peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch cv. Sudanell) plots subjected to three regulated defi cit irrigation (RDI) strategies plus a control irrigation treatment. A postharvest RDI treatment (RDI-P) was irrigated at 0.35 of control after harvest. A Stage II RDI treatment (RDI-SII) was irrigated at 0.5 of control during the lag phase of the fruit growth curve. The third treatment (RDI-SII-P) applied RDI during Stage II at 0.5 of control and postharvest at 0.35 of control. The control treatment, like RDI-P and RDI-SII-P when not receiving RDI, was irrigated at 100% of a water budget irrigation scheduling in 1994 and 1996, full crop years, and 80% of the budget in 1995, an off year with a very small crop. A carry-over effect of defi cit irrigation was highly signifi cant in all parameters measured during the third year of the experiment. The general effect of water stress during Stage II did not affect return bloom and fruit set, whereas water stress during postharvest apparently reduced both parameters. As a consequence, fruit counts and fruit load manifested marked differences between treatments, which were also correlated to changes in fruit size. The RDI-II, which had the highest fruit yield, also had the smallest fruit size, whereas RDI-P manifested the lowest yield and largest fruit size. Vegetative growth (shoot elongation and trunk cross sectional area) was signifi cantly reduced during the fi rst 2 years of the experiment in accordance with the amount of the irrigation reduction. However, in 1996 growth was strongly governed by fruit load. The use of RDI-SII-P represented an intermediate cropping effect between the opposite bearing behavior of RDI-SII and RDI-P, while not expecting distinctive fruit yield or size reductions and offering remarkable water savings of 22% of the control applied water.

Deficit irrigation for reducing agricultural water use

Abstract: At present and more so in the future, irrigated agriculture will take place under water scarcity. Insufficient water supply for irrigation will be the norm rather than the exception, and irrigation management will shift from emphasizing production per unit area towards maximizing the production per unit of water consumed, the water productivity. To cope with scarce supplies, deficit irrigation, defined as the application of water below full crop-water requirements (evapotranspiration), is an important tool to achieve the goal of reducing irrigation water use. While deficit irrigation is widely practised over millions of hectares for a number of reasons—from inadequate network design to excessive irrigation expansion relative to catchment supplies—it has not received sufficient attention in research. Its use in reducing water consumption for biomass production, and for irrigation of annual and perennial crops is reviewed here. There is potential for improving water productivity in many field crops and there is sufficient information for defining the best deficit irrigation strategy for many situations. One conclusion is that the level of irrigation supply under deficit irrigation should be relatively high in most cases, one that permits achieving 60–100% of full evapotranspiration. Several cases on the successful use of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) in fruit trees and vines are reviewed, showing that RDI not only increases water productivity, but also farmers’ profits. Research linking the physiological basis of these responses to the design of RDI strategies is likely to have a significant impact in increasing its adoption in water-limited areas.

Anatomy of Seed Plants

Abstract: INTRODUCTION. Internal Organization of the Plant Body. Summary of Types of Cells and Tissues. General References. DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEED PLANT. The Embryo. From embryo to the Adult Plant. Apical Meristems and Their Derivatives. Differentiation, Specialization, and Morphogenesis. References. THE CELL. Cytoplasm. Nucleus. Plastids. Mitochondria. Microbodies. Vacuoles. Paramural Bodies. Ribosomes. Dictyosomes. Endoplasmic Reticulum. Lipid Globules. Microtubules. Ergastic Substances. References. CELL WALL. Macromolecular Components and Their Organization in the Wall. Cell Wall Layers. Intercellular Spaces. Pits, Primary Pit--Fields, and Plasmodesmata. Origin of Cell Wall During Cell Division. Growth of Cell Wall. References. PARENCHYMA AND COLLENCHYMA. Parenchyma. Collenchyma. References. SCLERENCHYMA. Sclereids. Fibers. Development of Sclereids and Fibers. References. EPIDERMIS. Composition. Developmental Aspects. Cell Wall. Stomata. Trichomes. References. XYLEM: GENERAL STRUCTURE AND CELL TYPES. Gross Structure of Secondary Xylem. Cell Types in the Secondary Xylem. Primary Xylem. Differentiation of Tracheary Elements. References. XYLEM: VARIATION IN WOOD STRUCTURE. Conifer Wood. Dicotyledon Wood. Some Factors in Development of Secondary Xylem. Identification of Wood. References. VASCULAR CAMBIUM. Organization of Cambium. Developmental Changes in the Initial Layer. Patterns and Causal Relations in Cambial Activity. References. PHLOEM. Cell Types. Primary Phloem. Secondary Phloem. References. PERIDERM. Structure of Periderm and Related Tissues. Development of Periderm. Outer Aspect of Bark in Relation to Structure. Lenticels. References. SECRETORY STRUCTURES. External Secretory Structures. Internal Secretory Structures. References. THE ROOT: PRIMARY STATE OF GROWTH. Types of Roots. Primary Structure. Development. References. THE ROOT: SECONDARY STATE OF GROWTH AND ADVENTITIOUS ROOTS. Common Types of Secondary Growth. Variations in Secondary Growths. Physiologic Aspects of Secondary Growth in Roots. Adventitious Roots. References. THE STEM: PRIMARY STATE OF GROWTH. External Morphology. Primary Structure. Development. References. THE STEM: SECONDARY GROWTH AND STRUCTURAL TYPES. Secondary Growth. Types of Stems. References. THE LEAF: BASIC STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT. Morphology. Histology of Angiosperm Leaf. Development. Abscission. References. THE LEAF: VARIATIONS IN STRUCTURE. Leaf Structure and Environment. Dicotyledon Leaves. Monocotyledon Leaves. Gymnosperm Leaves. References. THE FLOWER: STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT. Concept. Structure. Development. References. THE FLOWER: REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE. Microsporogenesis. Pollen. Male Gametophyte. Megasporogenesis. Female Gametophyte. Fertilization. References. THE FRUIT. Concept and Classification. The Fruit Wall. Fruit Types. Fruit Growths. Fruit Abscission. References. THE SEED. Concept and Morphology. Seed Development. Seed Coat. Nutrient Storage Tissues. References. EMBRYO AND SEEDLING. Mature Embryo. Development of Embryo. Classification of Embryos. Seedling. References. Glossary. Index.

Acclimation and adaptive responses of woody plants to environmental stresses

Abstract: The predominant emphasis on harmful effects of environmental stresses on growth of woody plants has obscured some very beneficial effects of such stresses. Slowly increasing stresses may induce physiological adjustment that protects plants from the growth inhibition and/or injury that follow when environmental stresses are abruptly imposed. In addition, short exposures of woody plants to extreme environmental conditions at critical times in their development often improve growth. Furthermore, maintaining harvested seedlings and plant products at very low temperatures extends their longevity. Drought tolerance: Seedlings previously exposed to water stress often undergo less inhibition of growth and other processes following transplanting than do seedlings not previously exposed to such stress. Controlled wetting and drying cycles often promote early budset, dormancy, and drought tolerance. In many species increased drought tolerance following such cycles is associated with osmotic adjustment that ...