Syllabus
1. Water balance of plants (3 lectures)Concept of water potential – water in soil, plants and the atmosphere, PWP, transpiration flux, cavitation of xylem, principles of psychrmetry, p-V curves, modulus of elasticity, capacitance, succulence, sclerophyly.
Practicals – measurements of water potential in soil and plant tissues, p-V curves and their interpretation. 2. Energy balance of plants, temperature limits (3 lectures)
Energy balance of ecosystem/plants, radiation balance, temperature survival limits of plants, frost and heat resistance, adaptations, extracellular freezing resistance, transient supercooling, heat tolerance, transpiration cooling, phenology, concept of degree days, alpine tree line
Practicals – thermal balance of plants, estimates of temperature injury (conduktometry, fluorescence). 3. Physical and chemical properties of soil (3 lectures)Mineral and organic soil matter, soil pH, conductivity, CEC, texture, SOC); decomposition, soil organisms.
Practicals – CEC of soil, texture analysis, nutrient comntent (P, N), soil respiration.
Annotation
The course is about variation of the abiotic environment and its direct and undirect effects on plant performance. Lectures are structured in three blocks dealing with: 1. water relations of plants and soil, and adaptations of plants related to dynamic water balance, 2. energy balance of habitats and plant adaptations against extreme temperatures, 3. physical and chemical properties of soil in relation to plant nutrient uptake.
The course involves one week of practicals devoted to subjects of plant performance discussed during individuals lectures - temperature resistance of plants, water potential and related plant functional traits, biological activity of soil and nutrient content.
Schedule of the lectures and supporting study materials are available in Moodle: https://dl2.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=2431
Please note that the lectures are given in English only when foreign student(s) is/are present.