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Transpiration EALA

Water is essential for plant growth and makes up over 90% of plant tissues. While only 0.1% of water is used for photosynthesis, over 99% is lost through transpiration - the evaporation of water through stomata in leaves. Transpiration cools plants, transports minerals upwards from the roots, and is driven by water potential gradients and the adhesion of water molecules. Environmental factors like light, temperature, humidity, and wind can influence transpiration rates, as can plant traits such as stomatal size and leaf surface area.

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48 views20 pages

Transpiration EALA

Water is essential for plant growth and makes up over 90% of plant tissues. While only 0.1% of water is used for photosynthesis, over 99% is lost through transpiration - the evaporation of water through stomata in leaves. Transpiration cools plants, transports minerals upwards from the roots, and is driven by water potential gradients and the adhesion of water molecules. Environmental factors like light, temperature, humidity, and wind can influence transpiration rates, as can plant traits such as stomatal size and leaf surface area.

Uploaded by

PJ
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Importance of Water in Plant

Growth
•0.1% is used in photosynthesis
•0.99% used to hydrate the plant
and maintain turgor pressure;
•99% in transpiration.
Transpiration
• Definition
• Types
• Importance
• Phenomena that drives transpiration
– Cohesion-Adhesion Theory
– Stomatal Mechanism
– Water Potential Gradient
• Factors affecting transpiration
Definition
• Loss of water vapor from the aerial parts of the
plants through the stomata.
• Loss of water from plant leaves by evaporation
– Water is lost in a gaseous state or water vapor
Types
1. Lenticular transpiration-
• loss of water through
the lenticels
• Percentage loss= 0.1%
• Substantial loss during
winter.
• In fruits, this type is also
significant.
Types
2. Cuticular transpiration-
• loss of water through
the cuticle/cutins
• Percentage loss= ~3-10%

Upper Epidermis Cuticle

Lower Epidermis Cuticle

Stomata
Types
3. Stomatal transpiration-
• loss of water through
the stomata
• Percentage loss= ~90%

Upper Epidermis Cuticle

Lower Epidermis Cuticle

Stomata
Data on daily water loss as a result
transpiration

• Tropical Palm= 500 liters/day

• Corn Plant= 3-4 liters/day


– 99% of the water absorbed by a corn plant
during its life cycle is lost through transpiration

• Tree size dessert cactus= 25 ml/day


If plants need water for photosynthesis and
for turgor pressure maintenance inside the
cells, why plants need to TRANSPIRE??
Importance of Transpiration
1. Has cooling effect
– counters the heat effect of the sun on the whole
shoot system.
– can lower the temperature of a leaf compare
with the surrounding air
• Can cool a crop canopy 4-8°C below ambient
temperature
– prevent the leaf from reaching temperatures
that could denature various enzymes
Importance of Transpiration
2. Transpiration stream
draws nutrients up the
plant from the root zone
to the shoot
Mechanisms that Drive Transpiration
1. Water Potential Gradient or Vapor Pressure
Gradient
2. Adhesion-Cohesion Theory
1. Water Potential Gradient or Vapor Pressure
Gradient
• This is the difference in vapor pressure or
water potential between the internal
spaces in the leaf and the atmosphere
around the leaf
2. Adhesion-Cohesion Theory
Because water is polar, it
adheres to the xylem and
hydrogen bonds keep the
molecules held together.

Thus:
There is a continuum of
water that goes all the way
from the roots, through the
vascular system (xylem) of
the plant to the stomata
3. The stomata allows the
water to escape.
• What controls the closing
and opening of the
stomates?
• Opening and closing of the
stomate is facilitated by
the guard cell. How?
• Turgor pressure causes the
guard cells to expand or
contract and thereby
causes the stomates to
open and close
Environmental factors that influence
the rate of Transpiration

1. Relative Humidity
• Any reduction in water in the atmosphere creates a
gradient for water to move from the leaf to the
atmosphere
• The lower the RH, the less moist the atmosphere thus, the
greater the driving force for transpiration (Higher
Transpiration rate)
• When RH is high, the atmosphere contains more moisture,
reducing the driving force for transpiration (Lower
transpiration rate)
2. Light
• Plants transpire more rapidly in the light than in
the dark.
– because light stimulates the opening of the stomata ,
– light also speeds up transpiration by warming the
leaf
3. Temperature
• Plants transpire more rapidly at higher
temperatures because water evaporates more
rapidly as the temperature rises.
6. Wind
• When a breeze is present, the humid air is carried
away and replaced by drier air; thus higher
transpiration rate.
7. Soil water
• A plant cannot continue to transpire rapidly if its
water loss is not made up by replacement from
the soil.
• When absorption of water by the roots fails to
keep up with the rate of transpiration, loss of
turgor happens.
– Reduces the rate of transpiration. If the loss of turgor
extends to the rest of the leaf and stem, the plant
wilts.
Plant factors that affect the Rate of
Transpiration
1. Boundary layer
2. Stomatal number and size
• More and big means faster or higher transpiration
rate
2. Leaf surface area
• Greater surface area has higher transpiration rate
3. Leaf rolling or folding
• Rolled/Folded leaf has lesser transpiration rate
4. Resistance in the pathway (xylem vessels,)

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