How Plants Cope with Water Stress in the Field? Photosynthesis and Growth

Plants are often subjected to periods of soil and atmospheric water deficit during their life cycle. The frequency of such phenomena is likely to increase in the future even outside today's arid/semi-arid regions. Plant responses to water scarcity are complex, involving deleterious and/or adaptive changes, and under field conditions these responses can be synergistically or antagonistically modified by the superimposition of other stresses. This complexity is illustrated using examples of woody and herbaceous species mostly from Mediterranean-type ecosystems, with strategies ranging from drought-avoidance, as in winter/spring annuals or in deep-rooted perennials, to the stress resistance of sclerophylls.…