Gary Kerr

Relationships between growth and leaf-scale physiological parameters in five Wildstar™ cherry clones (Prunus avium L.)

Infra-red gas exchange analysis was used to measure leaf-scale physiological parameters of five Wildstar™ cherry clones (Prunus avium L.) and two sources of unimproved stock. Assimilation rate (A), evapotranspiration rate (E), stomatal conductance (gs) and water use efficiency (WUE) were recorded to evaluate whether the quick and simple measurements could be used as a proxy for assessing growth potential of the cherry clones. Differences in A, E and gs were found between varieties, with clone one always having higher rates than clones two and three. Differences in growth highlighted by an earlier study were linked to the physiological parameters described here. Varieties with high A tended to have good height increment and relative growth rate (RGR), while those with low A, E and gs had poor height increment. However, clone 5, the clone with the largest height increment, did not have the highest A, suggesting that its good height growth reflected allocation of photoassimilate to main stem growth relative to branches and roots. Likewise, clone 1 and clone 4 (with high A) were ranked only second and third in height growth, indicating that some of the carbon gain was lost in branching. Clones 2 and 3 performed poorly in both physiological parameters and height growth. Although a positive relationship was found between assimilation rate and growth, the relationship was not strong enough to assess growth potential of the cherry clones accurately, perhaps due to differences in the allocation of dry matter within the plant.