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Stomatal vs. nonstomatal limitation to photosynthesis
There is controversy over whether drought in C3 plants limits photosynthesis through stomatal closure or by metabolic impairment. Flexas and Medrano (pp. 183-189) reanalyse data from the literature, using stomatal conductance as an index of water deficit. They show stomatal closure to be the dominant limitation to photosynthesis at mild to moderate drought. Parallel downregulation of metabolic processes becomes dominant when drought is more severe.
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