CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE AS A TOOL FOR MANAGEMENT OF PLANT RESOURCES

Light-induced chlorophyll fluorescence has become a tool which has eve r-increasing potential application to experimental plant physiology. T he effects of frost, heat, and drought have been analyzed using the ki netics Of individual leaves of two representative types of life form: an evergreen tree (holm oak) dominant in the Mediterranean Basin and a n annual cultivated legume (soybean). Various indices were used to qua ntify their response to environmental stress. Canopy fluorescence for the two types of plants was simulated. For two levels of measurement, leaf or canopy, light-induced fluorescence appears to be helpful for f orest or crop management in the Mediterranean area.