STOMATAL PATCHINESS

Different behaviour of small groups of stomata on a single leaf blade (stomatal patchiness) is reviewed. The occurrence of stomatal patchine ss depends on plant species, age, leaf position, environmental conditi ons, etc. The possibility of errors in conventional evaluation of stom atal and non-stomatal (biochemical) limitations of photosynthesis resu lting from patchy stomatal closure is analysed. The consequences of st omatal patchiness for leaf and plant photosynthesis and water economy are discussed. A brief survey of the techniques currently used for det ection and quantification of stomatal patchiness is presented.