The physiology of abiotic stresses

Abstract

Plants are often exposed to several adverse environmental conditions that potentially generate stress and thus negatively affect their growth and productivity. Understanding the physiological responses of crops to stress conditions is essential to minimizing the deleterious impacts of stress and maximizing productivity. Therefore, there is urgent need for more scientific research to increase our understanding of the physiological behavior of crops in response not only to a specific type of stress but also to multiple interacting stressors, such as water, and thermal stresses. The proper assessment of this information may result in important tools for monitoring the most promising genetic material in plant breeding programs. In this chapter, the plant strategies associated with satisfactory growth and yield under abiotic stress conditions are discussed, with emphasis in tropical environments. In addition, the state of the art on the physiology of the major abiotic stresses (drought, salinity, heat, nitrogen and phosphorus deficiencies and aluminum toxicity) and possible strategies to develop cultivars with satisfactory productivity in stressful environments using a physiological approach are summarized.