Palmer amaranth is a highly invasive weed species causing huge economic
losses in agricultural cropping systems under a broad range of environmental
conditions. Sensitivity of this species to ozone (O3) air
pollution and to soil water deficit, relative to native species or competing
crops, may affect its competitiveness and invasive potential. In recent
years, both high tropospheric O3 and soil water deficiency have
become common in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Responses to these
environmental parameters may help predict the invasiveness of this species
and have implications for landscape hydrology. We assessed the impact of
O3 and soil water deficit on Palmer amaranth. Five- to
seven-leaf–stage potted plants were placed in continuous stirred tank
reactor chambers and maintained for 30 to 35 d under 12-h mean daylight
O3 exposures (0700–1900 hours) of 4, 59, or 114 ppb
O3. Within the chambers the plants were either well-watered
(WW) or exposed to regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and grown for about 7
wk. Dry weights of the leaves, stems, roots, and leaf area were determined.
Day- and nighttime stomatal conductances (gs) were measured at 1.5-h intervals. Nocturnal gs was about 16 to 29% of daytime gs; this suggests that the species could have substantial
nighttime water loss, uncoupled from carbon gain in the weed, and could
affect water availability for crops and reduce irrigation efficiency.
Nocturnal gs was lower in the RDI than in the WW, but daytime
gs was not affected by O3 or irrigation regime. Neither
O3 nor irrigation regime affected root or shoot parameters. As
O3 and drought are two key stressors in the San Joaquin
Valley, to which potential competing species have been found to be
sensitive, Palmer amaranth may proliferate and become more invasive in the
future, potentially altering landscape hydrology and reducing irrigation
efficiency.