Changes in thermal infrared spectra of plants caused by temperature and water stress

This project investigates the response of plants to suboptimal conditions, by simulating some of the restrictions of plants in alpine ecosystems. Plants of Rhododendron cf. catawbiense were exposed to temperature and water stress for a period of 6 months and were compared to plants growing under normal conditions (control). Each treatment consisted of 15 plants, from which 5 leaves of each plant were marked and tracked along the experiment. TIR spectrum of each tracked leaf was measured at the beginning (0 months), in the middle (3 months) and at the end (6 months) of the experiment. Leaf traits were measured for 3 leaves of each plant (microscopy, morphology, and biochemistry). The treatments consisted in ambient temperature (20˚C), cold temperature (10 ˚C), well-watered soil – wet soil - (80% of the field capacity), and poor watered soil – dry soil - (20% of the field capacity). Code of the treatments: - Treatment 1 (T1): cold temperature / dry soil (CD) - Treatment 2 (T2): cold temperature / wet soil (CW) - Treatment 3 (T3): ambient temperature / wet soil (AW) - Treatment 4 (T4): ambient temperature / dry soil (AD