Morphological and physiological changes in Acer velutinum Boiss seedlings under drought stress

Water is needed for numerous metabolic functions and its loss can affect all characters of plant life. acer velutinum is a fast-growing species and significant diffuse-porous hardwood in afforestation and reforestation. in this study, the impacts of water deficit on growth, biomass, pigment contents, relative water content, osmolytes such as free proline, soluble protein, and soluble sugar, and also antioxidative enzymes including guaiacol peroxidase and catalase were studied to describe the protective mechanisms related to their drought resistance. one-year-old seedlings were exposed to four drought treatments (100, 75, 50, and 25% of the field capacity). the drought treatments had negative impacts on a. velutinum growth as exhibited by reduced plant height, basal diameter and biomass. drought stress decreased significantly relative water content and chlorophyll content while increasing electrolyte leakage, osmotic substances, and catalase and peroxidase activities. findings demonstrated that a. velutinum seedlings have the capacity to adapt to water deficiency and can be recommended for afforestation and reforestation.