Methods in Stomatal Research

In higher plants, stomata are the guardians of gas exchange; they provide paths for carbon dioxide intake while minimizing the unavoidable efflux of water vapour under continuously changing ambient conditions.;The book is divided into three main parts. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with the importance of plant material and some fundamental theoretical aspects assessing stomatal responses.;In the second part, there are details of well-established and traditional apparatus and techniques which involve the use of relatively intact plant material.;The third part of the book surveys those methods that are used to investigate progressively more isolated plant material ranging from leaf discs to guard cell organelles.;The authors also provide diagrams of apparatus, especially when this would normally be constructed by the investigator rather than purchased. Figures and tables are used to give examples of experimental results pertaining to specific methods; many of these contain unpublished data of the authors and in such cases, the captions are extended to give relevant details of the procedures used. Flow diagrams are employed to clarify and summarize.