Comparable study of hydrodynamic behavior in two different provenance population of Dactylis glomerata L.

Two population of Dactylis glomerata L. from different bioclimatic zones were studied under same climatic conditions, in order to investigate their hydrodynamic mechanism of adaptation to drought. One population was from the region of Taxiarchis (North Greece) and the second one was from Crete island. The population was subjected in two water treatments (rain fed and well-watered). The results suggest that Crete’s population had higher relative water content and water potential under rain fed conditions in comparison to Taxiarchis’s population, probably due to the preconditioned adaptation to drier climatic condition of Crete. In addition, the isohydric attitude of Crete’s population indicates that stomata conductance is the main adaptation mechanism to drought for this population. The anisohydric attitude of Taxiarchis population indicates more complicated adaptation mechanisms.