Photosynthetic characteristics and water use efficiency of tea plant under different soil moisture condition

The seedlings of tea plants(Camellia sinensis Tieguanyin and C.sinensis Fudingdabaicha) were grown in pots to study the effects of different soil moisture conditions on the photosynthetic characteristics and water use efficiency.The results showed that net photosynthetic rate(Pn),transpiration rate(Tr),stomatal conductance(Gs) and water use efficiency(WUE) of the tea plants and their diurnal variations were all significantly different under four soil moisture conditions.Pn,Tr and Gs were decreased,and the decrease in daily mean of WUE is less than that of Pn under the stress of soil moisture.The results showed that C.sinensis Tieguanyin had higher capacity to acclimate different soil water supply than C.sinensis Fudingdabaicha grown under the same habitat type.