Effects of shadow on some leaves micromorphological characters and amount of chlorophyll

Plants need light to be able to assimilate, grow and develop. As the need of light may change depending on the species it may also change for a certain species depending on time. Light is the main nutrient resource and is of great importance for plant habitat. Light controls the morphology of the plants so that plants that grow in different lighting conditions have different architectural structure. Determination of the form differences that plants have under different lighting conditions has a great importance in order to use the plant effectively. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of shading conditions on chlorophyll amounts and micromorphological characters of Prunus armeniaca, Hibiscus syriacus, Fraxinus excelsior and Cornus mas species which are widely used for landscape designs in our country. Within the scope of the study shading conditions of %35, %55, %75 and %95 shady spots were created and samples were gathered from the species that were grown in these five different shading conditions and outdoor. Chlorophyll amounts on the samples were determined via chlorophyll meter and then scaled images were obtained with the help of electron microscope (SEM = Scanning Electron Microscope) of leaf samples. The stoma length (μm), stoma width (μm), por length (μm), por width and stoma density (1 mm2 area) were determined with the measurements conducted on these scaled images. Variance analysis and Duncan test were applied to the obtained data and the change of these characters depending on the growing environment was evaluated statistically. As a result of the study, it was determined that the amount of chlorophyll increased with shading in general, while the amount of chlorophyll on the basis of the species was between 10,830 cci (P. armeniaca) and 24,738 cci (H. syriacus). In addition, it was determined that shading conditions had statistically significant effects on micromorphological characters, only on stoma density at 99% confidence level, and the rest of the studied micromorphological characters were effected at 99.9% confidence level.