Effects of experimental warming on stomatal traits in leaves of maize (Zea may L.)

We examined the warming effects on the stomatal frequency, stomatal aperture size and shape, and their spatial distribution pattern of maize (Zea may L.) leaves using a light microscope, an electron scanning microscope, and geostatistic techniques. A field manipulative experiment was conducted to elevate canopy temperature by 2.08°C, on average. We found that experimental warming had little effect on stomatal density, but significantly increased stomatal index due to the reduction in the number of epidermal cells under the warming treatment. Warming also significantly decreased stomatal aperture length and increased stomatal aperture width. As a result, warming significantly increased the average stomatal aperture area and stomatal aperture circumference. In addition, warming dramatically changed the stomatal spatial distribution pattern with a substantial increase in the average nearest neighbor distance between stomata on both adaxial and abaxial surfaces. The spatial distribution pattern of stomata was scale dependent with regular patterns at small scales and random patterns at larger scales on both leaf surfaces. Warming caused the stomatal distribution to become more regular on both leaf surfaces with smaller L(t) values (Ripley's K-function, L(t) is an expectation of zero for any value of t) in the warming plots than the control plots.