• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2021

Background: The sunfleck is an important light environmental factor for plants that live under the shade of trees. Currently, the smartfarm has a system that can artificially create these sunfleks. Therefore, it was intended to find optimal light conditions by measuring and analyzing photosynthetic responses of Eutrema japonica (Miq.) Koidz., a plant living in shade with high economic value under artificial sunflecks. Results: For this purpose, we used LED pulsed light as the simulated sunflecks and set the light frequency levels of six chambers to 20 Hz, 60 Hz, 180 Hz, 540 Hz, 1620 Hz, and 4860 Hz of a pulsed LED grow system in a plant factory and the duty ratio of the all chambers was set to 30%, 50%, and 70% every 2 weeks. We measured the photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and substomatal CO2 partial pressure of E. japonica under each light condition. We also calculated the results of measurement, A/Ci, and water use efficiency. According to our results, the photosynthetic rate was not different among different duty ratios, the transpiration rate was higher at the duty ratio of 70% than 30% and 50%, and stomatal conductance was higher at 50% and 70% than at 30%. In addition, the substomatal CO2 partial pressure was higher at the duty ratio of 50% than 30% and 70%, and A/Ci was higher at 30% than 50% and 70%. Water use efficiency was higher at 30% and 50% than at 70%. While the transpiration rate and stomatal conductance generally tended to become higher as the frequency level decreased, other physiological items did not change with different frequency levels. Conclusions: Our results showed that 30% and 50% duty ratios could be better in the cultivation of E. japonica due to suffering from water stress as well as light stress in environments with the 70% duty ratio by decreasing water use efficiency. These results suggest that E. japonica is adapted under the light environment with nature sunflecks around 30-50% duty ratio and low light frequency around 20 Hz.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.347-356
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• 2008

Forest-grown American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) is exposed to daily and seasonal light variations. Our goal was to determine the effect of understory light changes on the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II, expressed as $F_v/F_m$, and photosynthetic pigment composition of two-year-old plants. Understory light photon flux density and sunfleck durations were characterized using hemispherical canopy photography. Our results showed that understory light significantly affected the $F_v/F_m$ of American ginseng, especially during the initial development of the plants when light levels were the highest, averaging 28 mol $m^{-2}d^{-1}$. Associated with low $F_v/F_m$ during its initial development, American ginseng had the lowest levels of epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle of the season, suggesting an active dissipation of excess light energy absorbed by the chlorophyll pigments. As photon flux density decreased after the deployment of the forest canopy to less than 10 mol $m^{-2}d^{-1}$, chlorophyll a/b decreased suggesting a greater investment in light harvesting pigments to reaction centers in order to absorb the fleeting light energy.