Chlorophyll evaluation of Mansonia altissima (A CHEV.) seedlings performance under different light intensities and soil textural classes
Abstract:Chlorophyll
is essential for photosynthesis. It serves two primary functions which are to
absorb light and transfer that light energy into chemical energy. This study
assessed the chlorophyll content of Mansonia
altissima seedlings under different light intensities (25%, 50%, 75% and
100%) and soil textural classes (Sandy, Loamy, Sandy-loam and Clay). The study
was conducted in a 4 X 4 factorial experiment in a Completely Randomized Design
(CRD). Interactions of the effects of light intensity and soil textural classes
showed that leaves of seedlings raised under 50% light intensity with sandy
soil had the highest chlorophyll a content 32.41 ±
0.04 mg/l while leaves of seedlings raised under 50% light the intensity with clay soil had the least chlorophyll content with 16.18 ± 0.04 mg/l but for chlorophyll b, leaves of
seedlings grown under 25% light intensity with clay soil had the highest
chlorophyll b content 67.83 ± 0.01 mg/l while
leaves of seedlings grown under 25% light intensity with sandy soil had the
least content of 12.13 ± 0.01 mg/l. This
implies that Mansonia altissima does
not make changes in morphological characteristics due to the effect of light
intensities and soil textural classes but the change in physiological
characteristics such as biochemical change and an example are amount of
chlorophyll a and b content of the leaves of Mansonia altissima seedlings examined in this study.