Physiological Performance of Sweetgum (Liquidambar stryraciflua L.) and Norway Maple (Acer platanoides L.) Under Drought Condition in Urban Environment

Urban environments are stressful for the growth of trees, as they are affected by multiple and combined stressors from their surroundings. Moreover, the task of selecting and recommending convenient tree species for such conditions becomes more complex under the predicted climate change scenarios. Therefore, the present study was aimed at investigating the physiological performance of Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.) and Norway maple (Acer platanoides L.) in an urban street site, under wet and drought conditions. Most of the observed gas exchange parameters were negatively affected by drought in both of the studied species. Furthermore, chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters were shown to be a good indicators of drought stress. The overall result of this study highlighted better physiological performance of Sweetgum, in comparation to Norway maple, under drought condition in urban environment. In accordance to that, it might be assumed that Sweetgum is a promising alternative to Norway maple in the urbanized area.