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Common symptoms of abiotic stresses
Common symptoms of abiotic stresses may include the following:
- At the growing tips and shoots:
- Wilting from insufficient soil water, or incipient wilting due to rate of transpiration greater than the rate at which roots absorb water
- Defoliation and dieback due to chronic water deficit
- At the leaves:
- Wilting from insufficient soil water
- "Burning" of leaf tips or margins, due to toxicity from salt and specific ions
- Various chlorosis patterns — for example, overall yellowing or yellowing between veins with veins remaining green (interveinal chlorosis) — due to mineral deficiencies, salinity, or air pollutants
- Malformed and necrotic leaves resulting from herbicide damage
- Defoliation and dieback from various abiotic causes such as chronic drought stress, or toxicity related to salt or specific ions
- On branches and trunks:
- Splitting and cracking due to freezing temperatures, wind damage, or sunburn
- Mechanical injuries from mowers, golf carts, and impacts from golf balls
- At the roots:
- Discolored, leading to death, due to poor soil aeration or toxic gases
- Distortion, girdling, or kinking from soil compaction or mechanical injuries
- For the entire plant: stunted growth and dieback