Climate Change Impacts on Sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) Plants

Abstract

The biochemical, biological, and morphogenetic processes of plants are affected by ongoing climate change, causing alterations in crop development, growth, and productivity. Climate change is currently producing ecosystem modifications, making it essential to study plants with an improved adaptive capacity in the face of environmental modifications. This work examines the physiological and metabolic changes taking place during the development of sunflower plants due to environmental modifications resulting from climate change: elevated concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and increased temperatures. Variations in growth, and carbon and nitrogen metabolism, as well as their effect on the plant’s oxidative state in sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) plants, are studied. An understanding of the effect of these interacting factors (elevated CO2 and elevated temperatures) on plant development and stress response is imperative to understand the impact of climate change on plant productivity.