The effect of Altitude (above sea level) on stomata and Secretory duct Characteristics in leave of Fraxinus excelsior L.

This study is about stoma and Secretory duct in Ash leaves along an altitudinal gradient (500–700–900 m) in Shafaroud zone. First, 10 trees 30-50 cm D.B.H were selected and 3 leaves of each tree and 90 leaves were collected then leaves of Ash discolor and coloration stage and Some images (×10 and ×40) were prepared of them by light microscopy. The stoma and Secretory duct characteristics including area, length and width and density have been measured on the surface by Digimizer software. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Levene test for testing normality and Homogeneity of Variances, one way ANOVA for analyzing data, Dunnetts T3 for comparing mean were used at (p=0.05). The results showed that length, width and area of stoma and resin duct have significant differences among the altitudinal zones. The area and width of stomata have decreased with an increasing altitude. The area, length and width of the Secretory duct in 900 m is more than other zones. The area of stomata decreased and the density of stomata increased with increasing elevation the cause of this variation is adapt to the environmental change.