Impacts of Abiotic Stresses on Eco-Physiology of Crop in Changing Climate

Eco-physiology describes the inherent mechanisms used by plants to respond to external stimuli that contribute to adaptations to particular environment. In nature, plants are often simultaneously challenged by individual and interactive effects of several biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought, supra- or sub-optimal ambient temperatures, waterlogging and salinity. These factors directly or indirectly influence plant growth and development process. Internal cell osmoregulation, modulated metabolic activity, hormonal superintendence and supportive alteration of anti-oxidant activities at cellular level are the crucial controlling factors for maintaining plant growth plasticity under variable abiotic stress environment. Plants have inbuilt mechanisms for stress tolerance that thrive upon many intrinsic factors such as genotypic and phenotypic constitutions and developmental circumstances. Many of these traits involved in tolerance to abiotic stress were helpful during the conventional selection procedures of crop improvement. However, modern omics technologies can help to accelerate the incremental accumulation of favorable alleles for physiological traits for climate adaptation. Challenges of ensuring global food security in the current situation of predicted adverse effects of climate change can be addressed by managing abiotic stresses for sustainable agriculture by deep insights into the eco-physiology of crops.