References

Anderson RL, Tanaka DL, Merrill SD (2003) Yield and water use of broadleaf crops in a semiarid climate. Agricultural Water Management 58, 255–266.
| CrossRef |

Angadi SV, Entz MH (2002a) Root system and water use patterns of different height sunflower cultivars. Agronomy Journal 94, 136–145.
| CrossRef |

Angadi SV, Entz MH (2002b) Water relations of standard height and dwarf sunflower cultivars. Crop Science 42, 152–159.
| CrossRef |

Bates D, Maechler M, Dai B (2008) lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. R package ver. 0.999375–28. Available at: http://lme4.r-forge.r-project.org/ [Verified 20 September 2012]

Blum A (2009) Effective use of water (EUW) and not water-use efficiency (WUE) is the target of crop yield improvement under drought stress. Field Crops Research 112, 119–123.
| CrossRef |

Brisson N, Mary B, Ripoche D, Jeuffroy MH, Ruget F, Nicoullaud B, Gate P, Devienne-Barret F, Antonioletti R, Durr C, Richard G, Beaudoin N, Recous S, Tayot X, Plenet D, Cellier P, Machet JM, Meynard JM, Delecolle R (1998) STICS: a generic model for the simulation of crops and their water and nitrogen balances. I. Theory and parameterization applied to wheat and corn. Agronomie 18, 311–346.
| CrossRef |

Cabelguenne M, Debaeke P (1998) Experimental determination and modelling of the soil water extraction capacities of crops of maize, sunflower, soya bean, sorghum and wheat. Plant and Soil 202, 175–192.
| CrossRef | CAS |

Cabelguenne M, Debaeke P, Bouniols A (1999) EPICphase, a version of the EPIC model simulating the effects of water and nitrogen stress on biomass and yield, taking account of developmental stages: validation on maize, sunflower, sorghum, soybean and winter wheat. Agricultural Systems 60, 175–196.
| CrossRef |

Casadebaig P, Debaeke P, Lecoeur J (2008) Thresholds for leaf expansion and transpiration response to soil water deficit in a range of sunflower genotypes. European Journal of Agronomy 28, 646–654.
| CrossRef |

CETIOM (2004) Stades-repères du tournesol. In ‘Guide de l’expérimentateur tournesol’. pp. 13–15. (Cetiom Eds. Thiverval-Grignon: Paris, France)

Chimenti CA, Hall AJ (1993) Genetic variation and changes with ontogeny of osmotic adjustment in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Euphytica 71, 201–210.
| CrossRef |

Chimenti CA, Vazquez A, Hall AJ, Romano A (1992) Heritability of osmotic adjustment in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). In ‘Proceedings of the 13th International Sunflower Conference Vol. 2’. pp. 1017–1022. (Pacini Eds: Pisa, Italy)

Chimenti CA, Pearson J, Hall AJ (2002) Osmotic adjustment and yield maintenance under drought in sunflower. Field Crops Research 75, 235–246.
| CrossRef |

Chimenti CA, Marcantonio M, Hall AJ (2006) Divergent selection for osmotic adjustment results in improved drought tolerance in maize (Zea mays L.) in both early growth and flowering phases. Field Crop Research 95, 305–315.
| CrossRef |

Clavel D, Drame NK, Roy-Macauley H, Braconnier S, Laffray D (2005) Analysis of early responses to drought associated with field drought adaptation in four Sahelian groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars. Environmental and Experimental Botany 54, 219–230.
| CrossRef | CAS |

Connor D, Hall A (1997) Sunflower physiology. In ‘Sunflower technology and production. Agronomy Monograph 35’. (Ed. AA Schneiter) pp. 67–113. (ASA-CSSA-SSSA: Madison, WI, USA)

Dardanelli JL, Bachmeier OA, Sereno R, Gil R (1997) Rooting depth and soil water extraction patterns of different crops in a silty loam Haplustoll. Field Crops Research 54, 29–38.
| CrossRef |

Denmead OT, Shaw RH (1962) Availability of soil water to plants as affected by soil moisture content and meteorological conditions. Agronomy Journal 54, 385–390.
| CrossRef |

Falconer DS, Mackay TFC (1996) ‘Introduction to quantitative genetics.’ 4th Ed. (Longman Sci. and Tech.: Harlow, UK)

Flénet F, Debaeke P, Casadebaig P (2008) Could a crop model be useful for improving sunflower crop management? In ‘Proceedings of the 17th International Sunflower Conference. Vol. 1’. (Consejería de Agricultura y Pesca Eds: Cordoba, Spain)

Gregory PJ (2006) Plant roots. In ‘Growth, activity and interaction with soils’. (Blackwell Publishing Ltd: Oxford)

Guei RG, Wassom CE (1993) Genetics of osmotic adjustment in breeding maize for drought tolerance. Heredity 71, 436–441.
| CrossRef |

Guilioni L, Radanielson AM, Christophe A, Lecoeur J (2008) Root system and water extraction variability for sunflower hybrids. In ‘Proceedings of the 17th International Sunflower Conference. Vol. 1’. pp. 13–28. (Consejería de Agricultura y Pesca Eds: Cordoba, Spain)

Hufstetler EV, Boerma HR, Carter TE, Earl HJ (2007) Genotypic variation for three physiological traits affecting drought tolerance in soybean. Crop Science 47, 25–35.
| CrossRef |

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2007) Climatic change 2007. Available at http://www.ipcc.ch [Verified 20 September 2012]

Jamaux I, Steinmetz A, Belhassen E (1997) Looking for molecular and physiological markers of osmotic adjustment in sunflower. New Phytologist 137, 117–127.
| CrossRef | CAS |

James AT, Lawn RJ, Cooper M (2008a) Genotypic variation for drought stress response traits in soybean. I. Variation in soybean and wild Glycine spp. for epidermal conductance, osmotic potential, and relative water content. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 59, 656–669.
| CrossRef |

James AT, Lawn RJ, Cooper M (2008b) Genotypic variation for drought stress response traits in soybean. III. Broad-sense heritability of epidermal conductance, osmotic potential, and relative water content. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 59, 679–689.
| CrossRef |

Jones HG (1992) ‘Plants and microclimate.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge)

Karam F, Lahoud R, Masaad R, Kabalan R, Breidi J, Chalita C, Rouphael Y (2007) Evapotranspiration, seed yield and water use efficiency of drip irrigated sunflower under full and deficit irrigation conditions. Agricultural Water Management 90, 213–223.
| CrossRef |

Keating BA, Carberry PS, Hammer GL, Probert ME, Robertson MJ, Holzworth D, Huth NI, Hargreaves JNG, Meinke H, Hochman Z, McLean G, Verburg K, Snow V, Dimes JP, Silburn M, Wang E, Brown S, Bristow KL, Asseng S, Chapman S, McCown RL, Freebairn DM, Smith CJ (2003) An overview of APSIM, a model designed for farming systems simulation. European Journal of Agronomy 18, 267–288.
| CrossRef |

Kramer PJ, Boyer JS (1995) ‘Water relations of plants and soils.’ (Academic Press: San Diego, CA)

Lecoeur J, Wery J, Turc O (1992) Osmotic adjustment as a mechanism of dehydration postponement in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) leaves. Plant and Soil 144, 177–189.
| CrossRef | CAS |

Lecoeur J, Poire-Lassus R, Christophe A, Pallas B, Casadebaig P, Debaeke P, Vear F, Guilioni L (2011) Quantifying physiological determinants of genetic variation for yield potential in sunflower. SUNFLO: a model-based analysis. Functional Plant Biology 38, 246–259.
| CrossRef |

Lilley JM, Kirkegaard JA (2011) Benefits of increased soil exploration by wheat roots. Field Crops Research 122, 118–130.
| CrossRef |

Lynch M, Walsh B (1997) ‘Genetics and analysis of quantitative traits.’ (Sinauer Associates, Inc.: Sunderland, MA)

Meinke H, Hammer GL, Chapman SC (1993a) A sunflower simulation model: II. Simulating production risks in a variable sub-tropical environment. Agronomy Journal 85, 735–742.
| CrossRef |

Meinke H, Hammer GL, Want P (1993b) Potential soil water extraction by sunflower on a range of soils. Field Crops Research 32, 59–81.
| CrossRef |

Merrill SD, Tanaka DL, Hanson JD (2002) Root length growth of eight crop species in Haplustoll soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 66, 913–923.
| CrossRef | CAS |

Mojayad F, Planchon C (1994) Stomatal and photosynthetic adjustment to water deficit as the expression of heterosis in sunflower. Crop Science 34, 103–107.
| CrossRef |

Morgan JM, Condon AG (1986) Water use, grain yield, and osmoregulation in wheat. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 13, 523–532.
| CrossRef |

Moroke TS, Schwartz RC, Brown KW, Juo ASR (2005) Soil water depletion and root distribution of three dryland crops. Soil Science Society of America Journal 69, 197–205.
| CrossRef | CAS |

Moroke TS, Schwartz RC, Brown KW, Juo ASR (2011) Water use efficiency of dryland cowpea, sorghum and sunflower under reduced tillage. Soil & Tillage Research 112, 76–84.
| CrossRef |

Mumford ZJ, Mumford JBC, Campbell GS (2009) Is the soil water potential at permanent wilt really 15 bars? Abstract No -145-8, In ‘ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2009 International Annual Meeting’, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

R Development Core Team (2008) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Available at: http://www.R-project.org [Verified 20 September 2012]

Ratliff LF, Ritchie JT, Cassel DK (1983) Field-measured limits of soil water availability as related to laboratory-measured properties. Soil Science Society of America Journal 47, 770–775.
| CrossRef |

Rauf S, Sadaqat HA, Khan IA, Ahmed R (2009) Genetic analysis of leaf hydraulics in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) under drought stress. Plant, Soil and Environment 55, 62–69.

Rebetzke GJ, Condon AG, Richards RA, Farquhar GD (2003) Gene action for leaf conductance in three wheat crosses. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 54, 381–387.
| CrossRef |

Ritchie JT (1981) Soil water availability. Plant and Soil 58, 327–338.
| CrossRef |

Sadras VO, Hall AJ (1989) Pattern of water availability for sunflower crops in semi-arid central Argentina. A simulation-based evaluation of their interactions with cropping strategies and cultivar traits. Agricultural Systems 31, 221–238.
| CrossRef |

Sadras VO, Whitfield DM, Connor DJ (1991) Regulation of evapotranspiration, and its partitioning between transpiration and soil evaporation by sunflower crops – a comparison between hybrids of different stature. Field Crops Research 28, 17–37.
| CrossRef |

Sinclair TR (2005) Theoretical analysis of soil and plant traits influencing daily plant water flux on drying soils. Agronomy Journal 97, 1148–1152.
| CrossRef |

Sinclair TR, Ludlow MM (1986) Influence of soil water supply on the plant water balance of four tropical grain legumes. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 13, 329–341.
| CrossRef |

Stone LR, Goodrum DE, Jaafar MN, Khan AH (2001) Rooting front and water depletion depths in grain sorghum and sunflower. Agronomy Journal 93, 1105–1110.
| CrossRef |

Subbarao GV, Chauhan YS, Johansen C (2000) Patterns of osmotic adjustment in pigeon-pea its importance as a mechanism of drought resistance. European Journal of Agronomy 12, 239–249.
| CrossRef |

Turner NC (1997) Further progress in crop water relations. Advances in Agronomy 5, 293–338.

Vear F, Bony H, Joubert G, Tourvieille de Labrouhe D, Pauchet I, Pinochet X (2003) 30 years of sunflower breeding in France. Oléagineux, Corps Gras, Lipides 10, 66–73.

Villalobos FJ, Hall AJ, Ritchie JT, Orgaz F (1996) OILCROP-SUN: a development, growth, and yield model of the sunflower crop. Agronomy Journal 88, 403–415.
| CrossRef |

Zhang J, Nguyen HT, Blum A (1999) Genetic analysis of osmotic adjustment in crop plants. Journal of Experimental Botany 50, 291–302.
| CrossRef | CAS |