desiccation

[‚des·ə′kā·shən]

(hydrology)

The permanent decrease or disappearance of water from a region, caused by a decrease of rainfall, a failure to maintain irrigation, or deforestation or overcropping.

(science and technology)

Thorough removal of water from a substance, often with the use of a desiccant.

desiccation

1. The use of a desiccant for drying.

2. The use of heated air to remove moisture, as from timber in a kiln.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Desiccation

the preharvest drying of plants, which hastens their maturation and facilitates machine harvesting. Desiccation is carried out with the help of chemical substances, desiccants . It is most widespread in cotton cultivation. Desiccation of cotton resulting in the opening of as much as 60-75 percent of the bolls does not reduce either the quantity of raw cotton harvested or its quality. Desiccation is also being introduced in harvesting the seeds of horsebeans, legumes , and lupines, sugar beets, rice, wheat, and other crops.

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References in periodicals archive

For the ESI (Figure 2B), there was no effect of treatments with and without desiccation of crambe plants, at the different times, and the highest mean of ESI (8.90) was observed at time 4.

Physiological quality of seeds of crambe desiccated at pre-harvest with glyphosate/Qualidade fisiologica de sementes de crambe dessecado em pre-colheita com glyphosate

Unfortunately, ureteral jetting still may be noted despite partial ligation, laceration, or desiccation of the ureter.

The diagnosis and treatment of ureteral injury

The researchers focused on a coffee table-sized slab of rock nicknamed "Old Soaker." Old Soaker is crisscrossed with polygons identical in appearance to desiccation features on Earth.

Clear as Mud: Desiccation Cracks Help Reveal Shape of Water on Mars

For the evaluation of the dry matter, soil cover and nutrients remaining of the cover plants, the plots were subdivided in time, constituting six evaluation periods: 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after the desiccation management date (DMD) of the cover crops for the rice sowing (10/13/2008).

Phytomass production and micronutrient cycling by cover crops in the Brazilian cerrado of Goias

The capacity to tolerate desiccation has being associated with nuclear DNA content.

Physiological, cellular and molecular aspects of the desiccation tolerance in Anadenanthera colubrina seeds during germination/Aspectos fisiologicos, celulares e moleculares da tolerancia a dessecacao em sementes de Anadenanthera colubrina durante a germinacao

The impacts of stresses such as desiccation vary with life-history stage.

Growing Safe: Acute Size Escape from Desiccation in Juvenile Crepipatella peruviana (Mollusca: Gastropoda)

WALTERS (2000) reported that there is a gradient of desiccation tolerance among seeds, ranging from intolerant (highly recalcitrant) to the most tolerant (classical orthodox), and the minimum water content varies according to the species.

Drying on the germination and vigor of Crataeva tapia L. seeds/Secagem de sementes de Crataeva tapia L. sobre a germinacao e vigor

In this context, the aim of the present investigation is to analyse the changes in the isoenzyme patterns of the major enzymes involved the scavenging of ROSs in the desiccation stressed fronds of the terrestrial forking fern Dicranopteris linearis.

Differential antioxidant isozyme response from desiccation induced oxidative stress of the forked fern (dicranopteris linearis)

Hastened in their efforts by the variable effects of climate change and acute water shortages globally, scientists have turned more attention to revealing the desiccation tolerance (DT) strategies employed by resurrection plants (Farrant and Moore, "Programming Desiccation-Tolerance" 340-45 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2011.03.018>).

A comparative history of resurrection plants

Cysts play an important role as a stage of life and protect themselves against adverse environmental conditions, such as freezing and desiccation. The chemical composition of the cyst wall and eggshells of the potato cyst nematode (Globodera rostochiensis) has been reported (Clarke et al., 1967, Clarke, 1968); however, the physiological and biochemical characteristics of Heterodera spp.

Comparison of Biochemical Components within White and Brown Cysts in the Cereal Cyst Nematode Heterodera avenae