ABSTRACT
Environmental factors, such as extremes in soil moisture and temperature, impact the fitness of plants and arthropods, and greatly mediate plant-arthropod interactions. In natural and agricultural systems, environmental resources are rarely optimal for plant growth and development and can reduce plant fitness or yield. According to Boyer,1 overall U.S. agricultural productivity is limited by environmental stresses to 25% of its potential. Moisture stress is most likely the major abiotic stressor to which plants are subjected. Most frequently, plants encounter multiple stressors, both biotic and
abiotic, at different stages in their growth and development. Consequently, studies that attempt to characterize plant response to stress conditions should account for all variables that potentially affect plant fitness.
