The association between plants and wind that first comes to mind might
be plant damage from a strong wind such as a typhoon or monsoon. The
winds this book will 1 discuss, however, are not this strong at all, but
rather are only 2 m-s- or weaker, like a breeze that gently blows over a
farming area. Such a breeze, in fact, instills vitality into plants and
increases their growth rates. This book is an attempt to explain these
beneficial effects on plants from a field perspective. One fundamental
process necessary for plant growth is photosynthesis. Since it is a
photochemical reaction, this synthesis has been studied with emphasis on
light. Yet to shed light on dry-matter or carbohydrate production by
plants, it is indispensable to pursue research not only into the
mechanism of photosynthesis but also into photosynthetic production
itself. I have observed various phenomena occurring in the production
field, and have thereby realized it necessary to recognize
photosynthesis as a phenomenon that carbon dioxide (C0 ) in the air
diffuses into chloroplasts in the leaves, and to study 2 which
environmental factors promote C0 diffusion into the leaves. 2 In this
book, I am going to describe the effects of the natural environment on
photosynthetic production, placing focus on the leaf boundary layer as
an environmental factor for plant production.
