AbstractThe effect of various herbicides on photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration of intact plants has been studied in a routine assembly. Simultaneous measurements were made under different experimental conditions in four small plant chambers, in which the shoots of various plant species can be accommodated.The herbicide is applied during measurement, so that the effect can be related to the photosynthetic activity of the same plants before treatment.The selectivity of various herbicides was studied by determining the capacity of a plant species to inactivate a herbicide absorbed by the roots. These and other differential effects of various herbicides on photosynthetic activity of different plant species coincide with the selective properties in the field. Such differences are also observed after leaf sprayings. The duration of the experiments is kept short.Bean plants were studied under various experimental conditions of air humidity, light intensity and temperature resulting in different transpiration rates. The decrease in photosynthetic activity owing to the presence of a herbicide in the nutrient solution at a standard concentration was more rapid at the higher transpiration rates. The total transpiration during treatment up to 50% inhibition of photosynthesis was constant under the various experimental conditions.Specific inhibitors of the photosynthetic process had a more pronounced effect on the photosynthetic activity than on transpiration rate. Some other herbicides affect transpiration as well as photosynthesis.