Table 2.

Effects of different treatments on leaf δ¹³C and grain yield of maize

Treatment	δ13C			Grain yield (g plant–1)
	Ten-leaf stage	Milk stage	Physiological maturity stage
SL	–11.08b	–10.81b	–11.90b	99.49c
SH	–11.57c	–11.56c	–12.97c	194.45a
FL	–10.49a	–9.91a	–10.93a	37.79d
FH	–11.02b	–10.73b	–11.61ab	140.60b
ANOVA (F values)
SWS	13.97**	18.93***	19.90***	288.40***
W	11.09**	15.88**	11.08**	844.88***
SWS*W	0.01	0.04	0.54	1.33

Note: Duncan’s multiple-range test was used to test differences among treatments at the P < 0.05 level. Different lowercase letters in the same column indicate significant differences among treatments at the same stage. SL: stable soil water with 55% FC, SH: stable soil water with 75% FC, FL: fluctuating soil water with 55% FC, FH: fluctuating soil water with 75% FC, SWS: soil water stability, W: soil water content, SWS*W: the interaction between soil water stability and soil water content. *, **, and *** indicate significance levels at P < 0.05, P < 0.01, and P < 0.001, respectively