Abstract:Photosynthetic characteristics of 3-years-old Korean spruce and Nenjiang spruce seedlings were studied under different water conditions in order to explore their adaptation mechanism to water stress. The results showed that maximum photosynthetic rate(Pmax)under different light reduced with the reducing of soil moisture content, and the reduction of Nenjiang spruce is smaller; apparent quantum yield (AQY),transpiration rate(Tr), stomatal conductance (Gs) also decreased. Dark respiration rate(Rd)and water use efficiency(WUE) rised firstly and then descended as drought become intensified, however, intercellular (Ci)descended firstly then rised. These results showed that photosynthesis was limited by non-stomatal factor under serious drought. It is indicated that the ability to water stress of Nenjiang spruce is stronger than that of Korean spruce by comparing above indexes.