Balancing the costs of carbon gain and water transport: testing a new theoretical framework for plant functional ecology

A novel framework is presented for the analysis of ecophysiological field measurements and modelling. The hypothesis ‘leaves minimise the summed unit costs of transpiration and carboxylation’ predicts leaf‐internal/ambient CO2 ratios (ci/ca) and slopes of maximum carboxylation rate (Vcmax) or leaf n...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters 2014-01, Vol.17 (1), p.82-91
Main Authors: Prentice, I. Colin, Dong, Ning, Gleason, Sean M., Maire, Vincent, Wright, Ian J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Aridity
Biological and medical sciences
Carbon Dioxide - metabolism
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
nitrogen
Nitrogen - metabolism
optimality
photosynthesis
Plant biology
Plant ecology
plant functional traits
Plant Leaves - metabolism
Plant Transpiration
Plants - metabolism
stable isotopes
stomatal conductance
temperature
transpiration
viscosity
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Summary:A novel framework is presented for the analysis of ecophysiological field measurements and modelling. The hypothesis ‘leaves minimise the summed unit costs of transpiration and carboxylation’ predicts leaf‐internal/ambient CO2 ratios (ci/ca) and slopes of maximum carboxylation rate (Vcmax) or leaf nitrogen (Narea) vs. stomatal conductance. Analysis of data on woody species from contrasting climates (cold‐hot, dry‐wet) yielded steeper slopes and lower mean ci/ca ratios at the dry or cold sites than at the wet or hot sites. High atmospheric vapour pressure deficit implies low ci/ca in dry climates. High water viscosity (more costly transport) and low photorespiration (less costly photosynthesis) imply low ci/ca in cold climates. Observed site‐mean ci/ca shifts are predicted quantitatively for temperature contrasts (by photorespiration plus viscosity effects) and approximately for aridity contrasts. The theory explains the dependency of ci/ca ratios on temperature and vapour pressure deficit, and observed relationships of leaf δ13C and Narea to aridity.
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.12211