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Global change biology
Apr, 2020;26 (4): 2573-2583.

Acclimation of leaf respiration consistent with optimal photosynthetic capacity.

Han Wang, Owen K Atkin, Trevor F Keenan, Nicholas G Smith, Ian J Wright, Keith J Bloomfield, Jens Kattge, Peter B Reich, I Colin Prentice
Author Information
  1. Han Wang: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modelling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. ORCID
  2. Owen K Atkin: Division of Plant Sciences, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia. ORCID
  3. Trevor F Keenan: Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
  4. Nicholas G Smith: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA. ORCID
  5. Ian J Wright: Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
  6. Keith J Bloomfield: Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK.
  7. Jens Kattge: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany. ORCID
  8. Peter B Reich: Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
  9. I Colin Prentice: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modelling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
PMID: 32091184 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14980

Abstract

Plant respiration is an important contributor to the proposed positive global carbon-cycle feedback to climate change. However, as a major component, leaf mitochondrial ('dark') respiration (R ) differs among species adapted to contrasting environments and is known to acclimate to sustained changes in temperature. No accepted theory explains these phenomena or predicts its magnitude. Here we propose that the acclimation of R follows an optimal behaviour related to the need to maintain long-term average photosynthetic capacity (V ) so that available environmental resources can be most efficiently used for photosynthesis. To test this hypothesis, we extend photosynthetic co-ordination theory to predict the acclimation of R to growth temperature via a link to V , and compare predictions to a global set of measurements from 112 sites spanning all terrestrial biomes. This extended co-ordination theory predicts that field-measured R and V accessed at growth temperature (R and V ) should increase by 3.7% and 5.5% per degree increase in growth temperature. These acclimated responses to growth temperature are less steep than the corresponding instantaneous responses, which increase 8.1% and 9.9% per degree of measurement temperature for R and V respectively. Data-fitted responses proof indistinguishable from the values predicted by our theory, and smaller than the instantaneous responses. Theory and data are also shown to agree that the basal rates of both R and V assessed at 25°C (R and V ) decline by ~4.4% per degree increase in growth temperature. These results provide a parsimonious general theory for R acclimation to temperature that is simpler-and potentially more reliable-than the plant functional type-based leaf respiration schemes currently employed in most ecosystem and land-surface models.

Keywords

acclimation carbon cycle carboxylation capacity (Vcmax) climate change co-ordination land-surface model leaf mass per area leaf nitrogen nitrogen cycle optimality photosynthesis

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Grants

  1. 31971495/National Natural Science Foundation of China
  2. 787203/H2020 European Research Council
  3. 2018YFA0605400/National Key Laboratory of Research and Development Program of China
  4. GDW20181100161/Tsinghua University
  5. DP130101252/Australian Research Council
  6. CE140100008/Australian Research Council
  7. DP170103410/Australian Research Council
  8. /Laboratory Directed Research and Development
  9. /Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  10. /Texas Tech University
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