DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Towards a universal model for carbon dioxide uptake by plants

Journal Article · · Nature Plants (Online)
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [6];  [7]; ORCiD logo [8]
  1. Northwest A & F University, Yangling (China). State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Forestry; Macquarie University, North Ryde (Australia). Department of Biological Sciences; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg (Australia). Ecosystems Services and Management Program
  2. Northwest A & F University, Yangling (China). State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Forestry; Macquarie University, North Ryde (Australia). Department of Biological Sciences; Imperial College, London (United Kingdom). AXA Chair of Biosphere and Climate Impacts, Department of Life Sciences
  3. Macquarie University, North Ryde (Australia). Department of Biological Sciences; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division
  4. Imperial College, London (United Kingdom). AXA Chair of Biosphere and Climate Impacts, Department of Life Sciences; United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, Ithaca, NY (United States)
  5. Macquarie University, North Ryde (Australia). Department of Biological Sciences
  6. The University of New South Wales, Randwick (Australia). Ecology and Evolution Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences
  7. Macquarie University, North Ryde (Australia). Department of Biological Sciences; Univ. of Sydney, NSW (Australia). Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Department of Environmental Sciences
  8. Northwest A & F University, Yangling (China). State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Forestry; Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Department of Biological Sciences

Gross primary production (GPP) - the uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) by leaves, and its conversion to sugars by photosynthesis - is the basis for life on land. Earth System Models (ESMs) incorporating the interactions of land ecosystems and climate are used to predict the future of the terrestrial sink for anthropogenic CO2. ESMs require accurate representation of GPP. However, current ESMs disagree on how GPP responds to environmental variations, suggesting a need for a more robust theoretical framework for modelling. Here in this work, we focus on a key quantity for GPP, the ratio of leaf internal to external CO2 (χ). χ is tightly regulated and depends on environmental conditions, but is represented empirically and incompletely in today's models. We show that a simple evolutionary optimality hypothesis predicts specific quantitative dependencies of χ on temperature, vapour pressure deficit and elevation; and that these same dependencies emerge from an independent analysis of empirical χ values, derived from a worldwide dataset of >3,500 leaf stable carbon isotope measurements. A single global equation embodying these relationships then unifies the empirical light-use efficiency model with the standard model of C3 photosynthesis, and successfully predicts GPP measured at eddy-covariance flux sites. This success is notable given the equation's simplicity and broad applicability across biomes and plant functional types. Finally, it provides a theoretical underpinning for the analysis of plant functional coordination across species and emergent properties of ecosystems, and a potential basis for the reformulation of the controls of GPP in next-generation ESMs.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1437966
Journal Information:
Nature Plants (Online), Journal Name: Nature Plants (Online) Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 3; ISSN 2055-0278
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (43)

The WFDEI meteorological forcing data set: WATCH Forcing Data methodology applied to ERA-Interim reanalysis data journal September 2014
Updated high-resolution grids of monthly climatic observations - the CRU TS3.10 Dataset: UPDATED HIGH-RESOLUTION GRIDS OF MONTHLY CLIMATIC OBSERVATIONS journal May 2013
Coordination theory of leaf nitrogen distribution in a canopy journal February 1993
Carbon isotope discrimination by plants follows latitudinal and altitudinal trends journal September 1991
A biochemical model of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation in leaves of C3 species journal June 1980
13C discrimination during CO2 assimilation by the terrestrial biosphere journal January 1994
Soil water stress and coupled photosynthesis–conductance models: Bridging the gap between conflicting reports on the relative roles of stomatal, mesophyll conductance and biochemical limitations to photosynthesis journal March 2010
Global comparison of light use efficiency models for simulating terrestrial vegetation gross primary production based on the LaThuile database journal July 2014
Optimal stomatal behaviour around the world journal March 2015
Water-use efficiency and transpiration across European forests during the Anthropocene journal May 2015
Global patterns in leaf 13C discrimination and implications for studies of past and future climate journal March 2010
Impact of mesophyll diffusion on estimated global land CO2 fertilization journal October 2014
The Influence of Light and Carbon Dioxide on Photosynthesis journal July 1937
Least‐Cost Input Mixtures of Water and Nitrogen for Photosynthesis journal January 2003
Stand aside stomata, another actor deserves centre stage: the forgotten role of the internal conductance to CO2 transfer journal June 2007
Mesophyll conductance to CO2, assessed from online TDL-AS records of 13CO2 discrimination, displays small but significant short-term responses to CO2 and irradiance in Eucalyptus seedlings journal August 2011
Physiological basis of genetic variation in leaf photosynthesis among rice (Oryza sativa L.) introgression lines under drought and well-watered conditions journal August 2012
Physiological basis of the light use efficiency model journal March 1998
Balancing the costs of carbon gain and water transport: testing a new theoretical framework for plant functional ecology journal November 2013
Forest water use and water use efficiency at elevated CO 2 : a model-data intercomparison at two contrasting temperate forest FACE sites journal March 2013
Global effects of soil and climate on leaf photosynthetic traits and rates: Effects of soil and climate on photosynthetic traits journal April 2015
Reconciling the optimal and empirical approaches to modelling stomatal conductance: RECONCILING OPTIMAL AND EMPIRICAL STOMATAL MODELS journal January 2011
Reconciling the optimal and empirical approaches to modelling stomatal conductance journal October 2012
The relationship between the Rubisco reaction mechanism and models of photosynthesis* journal April 1990
Modelling photosynthesis of cotton grown in elevated CO2 journal April 1992
Improved temperature response functions for models of Rubisco-limited photosynthesis journal February 2001
Temperature acclimation in a biochemical model of photosynthesis: a reanalysis of data from 36 species journal September 2007
Mesophyll conductance to CO 2 : current knowledge and future prospects journal May 2008
Variability in mesophyll conductance between barley genotypes, and effects on transpiration efficiency and carbon isotope discrimination journal February 2010
What have we learned from 15 years of free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE)? A meta-analytic review of the responses of photosynthesis, canopy properties and plant production to rising CO2: Tansley review journal November 2004
Advances in measurements and models of photosynthetic carbon isotope discrimination in C 3 plants : Photosynthetic carbon isotope discrimination in C journal May 2014
Terrestrial Gross Carbon Dioxide Uptake: Global Distribution and Covariation with Climate journal July 2010
Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Photosynthesis journal June 1989
Uncertainties in CMIP5 Climate Projections due to Carbon Cycle Feedbacks journal January 2014
The Coordination of Leaf Photosynthesis Links C and N Fluxes in C3 Plant Species journal June 2012
Modeling Gross Primary Production of an Evergreen Needleleaf Forest Using Modis and Climate data journal June 2005
A General Model for the Light-Use Efficiency of Primary Production journal October 1996
Solar Radiation and Productivity in Tropical Ecosystems journal December 1972
A high-resolution data set of surface climate over global land areas journal January 2002
Large Differences in Terrestrial Vegetation Production Derived from Satellite-Based Light Use Efficiency Models journal September 2014
Reliable, robust and realistic: the three R's of next-generation land-surface modelling journal January 2015
Biophsyical constraints on gross primary production by the terrestrial biosphere journal January 2014
A global scale mechanistic model of the photosynthetic capacity journal January 2015

Cited By (38)

Tree-ring isotopes suggest atmospheric drying limits temperature–growth responses of treeline bristlecone pine journal May 2019
Global photosynthetic capacity is optimized to the environment journal January 2019
Rising CO 2 drives divergence in water use efficiency of evergreen and deciduous plants journal December 2019
Drivers of leaf carbon exchange capacity across biomes at the continental scale journal June 2018
Partitioning Eddy Covariance Water Flux Components Using Physiological and Micrometeorological Approaches journal October 2018
No Proportional Increase of Terrestrial Gross Carbon Sequestration From the Greening Earth journal August 2019
How Much Water Is Evaporated Across California? A Multiyear Assessment Using a Biophysical Model Forced With Satellite Remote Sensing Data journal April 2019
Robust leaf trait relationships across species under global environmental changes journal June 2020
Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming journal September 2018
Increased water-use efficiency and reduced CO2 uptake by plants during droughts at a continental scale journal August 2018
Drought impacts on terrestrial primary production underestimated by satellite monitoring journal March 2019
Field-experiment constraints on the enhancement of the terrestrial carbon sink by CO2 fertilization journal September 2019
Disentangling the role of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance on rising forest water-use efficiency journal August 2019
Tree-ring isotopes suggest atmospheric drying limits temperature–growth responses of treeline bristlecone pine journal May 2019
The impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on global photosynthesis using satellite remote sensing journal October 2018
An extensive suite of functional traits distinguishes Hawaiian wet and dry forests and enables prediction of species vital rates journal December 2018
Global photosynthetic capacity is optimized to the environment journal January 2019
Modelled net carbon gain responses to climate change in boreal trees: Impacts of photosynthetic parameter selection and acclimation journal December 2018
Climate and plant trait strategies determine tree carbon allocation to leaves and mediate future forest productivity journal June 2019
Higher than expected CO 2 fertilization inferred from leaf to global observations journal February 2020
Climate and soils together regulate photosynthetic carbon isotope discrimination within C 3 plants worldwide : XXXX journal September 2018
Different determinants of radiation use efficiency in cold and temperate forests journal July 2019
Assessing the generality of global leaf trait relationships journal February 2005
Modelling carbon sources and sinks in terrestrial vegetation journal September 2018
The validity of optimal leaf traits modelled on environmental conditions journal October 2018
Improving plant allometry by fusing forest models and remote sensing journal April 2019
Historical changes in the stomatal limitation of photosynthesis: empirical support for an optimality principle journal December 2019
Water transport through tall trees: A vertically explicit, analytical model of xylem hydraulic conductance in stems: Vertically explicit, analytical hydraulic model journal June 2018
Gas exchange and water‐use efficiency in plant canopies journal December 2018
Rising CO 2 drives divergence in water use efficiency of evergreen and deciduous plants journal December 2019
Climate and soils together regulate photosynthetic carbon isotope discrimination within C3 plants worldwide text January 2018
Plant functional diversity affects climate–vegetation interaction journal January 2018
Plant functional diversity affects climate–vegetation interaction posted_content November 2017
A new version of the CABLE land surface model (Subversion revision r4601) incorporating land use and land cover change, woody vegetation demography, and a novel optimisation-based approach to plant coordination of photosynthesis journal January 2018
P-model v1.0: an optimality-based light use efficiency model for simulating ecosystem gross primary production journal January 2020
Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming text January 2018
Drought impacts on terrestrial primary production underestimated by satellite monitoring text January 2019
Robust leaf trait relationships across species under global environmental changes text January 2020

Similar Records

Environmental controls on the light use efficiency of terrestrial gross primary production
Journal Article · Fri Nov 25 04:00:00 UTC 2022 · Global Change Biology · OSTI ID:1900055

Representing leaf and root physiological traits in CLM improves global carbon and nitrogen cycling predictions
Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 UTC 2016 · Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems · OSTI ID:1379371

Optimal stomatal behaviour around the world
Journal Article · Mon Mar 02 04:00:00 UTC 2015 · Nature Climate Change · OSTI ID:1261436