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Title: Reduced global plant respiration due to the acclimation of leaf dark respiration coupled with photosynthesis

Journal Article · · New Phytologist
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19355 · OSTI ID:2203997
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [8]
  1. Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Institute for Global Change Studies Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 China
  2. Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Institute for Global Change Studies Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 China, School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences (SAGES) University of Reading Reading RG6 6AH UK
  3. Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Institute for Global Change Studies Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 China, Department of Life Sciences, Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet Imperial College London Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road Ascot SL5 7PY UK
  4. ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, Research School of Biology The Australian National University Building 134 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia, Division of Plant Sciences, Research School of Biology The Australian National University Building 46 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
  5. Department of Biological Sciences Texas Tech University Lubbock TX 79409 USA
  6. Department of Life Sciences, Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet Imperial College London Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road Ascot SL5 7PY UK
  7. Department of Forest Resources University of Minnesota St Paul MN 55108 USA
  8. Department of Forest Resources University of Minnesota St Paul MN 55108 USA, Institute for Global Change Biology, and School for the Environment and Sustainability University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI 48109 USA, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment Western Sydney University Penrith NSW 2753 Australia

Summary Leaf dark respiration ( R d ) acclimates to environmental changes. However, the magnitude, controls and time scales of acclimation remain unclear and are inconsistently treated in ecosystem models. We hypothesized that R d and Rubisco carboxylation capacity ( V cmax ) at 25°C ( R d,25 , V cmax,25 ) are coordinated so that R d,25 variations support V cmax,25 at a level allowing full light use, with V cmax,25 reflecting daytime conditions (for photosynthesis), and R d,25 / V cmax,25 reflecting night‐time conditions (for starch degradation and sucrose export). We tested this hypothesis temporally using a 5‐yr warming experiment, and spatially using an extensive field‐measurement data set. We compared the results to three published alternatives: R d,25 declines linearly with daily average prior temperature; R d at average prior night temperatures tends towards a constant value; and R d,25 / V cmax,25 is constant. Our hypothesis accounted for more variation in observed R d,25 over time ( R 2  = 0.74) and space ( R 2  = 0.68) than the alternatives. Night‐time temperature dominated the seasonal time‐course of R d , with an apparent response time scale of c. 2 wk. V cmax dominated the spatial patterns. Our acclimation hypothesis results in a smaller increase in global R d in response to rising CO 2 and warming than is projected by the two of three alternative hypotheses, and by current models.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
2203997
Journal Information:
New Phytologist, Journal Name: New Phytologist Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 241; ISSN 0028-646X
Publisher:
Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

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