TY - JOUR
T1 - Towards a unified theory of plant photosynthesis and hydraulics
AU - Joshi, Jaideep
AU - Stocker, Benjamin D.
AU - Hofhansl, Florian
AU - Zhou, Shuangxi
AU - Dieckmann, Ulf
AU - Prentice, Iain Colin
N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - The global carbon and water cycles are governed by the coupling of CO2 and water vapour exchanges through the leaves of terrestrial plants, controlled by plant adaptations to balance carbon gains and hydraulic risks. We introduce a trait-based optimality theory that unifies the treatment of stomatal responses and biochemical acclimation of plants to environments changing on multiple timescales. Tested with experimental data from 18 species, our model successfully predicts the simultaneous decline in carbon assimilation rate, stomatal conductance and photosynthetic capacity during progressive soil drought. It also correctly predicts the dependencies of gas exchange on atmospheric vapour pressure deficit, temperature and CO2. Model predictions are also consistent with widely observed empirical patterns, such as the distribution of hydraulic strategies. Our unified theory opens new avenues for reliably modelling the interactive effects of drying soil and rising atmospheric CO2 on global photosynthesis and transpiration.
AB - The global carbon and water cycles are governed by the coupling of CO2 and water vapour exchanges through the leaves of terrestrial plants, controlled by plant adaptations to balance carbon gains and hydraulic risks. We introduce a trait-based optimality theory that unifies the treatment of stomatal responses and biochemical acclimation of plants to environments changing on multiple timescales. Tested with experimental data from 18 species, our model successfully predicts the simultaneous decline in carbon assimilation rate, stomatal conductance and photosynthetic capacity during progressive soil drought. It also correctly predicts the dependencies of gas exchange on atmospheric vapour pressure deficit, temperature and CO2. Model predictions are also consistent with widely observed empirical patterns, such as the distribution of hydraulic strategies. Our unified theory opens new avenues for reliably modelling the interactive effects of drying soil and rising atmospheric CO2 on global photosynthesis and transpiration.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140575074&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41477-022-01244-5
DO - 10.1038/s41477-022-01244-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 36303010
AN - SCOPUS:85140575074
SN - 2055-026X
VL - 8
SP - 1304
EP - 1316
JO - Nature Plants
JF - Nature Plants
IS - 11
ER -