Towards a unified theory of plant photosynthesis and hydraulics

Jaideep Joshi; Benjamin D. Stocker; Florian Hofhansl; Shuangxi Zhou; Ulf Dieckmann; Iain Colin Prentice

doi:10.1038/s41477-022-01244-5

Towards a unified theory of plant photosynthesis and hydraulics

Jaideep Joshi^*, Benjamin D. Stocker, Florian Hofhansl, Shuangxi Zhou, Ulf Dieckmann, Iain Colin Prentice

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

173 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1304-1316
Number of pages	13
Journal	Nature Plants
Volume	8
Issue number	11
Early online date	27 Oct 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01244-5
Publication status	Published - Nov 2022

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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.

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AU - Dieckmann, Ulf

AU - Prentice, Iain Colin

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Towards a unified theory of plant photosynthesis and hydraulics

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