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Temperature acclimation of leaf carbon exchange: understanding variation among species and biomes

Project Abstract: 
The Earth System Models (ESMs) used to make climate projections are continually becoming more sophisticated, and now incorporate a wide range of terrestrial processes. However, some potentially important processes are still omitted because they are either poorly understood or not quantified well enough to warrant inclusion. One such process is the decrease in sensitivity of photosynthesis and respiration to temperature that occurs after plants are given time to adjust, or acclimate, to a temperature change. This process, termed temperature acclimation, could critically influence projections of atmospheric CO2 increase by altering the amount of CO2 taken up by plants in a future, warmer world. This project will support a series of field measurements designed to quantify the potential of a variety of plant species (grasses, trees, crops) from a variety of biomes (tropical, temperate, and boreal) to acclimate to different temperatures. Species will be measured at pairs of sites that lie at different latitudes and, thus, have different growing season temperatures. Measurements at the different sites will be compared to assess the ability of each species to acclimate to the different temperatures. These field measurements will supplement a larger dissertation project designed to improve climate projections through the creation of temperature acclimation formulations suitable for ESMs.
Investigator(s): 
Methods: 
I will use canopy cranes, tree pruners, or shotgun to get upper canopy limb clippings of mature trees of a variety of species. Limbs will be immediately cut, placed in water, and taken to a central location. There, one leaf per limb will be analyzed. Analyses performed will be A/Ci curves and dark respiration measurements. The data will be combined with data from a global set of sites to explore variation in the temperature acclimation potential of Rubisco carboxylation (Vcmax), Ribulos-1,5-bisphosphate regeneration (Jmax), and dark respiration (Rd) among species and biomes. These data will be used to create PFT-specific formulations for acclimation that will be included into multiple land surface models. These models will then be evaluated in terms of their ability to reproduce flux tower data, including data from sites used to parameterize the formulations.
Funding agency: 
NSF