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A universal model for carbon dioxide uptake by plants

Han Wang, I. Colin Prentice, William K. Cornwell, Trevor F. Keenan, Tyler W. Davis, Ian J. Wright, Bradley J. Evans, Changhui Peng
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/040246
Han Wang
1State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Forestry, Northwest A & F University, Yangling 712100, China
2Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
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  • For correspondence: wanghan_sci@yahoo.com peng.changhui@uqam.ca
I. Colin Prentice
1State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Forestry, Northwest A & F University, Yangling 712100, China
2Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
3AXA Chair of Biosphere and Climate Impacts, Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment and Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
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William K. Cornwell
4Ecology and Evolution Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW 2052, Australia
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Trevor F. Keenan
2Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
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Tyler W. Davis
3AXA Chair of Biosphere and Climate Impacts, Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment and Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
5Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States
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Ian J. Wright
2Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
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Bradley J. Evans
2Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
6Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Department of Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Changhui Peng
1State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Forestry, Northwest A & F University, Yangling 712100, China
7Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal, C.P. 8888, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal H3C 3P8, Québec, Canada
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  • For correspondence: wanghan_sci@yahoo.com peng.changhui@uqam.ca
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Abstract

The rate of carbon uptake by land plants depends on the ratio of leaf-internal to ambient carbon dioxide partial pressures1, here termed χ. This quantity is a key determinant of both primary production and transpiration and the relationship between them. But current models for χ are empirical and incomplete, contributing to the many uncertainties afflicting model estimates and future projections of terrestrial carbon uptake2,3. Here we show that a simple evolutionary optimality hypothesis4,5 generates functional relationships between χ and growth temperature, vapour pressure deficit and elevation that are precisely and quantitatively consistent with empirical χ values from a worldwide data set containing > 3500 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 photosynthesis1, and successfully predicts gross primary production as measured at flux sites. This achievement is notable because of the equation′s simplicity (with just two parameters, both independently estimated) and applicability across biomes and plant functional types. Thereby it provides a theoretical underpinning, grounded in eco-evolutionary principles, for large-scale analysis of the CO2 and water exchanges between atmosphere and land.

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Posted February 19, 2016.
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A universal model for carbon dioxide uptake by plants
Han Wang, I. Colin Prentice, William K. Cornwell, Trevor F. Keenan, Tyler W. Davis, Ian J. Wright, Bradley J. Evans, Changhui Peng
bioRxiv 040246; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/040246
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A universal model for carbon dioxide uptake by plants
Han Wang, I. Colin Prentice, William K. Cornwell, Trevor F. Keenan, Tyler W. Davis, Ian J. Wright, Bradley J. Evans, Changhui Peng
bioRxiv 040246; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/040246

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