Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects.We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives. Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) and DIVERSITAS, the TRY database (TRY-not an acronym, rather a statement of sentiment; https ://www.try-db.org; Kattge et al., 2011) was proposed with the explicit assignment to improve the availability and accessibility of plant trait data for ecology and earth system sciences. The Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC) offered to host the database and the different groups joined forces for this community-driven program. Two factors were key to the success of TRY: the support and trust of leaders in the field of functional plant ecology submitting large databases and the long-term funding by the Max Planck Society, the MPI-BGC and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, which has enabled the continuous development of the TRY database.
Key words: A-C i curve, leaf respiration during the day (R day ), maximum carboxylation rate (V cmax ), net photosynthetic rate at saturating irradiance and at ambient atmospheric CO 2 concentration (A sat ). SummarySimulations of photosynthesis by terrestrial biosphere models typically need a specification of the maximum carboxylation rate (V cmax ). Estimating this parameter using A-C i curves (net photosynthesis, A, vs intercellular CO 2 concentration, C i ) is laborious, which limits availability of V cmax data. However, many multispecies field datasets include net photosynthetic rate at saturating irradiance and at ambient atmospheric CO 2 concentration (A sat ) measurements, from which V cmax can be extracted using a 'one-point method'.We used a global dataset of A-C i curves (564 species from 46 field sites, covering a range of plant functional types) to test the validity of an alternative approach to estimate V cmax from A sat via this 'one-point method'.If leaf respiration during the day (R day ) is known exactly, V cmax can be estimated with an r 2 value of 0.98 and a root-mean-squared error (RMSE) of 8.19 lmol m À2 s À1 . However, R day typically must be estimated. Estimating R day as 1.5% of V cmax, we found that V cmax could be estimated with an r 2 of 0.95 and an RMSE of 17.1 lmol m À2 s À1 . The one-point method provides a robust means to expand current databases of fieldmeasured V cmax , giving new potential to improve vegetation models and quantify the environmental drivers of V cmax variation.
Eucalyptus species are grown widely outside of their native ranges in plantations on all vegetated continents of the world. We predicted that such a plantation species would show high potential for acclimation of photosynthetic traits across a wide range of growth conditions, including elevated [CO2] and climate warming. To test this prediction, we planted temperate Eucalyptus globulus Labill. seedlings in climate-controlled chambers in the field located >700 km closer to the equator than the nearest natural occurrence of this species. Trees were grown in a complete factorial combination of elevated CO2 concentration (eC; ambient [CO2] +240 ppm) and air warming treatments (eT; ambient +3 °C) for 15 months until they reached ca. 10 m height. There was little acclimation of photosynthetic capacity to eC and hence the CO2-induced photosynthetic enhancement was large (ca. 50%) in this treatment during summer. The warming treatment significantly increased rates of both carboxylation capacity (V(cmax)) and electron transport (Jmax) (measured at a common temperature of 25 °C) during winter, but decreased them significantly by 20-30% in summer. The photosynthetic CO2 compensation point in the absence of dark respiration (Γ*) was relatively less sensitive to temperature in this temperate eucalypt species than for warm-season tobacco. The temperature optima for photosynthesis and Jmax significantly changed by about 6 °C between winter and summer, but without further adjustment from early to late summer. These results suggest that there is an upper limit for the photosynthetic capacity of E. globulus ssp. globulus outside its native range to acclimate to growth temperatures above 25 °C. Limitations to temperature acclimation of photosynthesis in summer may be one factor that defines climate zones where E. globulus plantation productivity can be sustained under anticipated global environmental change.
Models of stomatal conductance (gs) are based on coupling between gs and CO2 assimilation (Anet), and it is often assumed that the slope of this relationship ('g1') is constant across species. However, if different plant species have adapted to different access costs of water, then there will be differences in g1 among species. We hypothesized that g1 should vary among species adapted to different climates, and tested the theory and its linkage to plant hydraulics using four Eucalyptus species from different climatic origins in a common garden.Optimal stomatal theory predicts that species from subhumid zones have a lower marginal water cost of C gain, hence lower g1 than humid-zone species. In agreement with the theory that g1 is related to tissue carbon costs for water supply, we found a relationship between wood density and g1 across Eucalyptus species of contrasting climatic origins. There were significant reductions in the parameter g1 during drought in humid but not sub-humid species, with the latter group maintaining g1 in drought. There are strong differences in stomatal behaviour among related tree species in agreement with optimal stomatal theory, and these differences are consistent with the economics involved in water uptake and transport for carbon gain.Key-words: drought; leaf gas exchange models; net photosynthesis; plant hydraulic conductance; stomatal optimization theory.Abbreviations: G, CO2 compensation point of Anet; G*, CO2 compensation point of Anet in the absence of dark respiration; l, unit marginal water cost of plant carbon assimilation; Yl, leaf water potential; Anet, rate of net photosynthetic CO2 assimilation; Ca, CO2 mole fraction in air at the leaf surface; Cst, CO2 mole fraction in the substomatal cavity; E, transpiration rate; D, leaf-air vapour pressure difference. D0, parameter for base level of the D response; g0, stomatal conductance when net photosynthesis is zero; g1, slope of the unified stomatal optimisation model; gs, stomatal conductance; KL, soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance; kstem, stem specific hydraulic conductivity measured on branches; Q, quantum flux density inside the leaf cuvette.
Abstract. The capacity of the terrestrial biosphere to sequester carbon and mitigate climate change is governed by the ability of vegetation to remove emissions of CO 2 through photosynthesis. Tropospheric O 3 , a globally abundant and potent greenhouse gas, is, however, known to damage plants, causing reductions in primary productivity. Despite emission control policies across Europe, background concentrations of tropospheric O 3 have risen significantly over the last decades due to hemispheric-scale increases in O 3 and its precursors. Therefore, plants are exposed to increasing background concentrations, at levels currently causing chronic damage. Studying the impact of O 3 on European vegetation at the regional scale is important for gaining greater understanding of the impact of O 3 on the land carbon sink at large spatial scales. In this work we take a regional approach and update the JULES land surface model using new measurements specifically for European vegetation. Given the importance of stomatal conductance in determining the flux of O 3 into plants, we implement an alternative stomatal closure parameterisation and account for diurnal variations in O 3 concentration in our simulations. We conduct our analysis specifically for the European region to quantify the impact of the interactive effects of tropospheric O 3 and CO 2 on gross primary productivity (GPP) and land carbon storage across Europe. A factorial set of model experiments showed that tropospheric O 3 can suppress terrestrial carbon uptake across Europe over the period 1901 to 2050. By 2050, simulated GPP was reduced by 4 to 9 % due to plant O 3 damage and land carbon storage was reduced by 3 to 7 %. The combined physiological effects of elevated future CO 2 (acting to reduce stomatal opening) and reductions in O 3 concentrations resulted in reduced O 3 damage in the future. This alleviation of O 3 damage by CO 2 -induced stomatal closure was around 1 to 2 % for both land carbon and GPP, depending on plant sensitivity to O 3 . Reduced land carbon storage resulted from diminished soil carbon stocks consistent with the reduction in GPP. Regional variations are identified with larger impacts shown for temperate Europe (GPP reduced by 10 to 20 %) compared to boreal regions (GPP reduced by 2 to 8 %). These results highlight that O 3 damage needs to be considered when predicting GPP and land carbon, and that the effects of O 3 on plant physiology need to be considered in regional land carbon cycle assessments.
27The capacity of the terrestrial biosphere to sequester carbon and mitigate climate change is governed by the ability 28 of vegetation to remove emissions of CO2 through photosynthesis. Tropospheric O3, a globally abundant and 29 potent greenhouse gas, is, however, known to damage plants, causing reductions in primary productivity, yet the
Here we use the latest literature on O3 dose-response relationships derived from observed field data across Europe (CLRTAP, 2017) 10 to calculate the key PFT-specific parameters. Data comes from the UNECE CLRTAP (2017) report which is a synthesis of the latest 11 peer reviewed literature, collated by a panel of experts and so is considered the state-of the art knowledge. Each PFT was calibrated 12for a high and low plant O3 sensitivity to account for uncertainty in the sensitivity of different plant species to O3, using the approach 13of Sitch et al., (2007 22to limitations in data availability, the shrub parameterisation uses the observed dose-response functions for broadleaf trees. 23Similarly, the parameterisation for C4 herbaceous uses the observed dose-responses for C3 herbaceous, however the fractional cover 24 of C4 herbs across Europe is low (Fig. S1), so this assumption affects a very small percentage of land cover. See Table S1 and Figure 25 S2. 26
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