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Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Dark Leaf Respiration in Light and Darkness of an Evergreen and a Deciduous Plant Species

Rafael Villar, +2 more
- 01 Feb 1995 - 
- Vol. 107, Iss: 2, pp 421-427
TLDR
Respiration in light and respiration in darkness are tightly coupled, with variation in respiration on leaves of an evergreen and a deciduous species accounting for more than 60% of the variation inrespiration in light.
Abstract
Dark respiration in light as well as in dark was estimated for attached leaves of an evergreen (Heteromeles arbutifolia Ait.) and a deciduous (Lepechinia fragans Greene) shrub species using an open gas-exchange system. Dark respiration in light was estimated by the Laisk method. Respiration rates in the dark were always higher than in the light, indicating that light inhibited respiration in both species. The rates of respiration in the dark were higher in the leaves of the deciduous species than in the evergreen species. However, there were no significant differences in respiration rates in light between the species. Thus, the degree of inhibition of respiration by light was greater in the deciduous species (62%) than in the evergreen species (51%). Respiration in both the light and darkness decreased with increasing leaf age. However, because respiration in the light decreased faster with leaf age than respiration in darkness, the degree of inhibition of respiration by light increased with leaf age (from 36% in the youngest leaves to 81% in the mature leaves). This suggests that the rate of dark respiration in the light is related to the rate of biosynthetic processes. Dark respiration in the light decreased with increasing light intensity. Respiration both in the light and in the dark was dependent on leaf temperature. We concluded that respiration in light and respiration in darkness are tightly coupled, with variation in respiration in darkness accounting for more than 60% of the variation in respiration in light. Care must be taken when the relation between respiration in light and respiration in darkness is studied, because the relation varies with species, leaf age, and light intensity.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

A model separating leaf structural and physiological effects on carbon gain along light gradients for the shade‐tolerant species Acer saccharum

TL;DR: A process-based leaf gas exchange model for C3 plants was developed which specifically describes the effects observed along light gradients of shifting nitrogen investment in carboxylation and bioenergetics and modified leaf thickness due to altered stacking of photosynthetic units.
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Photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency of species that differ inherently in specific leaf area

TL;DR: Differences between species in organic leaf nitrogen content per se were no longer important and higher PNUEmax of the high SLA species was due to a higher fraction of N in␣photosynthetic compounds and a higher Rubisco specific activity (for high-light grown plants).
Journal ArticleDOI

The hot and the cold: unravelling the variable response of plant respiration to temperature.

TL;DR: The need for a greater process-based understanding of thermal acclimation of respiration is highlighted if the authors are to successfully predict future ecosystem CO2 fluxes and potential feedbacks on atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
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The crucial role of plant mitochondria in orchestrating drought tolerance.

TL;DR: A model by which mitochondrial R enables survival and rapid recovery of productivity under water stress conditions is proposed, based on recent work highlighting the link between chloroplast and mitochondrial functions in leaves.
References
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Book

Physiological Plant Ecology

TL;DR: Life in the Solar System, and Beyond, and beyond, and In the Right Place at the Right Time.
Journal ArticleDOI

Leaf Life-Span in Relation to Leaf, Plant, and Stand Characteristics among Diverse Ecosystems

TL;DR: It appears that a suite of traits including short leaf life—span and high leaf Nmass, SLA, LAR, and Amass interactively contribute to high growth rates in open—grown individuals, and the photosynthesis—leaf N relationship among species should be considered universal when expressed on a mass, but not on a leaf area, basis.
Book

Physiological plant ecology

TL;DR: Prolog: The Big Guns of Kugluktuk as discussed by the authors The Limits of the World, Life in the Solar System, and Beyond, In the Right Place at the Right Time, and An Abundance of Habitats.
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