Worldwide variation in within-canopy plasticity

What is it about?

The rate of photosynthesis is directly dependent on the amount of absorbed light energy, but light is the most variable environmental factor within plant canopies that can extend from a few cm in moss canopies to even 150 m in the canopies of the tallest trees. So far, structural and physiological acclimation of plant photosynthetic apparatus to within-canopy light gradients has apparatus has not been taken into account in most of the global photosynthesis models.

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Why is it important?

This investigation reveals the overall range of within-canopy photosynthetic variation and structural and physiological mechanisms driving the within-canopy photosynthetic acclimation. The investigation is the largest study to date characterizing plant plasticity to environmental variation. Altogether, 831 within-canopy gradients were analyzed across the Earth ecosystems. The results of this work constitute an important input to all Earth System Models.