Imaging canopy temperature: shedding (thermal) light on ecosystem processes

What is it about?

Canopy temperature provides a unique window into a critical aspect of plant function, namely, the temperature of canopy leaves which determine the majority of terrestrial carbon, water, and energy exchanges. There is growing evidence that many plants are metabolizing near their thermal upper limits. Thus, a better understanding of how canopy temperatures vary in response to environmental conditions and leaf traits – and how those temperatures are related to ecosystem fluxes – is critically important for projecting climate change impacts on earth’s biomes.

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