Abstract
We tested whether cheap and quick chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence can be used in ecophysiological field studies as proxies for gas-exchange measurements. We measured net photosynthetic rate at saturating irradiance and ambient atmospheric CO2 concentrations (PNsat), maximum carboxylation rate (Vcmax), maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), the performance index (PIabs), leaf nitrogen (Narea), and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C) within four herbaceous species along two elevational gradients. We analysed the relationship between Chl fluorescence and gas-exchange parameters and their link to indirect assessment of plant performance via ecophysiological traits. Fv/Fm showed no relationship to PNsat and only weak relationships to Vcmax. PIabs was positively related to PNsat and Vcmax. PIabs, PNsat, and Vcmax were positively associated with Narea and negatively to Δ13C, whereas Fv/Fm showed no relationship to Narea and a positive to Δ13C. Thus, PIabs might be suitable to characterize the photosynthetic activity when aiming on large numbers of samples.
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Abbreviations
- Chl:
-
chlorophyll
- Fv/Fm :
-
maximum quantum yield of PSII
- Narea :
-
area based leaf nitrogen content
- PIabs :
-
absorption based performance index
- P Nsat :
-
net photosynthetic rate at saturating irradiance and ambient atmospheric CO2 concentrations
- Vcmax :
-
maximum carboxylation rate
- Δ13C:
-
carbon isotope discrimination
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Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the members of the Institute of Botany at the University of Regensburg and the Institute of Systematic Botany at the FSU Jena for practical assistance and valuable discussions. We are grateful for the assistance and analysation of nitrogen at the Technical University of Munich, Grassland group, and financial support for this analysis from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle–Jena–Leipzig. We would also like to thank Anna Geiger and Johanna Otto for practical assistance in the field and Prof. Dr. Manfred Küppers as well as Dr. Jens Kattge for valuable discussions and suggestions. We are grateful about the Eliteförderung des Landes Bayern for provision of a scholarship (granted to S.F. Bucher) and the Universities of Regensburg and Jena. The work of C. Römermann and M. Bernhardt–Römermann was partly funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation, RO 3842/3–1 and BE 4143/2–1). We also acknowledge support from the Bavarian State Forest Enterprise and the district government of upper Bavaria.
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Bucher, S.F., Bernhardt–Römermann, M. & Römermann, C. Chlorophyll fluorescence and gas exchange measurements in field research: an ecological case study. Photosynthetica 56, 1161–1170 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-018-0809-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-018-0809-5