Leaf-level photosynthetic capacity in lowland Amazonian and high-elevation Andean tropical moist forests of Peru

We examined whether variations in photosynthetic capacity are linked to variations in the environment and/or associated leaf traits for tropical moist forests (TMFs) in the Andes/western Amazon regions of Peru. We compared photosynthetic capacity (maximal rate of carboxylation of Rubisco (V cmax), a...

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Published in:	The New phytologist Vol. 214; no. 3; pp. 1002 - 1018
Main Authors:	Bahar, Nur H. A., Ishida, F. Yoko, Weerasinghe, Lasantha K., Guerrieri, Rossella, O'Sullivan, Odhran S., Bloomfield, Keith J., Asner, Gregory P., Martin, Roberta E., Lloyd, Jon, Malhi, Yadvinder, Phillips, Oliver L., Meir, Patrick, Salinas, Norma, Cosio, Eric G., Domingues, Tomas F., Quesada, Carlos A., Sinca, Felipe, Escudero Vega, Alberto, Zuloaga Ccorimanya, Paola P., Aguila‐Pasquel, Jhon, Quispe Huaypar, Katherine, Cuba Torres, Israel, Butrón Loayza, Rosalbina, Pelaez Tapia, Yulina, Huaman Ovalle, Judit, Long, Benedict M., Evans, John R., Atkin, Owen K.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England New Phytologist Trust 01-05-2017 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects:	Altitude Area Capacity Carbon dioxide Carbon Dioxide - metabolism Carboxylation carboxylation capacity Chlorophyll Chlorophylls Electron transport Elevation Enzyme Assays Forests Humidity Kinetics Leaf area leaf traits Models, Biological Nitrogen nitrogen (N) Nitrogen - metabolism Peru Phosphorus phosphorus (P) Photosynthesis Photosynthesis - physiology Plant Leaves - anatomy & histology Plant Leaves - chemistry Plant Leaves - physiology ribulose bisphosphate regeneration Ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase - metabolism Soil Species Specificity Temperature Trees Tropical Climate Tropical forests Variation Western blotting Peru elevation nitrogen (N) carboxylation capacity tropical forests ribulose bisphosphate regeneration temperature phosphorus (P) leaf traits
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Summary:	We examined whether variations in photosynthetic capacity are linked to variations in the environment and/or associated leaf traits for tropical moist forests (TMFs) in the Andes/western Amazon regions of Peru. We compared photosynthetic capacity (maximal rate of carboxylation of Rubisco (V cmax), and the maximum rate of electron transport (J max)), leaf mass, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) per unit leaf area (M a, Na and Pa, respectively), and chlorophyll from 210 species at 18 field sites along a 3300-m elevation gradient. Western blots were used to quantify the abundance of the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco. Area- and N-based rates of photosynthetic capacity at 25°C were higher in upland than lowland TMFs, underpinned by greater investment of N in photosynthesis in high-elevation trees. Soil [P] and leaf Pa were key explanatory factors for models of area-based V cmax and J max but did not account for variations in photosynthetic N-use efficiency. At any given Na and Pa, the fraction of N allocated to photosynthesis was higher in upland than lowland species. For a small subset of lowland TMF trees examined, a substantial fraction of Rubisco was inactive. These results highlight the importance of soil- and leaf-P in defining the photosynthetic capacity of TMFs, with variations in N allocation and Rubisco activation state further influencing photosynthetic rates and N-use efficiency of these critically important forests.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0028-646X 1469-8137
DOI:	10.1111/nph.14079