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Stomatal, mesophyll and biochemical limitations to photosynthesis and their relationship with leaf structure over an elevation gradient in two conifers

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Abstract

Photosynthetic responses across complex elevational gradients provides insight into fundamental processes driving responses of plant growth and net primary production to environmental change. Gas exchange of needles and twig water potential were measured in two widespread coniferous tree species, Pinus contorta and Picea engelmannii, over an 800-m elevation gradient in southeastern Wyoming, USA. We hypothesized that limitations to photosynthesis imposed by mesophyll conductance (gm) would be greatest at the highest elevation sites due to higher leaf mass per area (LMA) and that estimations of maximum rate of carboxylation (Vcmax) without including gm would obscure elevational patterns of photosynthetic capacity. We found that gm decreased with elevation for P. contorta and remained constant for P. engelmannii, but in general, limitation to photosynthesis by gm was small. Indeed, estimations of Vcmax when including gm were equivalent to those estimated without including gm and no correlation was found between gm and LMA nor between gm and leaf N. Stomatal conductance (gs) and biochemical demand for CO2 were by far the most limiting processes to photosynthesis at all sites along the elevation gradient. Photosynthetic capacity (A) and gs were influenced strongly by differences in soil water availability across the elevation transect, while gm was less responsive to water availability. Based on our analysis, variation in gm plays only a minor role in driving patterns of photosynthesis in P. contorta and P. engelmannii across complex elevational gradients in dry, continental environments of the Rocky Mountains and accurate modeling of photosynthesis, growth and net primary production in these forests may not require detailed estimation of this trait value.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study will be openly available at Wyoscholar, a repository service that collects, preserves, and provides access to research data from the University of Wyoming. The data are indexed at https://doi.org/10.15786/22798433

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jazlynn Hall for her assistance with field work and Chris Feng for comments on this paper and Jason Mercier for helping with sites precipitation and temperature data. We also thank Craig Cook for his help on making the reference gases and other staff members in Stable Isotope Facility at University of Wyoming for assistance with stable isotope analysis.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under award no EPS-1208909.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Jiemin Guo, Brent E. Ewers & David G. Williams

  2. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Daniel P. Beverly

  3. Biology Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Daniel P. Beverly

  4. Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    David G. Williams

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JG and DGW conceived and designed the experiments. JG and DPB conducted the field sampling work and JG did the lab measurement, analyzed the data, JG and DGW wrote the manuscript and all authors provided feedback on the manuscript prior to submission.

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Correspondence to Jiemin Guo.

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Guo, J., Beverly, D.P., Ewers, B.E. et al. Stomatal, mesophyll and biochemical limitations to photosynthesis and their relationship with leaf structure over an elevation gradient in two conifers. Photosynth Res 157, 85–101 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-023-01022-0

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