Plantecophys--An R Package for Analysing and Modelling Leaf Gas Exchange Data

Area of Science:

• Plant Physiology
• Computational Biology
• Ecology

Background:

• Leaf gas exchange measurements (photosynthesis, transpiration) are crucial in plant science.
• Analysis often involves complex biophysical models like the Farquhar-von Caemmerer-Berry (FvCB) model and Ball-Berry models.
• Accessibility of these models for researchers can be a barrier.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce the R package 'plantecophys' as a comprehensive toolkit for leaf gas exchange data analysis.
• Provide accessible functions for fitting and simulating key plant physiology models.
• Facilitate interpretation of experimental data in plant ecophysiology.

Main Methods:

• Development of an open-source R package, 'plantecophys'.
• Implementation of functions for fitting the FvCB model to A-Ci curves.
• Inclusion of functions for Ball-Berry models, C3/C4 photosynthesis modeling, and optimal stomatal behavior.
• Integration of energy balance calculations using the Penman-Monteith equation.

Main Results:

• The 'plantecophys' package provides accessible tools for fitting and simulating leaf gas exchange models.
• It supports analysis of C3 and C4 photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and energy balance.
• The package simplifies technically challenging calculations for a wider user base.

Conclusions:

• 'plantecophys' democratizes the analysis of plant gas exchange data.
• The package enhances the ability of researchers to model and interpret plant physiological responses.
• It is freely available on CRAN, promoting wider adoption in plant ecophysiology research.