Temperature response of CO₂ exchange in three tropical tree species

Tropical forests play a critical role in the global carbon cycle, but our limited understanding of the physiological sensitivity of tropical forest trees to environmental factors complicates predictions of tropical carbon fluxes in a changing climate. We determined the short-term temperature response of leaf photosynthesis and respiration of seedlings of three tropical tree species from Panama. For one of the species net CO2 exchange was also measured in situ. Dark respiration of all species increased linearly - not exponentially - over a ~30°C temperature range. The early-successional species Ficus insipida Willd. and Ochroma pyramidale (Cav. ex Lam.) Urb. had higher temperature optima for photosynthesis (Topt) and higher photosynthesis rates at Topt than the late-successional species Calophyllum longifolium Willd. The decrease in photosynthesis above Topt could be assigned, in part, to observed temperature-stimulated photorespiration and decreasing stomatal conductance (gS), with unmeasured processes such as respiration in the light, Rubisco deactivation, and changing membrane properties probably playing important additional roles, particularly at very high temperatures. As temperature increased above Topt, gS of laboratory-measured leaves first decreased, followed by an increase at temperatures >40-45°C. In contrast, gS of canopy leaves of F. insipida in the field continued to decrease with increasing temperature, causing complete suppression of photosynthesis at ~45°C, whereas photosynthesis in the laboratory did not reach zero until leaf temperature was ~50°C. Models parameterised with laboratory-derived data should be validated against field observations when they are used to predict tropical forest carbon fluxes.