Methods to Estimate Carbon Export from Leaves

In most plant species, the majority of carbon assimilation takes place in leaves. The export of carbon from leaves to the rest of the plant's organs is thus a fundamental process in plant biology. At the same time, only a few studies have estimated the rate of this process and its dynamics. In the current chapter, we will describe two simple methods for evaluating the rate of carbon export from leaves. Both methods calculate the export as the difference between carbon assimilation and carbon storage. The first method evaluates the carbon storage based on the leaf mass per area (LMA) difference between two time points, while the second method evaluates the carbon storage based on the difference in non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) concentration. We will also explore the differences between the methods and the assumptions that could reduce the accuracy of each method.