A model for the relationship between plant biomass and photosynthetic rate based on nutrient effects
Open Access
Abstract
The photosynthetic rate is considered to be affected by individual biomass and limited by nutrients. Metabolic scaling models are often utilized to predict photosynthetic rates based on plant size and other factors, such as temperature and plant nutrient composition. However, the intrinsic regulatory mechanisms of the combined factors that affect the photosynthetic rates of living organisms are subject to debate. Here, we present a model developed from the metabolic scaling model, the Michaelis‐Menten equation and elemental stoichiometric models to precisely predict the relationship between plant photosynthetic rate and biomass. The developed model was verified against data for small woody and nonwoody plants, and in comparison with the typical metabolic scaling model, this model was shown to be more capable of explaining the photosynthesis‐biomass relationship. Moreover, the results showed that the combined factors affected photosynthesis via the regulatory effect of nutrients on photosynthesis‐biomass allometry. We highlight that nutrients have direct effects on the allocation of plant biomass and photosynthetic investment under stable and balanced growth states.Keywords
This publication has 61 references indexed in Scilit:
- Shifts in metabolic scaling, production, and efficiency across major evolutionary transitions of lifeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010
- Scaling relationship between tree respiration rates and biomassBiology Letters, 2010
- Mixed-power scaling of whole-plant respiration from seedlings to giant treesProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010
- Evidence of a general 2/3-power law of scaling leaf nitrogen to phosphorus among major plant groups and biomesProceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2009
- Evaluating scaling models in biology using hierarchical Bayesian approachesEcology Letters, 2009
- Plant height–crown radius and canopy coverage–density relationships determine above-ground biomass–density relationship in stressful environmentsBiology Letters, 2009
- Mean mass-specific metabolic rates are strikingly similar across life's major domains: Evidence for life's metabolic optimumProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008
- N : P ratios in terrestrial plants: variation and functional significanceNew Phytologist, 2004
- Re-examination of the “3/4-law” of MetabolismJournal of Theoretical Biology, 2001
- Photosynthesis and nitrogen relationships in leaves of C3 plantsOecologia, 1989