Optimal stomatal behaviour around the world

Abstract

Stomatal conductance (gs) is a key land-surface attribute as it links transpiration, the dominant component of global land evapotranspiration, and photosynthesis, the driving force of the global carbon cycle. Despite the pivotal role of gs in predictions of global water and carbon cycle changes, a global-scale database and an associated globally applicable model of gs that allow predictions of stomatal behaviour are lacking. Here, we present a database of globally distributed gs obtained in the field for a wide range of plant functional types (PFTs) and biomes. We find that stomatal behaviour differs among PFTs according to their marginal carbon cost of water use, as predicted by the theory underpinning the optimal stomatal model1 and the leaf and wood economics spectrum2, 3. We also demonstrate a global relationship with climate. These findings provide a robust theoretical framework for understanding and predicting the behaviour of gs across biomes and across PFTs that can be applied to regional, continental and global-scale modelling of ecosystem productivity, energy balance and ecohydrological processes in a future changing climate.

Journal Article
Year of Publication
2015
Author
Journal
Nature Climate Change
Volume
5
Issue
5
Number of Pages
459 - 464
Date Published
Feb-03-2015
DOI
10.1038/nclimate2550
ISSN Number
1758-678X
URL
http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/nclimate2550
Short Title
Nature Climate change
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