Temperature effects on the photosynthetic response of C₃ plants to long-term CO₂ enrichment

Abstract

To assess the long-term effect of increased CO₂ and temperature on plants possessing the C₃ photosynthetic pathway, Chenopodium album plants were grown at one of three treatment conditions: (1) 23 °C mean day temperature and a mean ambient partial pressure of CO₂ equal to 350 μbar; (2) 34 °C and 350 μbar CO₂; and (3) 34 °C and 750 μbar CO₂. No effect of the growth treatments was observed on the CO₂ reponse of photosynthesis, the temperature response of photosynthesis, the content of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco), or the activity of whole chain electron transport when measurements were made under identical conditions. This indicated a lack of photosynthetic acclimation in C. album to the range of temperature and CO₂ used in the growth treatments. Plants from every treatment exhibited similar interactions between temperature and CO₂ on photosynthetic activity. At low CO₂ (< 300 μbar), an increase in temperature from 25 to 35 °C was inhibitory for photosynthesis, while at elevated CO₂ (> 400 μbar), the same increase in temperature enhanced photosynthesis by up to 40%. In turn, the stimulation of photosynthesis by CO₂ enrichment increased as temperature increased. Rubisco capacity was the primary limitation on photosynthetic activity at low CO₂ (195 μbar). As a consequence, the temperature response of A was relatively flat, reflecting a low temperature response of Rubisco at CO₂ levels below its k_m for CO₂. At elevated CO₂ (750 μbar), the temperature response of electron transport appeared to control the temperature dependency of photosynthesis above 18 °C. These results indicate that increasing CO₂ and temperature could substantially enhance the carbon gain potential in tropical and subtropical habitats, unless feedbacks at the whole plant or ecosystem level limit the long-term response of photosynthesis to an increase in CO₂ and temperature.