Subtropical to boreal convergence of tree-leaf temperatures

Brent R. Helliker () and Suzanna L. Richter
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Brent R. Helliker: Department of Biology,
Suzanna L. Richter: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

Nature, 2008, vol. 454, issue 7203, 511-514

Abstract: Some plants like it hot Plants don't have the mechanisms developed by warm-blooded animals to maintain their temperature, so it was natural to assume that leaves do their photosynthetic work at ambient temperature. Not so, according to a study of tree-canopy leaf temperatures in 39 tree species as determined from 18O/16O ratios of wood cellulose, a measure of temperature and humidity during carbon assimilation. Surprisingly, leaf temperatures are virtually constant across all of the sites sampled. During periods when plants assimilate carbon, the temperature in the leaves is about 21.4 °C, whether the leaf is in the subtropics or the polar regions. One implication is that leaf temperature may be a factor in determining the distribution of tree species, since branches developed to raise temperatures in a cool environment may prove a handicap as ambient temperatures increase.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07031

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