Simulated influence of altitude on photosynthetic CO2 uptake potential in plants

Abstract. A simulation of the quantitative influence of altitude on photosynthetic CO2 uptake capability (AP) included the effects of predicted changes (1) in air temperature (lapse rate) and (2) leaf temperature, (3) ambient pressure and CO2 concentration, and (4) the diffusion coefficient for CO2 in air. When a dry lapse rate (0.01°C m−1) in air temperature was simulated, significant declines (up to 14%) in AP were predicted from sea level to 4km altitude. A moist lapse rate of 0.003°C m−1 resulted in less than a 4% decrease in AP over the same altitude range. When natural leaf temperatures (predicted from heat balance analyses) were simulated, AP was significantly greater (∼20%) than when leaf temperatures were considered equal to air temperature for all lapse conditions. There was virtually no change in AP with altitude when predicted leaf temperatures and moist lapse conditions were simulated. There was a significant (∼10%) increase in AP with altitude when leaf temperature was held constant at 30°C (regardless of altitude) under moist lapse conditions. Future studies evaluating the effects of elevation on photosynthesis could benefit from the above considerations of the effects of natural leaf temperature regimes and prevailing lapse conditions on CO2 uptake potential.