Dataset Information

The 4-Dimensional Plant: Effects of Wind-Induced Canopy Movement on Light Fluctuations and Photosynthesis.

ABSTRACT: Physical perturbation of a plant canopy brought about by wind is a ubiquitous phenomenon and yet its biological importance has often been overlooked. This is partly due to the complexity of the issue at hand: wind-induced movement (or mechanical excitation) is a stochastic process which is difficult to measure and quantify; plant motion is dependent upon canopy architectural features which, until recently, were difficult to accurately represent and model in 3-dimensions; light patterning throughout a canopy is difficult to compute at high-resolutions, especially when confounded by other environmental variables. Recent studies have reinforced the expectation that canopy architecture is a strong determinant of productivity and yield; however, links between the architectural properties of the plant and its mechanical properties, particularly its response to wind, are relatively unknown. As a result, biologically relevant data relating canopy architecture, light- dynamics, and short-scale photosynthetic responses in the canopy setting are scarce. Here, we hypothesize that wind-induced movement will have large consequences for the photosynthetic productivity of our crops due to its influence on light patterning. To address this issue, in this study we combined high resolution 3D reconstructions of a plant canopy with a simple representation of canopy perturbation as a result of wind using solid body rotation in order to explore the potential effects on light patterning, interception, and photosynthetic productivity. We looked at two different scenarios: firstly a constant distortion where a rice canopy was subject to a permanent distortion throughout the whole day; and secondly, a dynamic distortion, where the canopy was distorted in incremental steps between two extremes at set time points in the day. We find that mechanical canopy excitation substantially alters light dynamics; light distribution and modeled canopy carbon gain. We then discuss methods required for accurate modeling of mechanical canopy excitation (here coined the 4-dimensional plant) and some associated biological and applied implications of such techniques. We hypothesize that biomechanical plant properties are a specific adaptation to achieve wind-induced photosynthetic enhancement and we outline how traits facilitating canopy excitation could be used as a route for improving crop yield.

SUBMITTER: Burgess AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5030302 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The 4-Dimensional Plant: Effects of Wind-Induced Canopy Movement on Light Fluctuations and Photosynthesis.

Burgess Alexandra J AJ Retkute Renata R Preston Simon P SP Jensen Oliver E OE Pound Michael P MP Pridmore Tony P TP Murchie Erik H EH

Frontiers in plant science 20160921

Physical perturbation of a plant canopy brought about by wind is a ubiquitous phenomenon and yet its biological importance has often been overlooked. This is partly due to the complexity of the issue at hand: wind-induced movement (or mechanical excitation) is a stochastic process which is difficult to measure and quantify; plant motion is dependent upon canopy architectural features which, until recently, were difficult to accurately represent and model in 3-dimensions; light patterning through ...[more]

PMID: 27708654

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundIn plants, three-dimensional (3-D) organs such as inflorescences or fruits carry out photosynthesis and thus play a significant role in carbon assimilation and yield. However, this contribution has been poorly characterized because there is no reliable method for measuring photosynthesis by 3-D organs. One of the major challenges is ensuring the uniform irradiation of samples that are placed within a sealed chamber.ResultsIn this study, we developed an innovative chamber with homogeneous lighting that can be used to measure photosynthesis by large 3-D organs. It consisted of a 15-cm-long sealed transparent cylinder that was surrounded by a decagonal prismatic light source, made up of a mixture of red and blue LEDs. We characterized irradiance homogeneity within the chamber at a resolution level of 1 cm and 10°. Photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) along the central axis of the chamber could be set to any value between 100 and 1100 µmol m-2 s-1. The coefficient of variation for the irradiation values found throughout the chamber was 10% and that for the ratio of red-to-blue spectra was less than 1.5%. The temperature of the sample was regulated to stay within 1 °C of the target temperature, regardless of PPFD. We compared the performance of our device with that of a commercially available device employing unidirectional lighting. Specifically, we examined net photosynthesis in two sample types-wheat ears and grape clusters-at varying PPFD levels.ConclusionsThe devices gave similar estimates of dark respiration, regardless of sample type or age. Conversely, net photosynthesis started to become asymptotic at lower irradiance levels in our device than in the conventional device because apparent quantum yield was three times higher. When examining the effects of irradiance heterogeneity, it was clear that biased estimates could result from systems employing unidirectional light sources. Our results also confirmed that our chamber could be a useful tool for obtaining more accurate estimates of photosynthesis by 3-D organs.

Project description:The spatial dispersion of photoelements within a vegetation canopy, quantified by the clumping index (CI), directly regulates the within-canopy light environment and photosynthesis rate, but is not commonly implemented in terrestrial biosphere models to estimate the ecosystem carbon cycle. A few global CI products have been developed recently with remote sensing measurements, making it possible to examine the global impacts of CI. This study deployed CI in the radiative transfer scheme of the Community Land Model version 5 (CLM5) and used the revised CLM5 to quantitatively evaluate the extent to which CI can affect canopy absorbed radiation and gross primary production (GPP), and for the first time, considering the uncertainty and seasonal variation of CI with multiple remote sensing products. Compared to the results without considering the CI impact, the revised CLM5 estimated that sunlit canopy absorbed up to 9%-15% and 23%-34% less direct and diffuse radiation, respectively, while shaded canopy absorbed 3%-18% more diffuse radiation across different biome types. The CI impacts on canopy light conditions included changes in canopy light absorption, and sunlit-shaded leaf area fraction related to nitrogen distribution and thus the maximum rate of Rubisco carboxylase activity (Vcmax ), which together decreased photosynthesis in sunlit canopy by 5.9-7.2 PgC year-1 while enhanced photosynthesis by 6.9-8.2 PgC year-1 in shaded canopy. With higher light use efficiency of shaded leaves, shaded canopy increased photosynthesis compensated and exceeded the lost photosynthesis in sunlit canopy, resulting in 1.0 ± 0.12 PgC year-1 net increase in GPP. The uncertainty of GPP due to the different input CI datasets was much larger than that caused by CI seasonal variations, and was up to 50% of the magnitude of GPP interannual variations in the tropical regions. This study highlights the necessity of considering the impacts of CI and its uncertainty in terrestrial biosphere models.

Project description:Background and aimsUnderstanding how climate change influences crop productivity helps in identifying new options to increase crop productivity. Soybean is the most important dicotyledonous seed crop in terms of planting area. Although the impacts of elevated atmospheric [CO2] on soybean physiology, growth and biomass accumulation have been studied extensively, the contribution of different factors to changes in season-long whole crop photosynthetic CO2 uptake [gross primary productivity (GPP)] under elevated [CO2] have not been fully quantified.MethodsA 3-D canopy model combining canopy 3-D architecture, ray tracing and leaf photosynthesis was built to: (1) study the impacts of elevated [CO2] on soybean GPP across a whole growing season; (2) dissect the contribution of different factors to changes in GPP; and (3) determine the extent, if any, of synergism between [CO2] and light on changes in GPP. The model was parameterized from measurements of leaf physiology and canopy architectural parameters at the soybean Free Air CO2 Enrichment (SoyFACE) facility in Champaign, Illinois.Key resultsUsing this model, we showed that both a CO2 fertilization effect and changes in canopy architecture contributed to the large increase in GPP while acclimation in photosynthetic physiological parameters to elevated [CO2] and altered leaf temperature played only a minor role in the changes in GPP. Furthermore, at early developmental stages, elevated [CO2] increased leaf area index which led to increased canopy light absorption and canopy photosynthesis. At later developmental stages, on days with high ambient light levels, the proportion of leaves in a canopy limited by Rubisco carboxylation increased from 12.2 % to 35.6 %, which led to a greater enhancement of elevated [CO2] to GPP.ConclusionsThis study develops a new method to dissect the contribution of different factors to responses of crops under climate change. We showed that there is a synergestic effect of CO2 and light on crop growth under elevated CO2 conditions.

Dataset Information

The 4-Dimensional Plant: Effects of Wind-Induced Canopy Movement on Light Fluctuations and Photosynthesis.

Publications

The 4-Dimensional Plant: Effects of Wind-Induced Canopy Movement on Light Fluctuations and Photosynthesis.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets