Implications of improved representations of plant respiration in a changing climate

Chris Huntingford; Owen K. Atkin; Alberto Martinez-de la Torre; Lina M. Mercado; Mary A. Heskel; Anna B. Harper; Keith J. Bloomfield; Odhran S. O’Sullivan; Peter B. Reich; Kirk R. Wythers; Ethan E. Butler; Ming Chen; Kevin L. Griffin; Patrick Meir; Mark G. Tjoelker; Matthew H. Turnbull; Stephen Sitch; Andy Wiltshire; Yadvinder Malhi

Implications of improved representations of plant respiration in a changing climate

Chris Huntingford, Owen K. Atkin, Alberto Martinez-de la Torre, Lina M. Mercado, Mary A. Heskel, Anna B. Harper, Keith J. Bloomfield, Odhran S. O’Sullivan, Peter B. Reich, Kirk R. Wythers, Ethan E. Butler, Ming Chen, Kevin L. Griffin, Patrick Meir, Mark G. Tjoelker, Matthew H. Turnbull, Stephen Sitch, Andy Wiltshire, Yadvinder Malhi

Western Sydney University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

106 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Land-atmosphere exchanges influence atmospheric CO2. Emphasis has been on describing photosynthetic CO2 uptake, but less on respiration losses. New global datasets describe upper canopy dark respiration (Rd) and temperature dependencies. This allows characterisation of baseline Rd, instantaneous temperature responses and longer-term thermal acclimation effects. Here we show the global implications of these parameterisations with a global gridded land model. This model aggregates Rd to whole-plant respiration Rp, driven with meteorological forcings spanning uncertainty across climate change models. For preindustrial estimates, new baseline Rd increases Rp and especially in the tropics. Compared to new baseline, revised instantaneous response decreases Rp for mid-latitudes, while acclimation lowers this for the tropics with increases elsewhere. Under global warming, new Rd estimates amplify modelled respiration increases, although partially lowered by acclimation. Future measurements will refine how Rd aggregates to whole-plant respiration. Our analysis suggests Rp could be around 30% higher than existing estimates.

Original language	English
Article number	1602
Number of pages	11
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	8
Issue number	1
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).

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Keywords

carbon dioxide
climatic changes
photosynthesis
plants
respiration

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Huntingford, C., Atkin, O. K., Martinez-de la Torre, A., Mercado, L. M., Heskel, M. A., Harper, A. B., Bloomfield, K. J., O’Sullivan, O. S., Reich, P. B., Wythers, K. R., Butler, E. E., Chen, M., Griffin, K. L., Meir, P., Tjoelker, M. G., Turnbull, M. H., Sitch, S., Wiltshire, A., & Malhi, Y. (2017). Implications of improved representations of plant respiration in a changing climate. Nature Communications, 8(1), Article 1602.

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title = "Implications of improved representations of plant respiration in a changing climate",

abstract = "Land-atmosphere exchanges influence atmospheric CO2. Emphasis has been on describing photosynthetic CO2 uptake, but less on respiration losses. New global datasets describe upper canopy dark respiration (Rd) and temperature dependencies. This allows characterisation of baseline Rd, instantaneous temperature responses and longer-term thermal acclimation effects. Here we show the global implications of these parameterisations with a global gridded land model. This model aggregates Rd to whole-plant respiration Rp, driven with meteorological forcings spanning uncertainty across climate change models. For preindustrial estimates, new baseline Rd increases Rp and especially in the tropics. Compared to new baseline, revised instantaneous response decreases Rp for mid-latitudes, while acclimation lowers this for the tropics with increases elsewhere. Under global warming, new Rd estimates amplify modelled respiration increases, although partially lowered by acclimation. Future measurements will refine how Rd aggregates to whole-plant respiration. Our analysis suggests Rp could be around 30% higher than existing estimates.",

keywords = "carbon dioxide, climatic changes, photosynthesis, plants, respiration",

author = "Chris Huntingford and Atkin, {Owen K.} and {Martinez-de la Torre}, Alberto and Mercado, {Lina M.} and Heskel, {Mary A.} and Harper, {Anna B.} and Bloomfield, {Keith J.} and O{\textquoteright}Sullivan, {Odhran S.} and Reich, {Peter B.} and Wythers, {Kirk R.} and Butler, {Ethan E.} and Ming Chen and Griffin, {Kevin L.} and Patrick Meir and Tjoelker, {Mark G.} and Turnbull, {Matthew H.} and Stephen Sitch and Andy Wiltshire and Yadvinder Malhi",

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Huntingford, C, Atkin, OK, Martinez-de la Torre, A, Mercado, LM, Heskel, MA, Harper, AB, Bloomfield, KJ, O’Sullivan, OS, Reich, PB, Wythers, KR, Butler, EE, Chen, M, Griffin, KL, Meir, P, Tjoelker, MG, Turnbull, MH, Sitch, S, Wiltshire, A & Malhi, Y 2017, 'Implications of improved representations of plant respiration in a changing climate', Nature Communications, vol. 8, no. 1, 1602.

TY - JOUR

T1 - Implications of improved representations of plant respiration in a changing climate

AU - Huntingford, Chris

AU - Atkin, Owen K.

AU - Martinez-de la Torre, Alberto

AU - Mercado, Lina M.

AU - Heskel, Mary A.

AU - Harper, Anna B.

AU - Bloomfield, Keith J.

AU - O’Sullivan, Odhran S.

AU - Reich, Peter B.

AU - Wythers, Kirk R.

AU - Butler, Ethan E.

AU - Chen, Ming

AU - Griffin, Kevin L.

AU - Meir, Patrick

AU - Tjoelker, Mark G.

AU - Turnbull, Matthew H.

AU - Sitch, Stephen

AU - Wiltshire, Andy

AU - Malhi, Yadvinder

PY - 2017/12/1

Y1 - 2017/12/1

N2 - Land-atmosphere exchanges influence atmospheric CO2. Emphasis has been on describing photosynthetic CO2 uptake, but less on respiration losses. New global datasets describe upper canopy dark respiration (Rd) and temperature dependencies. This allows characterisation of baseline Rd, instantaneous temperature responses and longer-term thermal acclimation effects. Here we show the global implications of these parameterisations with a global gridded land model. This model aggregates Rd to whole-plant respiration Rp, driven with meteorological forcings spanning uncertainty across climate change models. For preindustrial estimates, new baseline Rd increases Rp and especially in the tropics. Compared to new baseline, revised instantaneous response decreases Rp for mid-latitudes, while acclimation lowers this for the tropics with increases elsewhere. Under global warming, new Rd estimates amplify modelled respiration increases, although partially lowered by acclimation. Future measurements will refine how Rd aggregates to whole-plant respiration. Our analysis suggests Rp could be around 30% higher than existing estimates.

AB - Land-atmosphere exchanges influence atmospheric CO2. Emphasis has been on describing photosynthetic CO2 uptake, but less on respiration losses. New global datasets describe upper canopy dark respiration (Rd) and temperature dependencies. This allows characterisation of baseline Rd, instantaneous temperature responses and longer-term thermal acclimation effects. Here we show the global implications of these parameterisations with a global gridded land model. This model aggregates Rd to whole-plant respiration Rp, driven with meteorological forcings spanning uncertainty across climate change models. For preindustrial estimates, new baseline Rd increases Rp and especially in the tropics. Compared to new baseline, revised instantaneous response decreases Rp for mid-latitudes, while acclimation lowers this for the tropics with increases elsewhere. Under global warming, new Rd estimates amplify modelled respiration increases, although partially lowered by acclimation. Future measurements will refine how Rd aggregates to whole-plant respiration. Our analysis suggests Rp could be around 30% higher than existing estimates.

KW - carbon dioxide

KW - climatic changes

KW - photosynthesis

KW - plants

KW - respiration

UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:44362

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 8

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 1602

ER -

Implications of improved representations of plant respiration in a changing climate

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Open Access - Access Right Statement

Keywords

UN SDGs

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