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Summary To what degree plant ecosystems thermoregulate their canopy temperature (Tc) is critical to assess ecosystems' metabolisms and resilience with climate change, but remains controversial, with opinions from no to moderate thermoregulation capability.With global datasets ofTc, air temperature (Ta), and other environmental and biotic variables from FLUXNET and satellites, we tested the ‘limited homeothermy’ hypothesis (indicated byTc&Taregression slope < 1 orTc < Taaround midday) across global extratropics, including temporal and spatial dimensions.Across daily to weekly and monthly timescales, over 80% of sites/ecosystems have slopes ≥1 orTc > Taaround midday, rejecting the above hypothesis. For those sites unsupporting the hypothesis, theirTc–Tadifference (ΔT) exhibits considerable seasonality that shows negative, partial correlations with leaf area index, implying a certain degree of thermoregulation capability. Spatially, site‐mean ΔTexhibits larger variations than the slope indicator, suggesting ΔTis a more sensitive indicator for detecting thermoregulatory differences across biomes. Furthermore, this large spatial‐wide ΔTvariation (0–6°C) is primarily explained by environmental variables (38%) and secondarily by biotic factors (15%).These results demonstrate diverse thermoregulation patterns across global extratropics, with most ecosystems negating the ‘limited homeothermy’ hypothesis, but their thermoregulation still occurs, implying that slope < 1 orTc < Taare not necessary conditions for plant thermoregulation.
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Low predictability of energy balance traits and leaf temperature metrics in desert, montane and alpine plant communities
Abstract Leaf energy balance may influence plant performance and community composition. While biophysical theory can link leaf energy balance to many traits and environment variables, predicting leaf temperature and key driver traits with incomplete parameterizations remains challenging. Predicting thermal offsets (δ,Tleaf − Tairdifference) or thermal coupling strengths (β,Tleafvs.Tairslope) is challenging.We ask: (a) whether environmental gradients predict variation in energy balance traits (absorptance, leaf angle, stomatal distribution, maximum stomatal conductance, leaf area, leaf height); (b) whether commonly measured leaf functional traits (dry matter content, mass per area, nitrogen fraction, δ13C, height above ground) predict energy balance traits; and (c) how traits and environmental variables predictδandβamong species.We address these questions with diurnal measurements of 41 species co‐occurring along a 1,100 m elevation gradient spanning desert to alpine biomes. We show that (a) energy balance traits are only weakly associated with environmental gradients and (b) are not well predicted by common functional traits. We also show that (c)δandβcan be partially approximated using interactions among site environment and traits, with a much larger role for environment than traits. The heterogeneity in leaf temperature metrics and energy balance traits challenges larger‐scale predictive models of plant performance under environmental change. A freePlain Language Summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
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- PAR ID:
- 10456812
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Functional Ecology
- Volume:
- 34
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 0269-8463
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1882-1897
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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