Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,234 studies31 sourcesUpdated 48 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NCNew Phytologist

Influence of vapour pressure deficit and CO 2 on the thermal sensitivity of stomatal function in tropical trees

  • Alexander W. Cheesman1
  • Peter Cox2
  • Simon R. G. Jones2
  • Kali B. Middleby3
  • Lucas A. Cernusak1
  • Peter J. Franks4
4 affiliations
  1. 1College of Science and Engineering James Cook University Cairns Qld 4878 Australia
  2. 2Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy University of Exeter Laver Building, North Park Road Exeter EX4 4QE UK
  3. 3AMAP University of Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD 34398 Montpellier France
  4. 4School of Life and Environmental Sciences The University of Sydney Sydney NSW 2006 Australia
Open at sourceDOICite

Abstract

Summary Stomatal conductance to water vapour ( g s ) is typically considered to operate in coordination with photosynthesis ( A ) to balance carbon gain and water loss in an optimal manner. However, at high temperatures that suppress A , g s has been seen to increase or remain high – reducing the predictive accuracy of some stomatal conductance models. We investigated the temperature sensitivity of leaf‐level gas exchange and evaluated a temperature‐dependent modification of a widely used stomatal conductance model across a temperature gradient (30 to 40°C) in three tropical tree species ( Mallotus philippensis , Ficus congesta and Elaeocarpus grandis ) grown and measured under near‐ambient (420 ppm) or elevated (820 ppm) CO 2 , and under either constant or increasing vapour pressure deficit (VPD). Measured A and g s , as well as the model term g 1 , all exhibited a temperature sensitivity that was impacted by [CO 2 ] and VPD regime. Importantly, under both constant and increasing VPD, g 1 increased with leaf temperature. These findings demonstrate that the coupling between A and g s is not static but varies with temperature and environmental context, and that incorporating a representation of this thermal sensitivity provides a tractable improvement to models of plant carbon–water exchange under future climate conditions.

Related

  1. Franks and Farquhar (2007) and beyond: the influence of guard and subsidiary cell biomechanics on stomatal function
    Tracy Lawson, Michelle Facette, Scott A M McAdam +1
    Plant PhysiologyPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textClimate sciencePMC
  2. Enhanced Influence of the North Pacific Meridional Mode on the Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclones in a Warming Climate
    Bowen Liu, Fan Jia, Bolan Gan +3
    Environmental Research LettersPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textEnvironmental science & pollutionCrossref
  3. Victoria mode drives the strengthening of tropical Atlantic SST influence on El Niño-Southern oscillation since the mid-20th century
    Yuqiong Zheng, Shangfeng Chen, Jong-Seong Kug +5
    Environmental Research LettersPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textClimate scienceCrossrefIOP/AAS
  4. Radiative-dynamical interaction of tropical upper tropospheric clouds: sensitivity to ice cloud parameterizations
    Claudia J Stubenrauch, Xiaoting Chen, Laurent Li +1
    HALPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textClimate scienceHAL
  5. Eastward displacement of the Pacific–Japan pattern weakens its influence on summertime tropical cyclones affecting China
    Yimeng Wang, Jingyun Deng, Peng Hu +6
    Environmental Research LettersPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textAtmospheric science & meteorologyIOP/AASCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{cheesman2026influence,
  title = {{Influence of vapour pressure deficit and CO 2 on the thermal sensitivity of stomatal function in tropical trees}},
  author = {Alexander W. Cheesman and Peter Cox and Simon R. G. Jones and Kali B. Middleby and Lucas A. Cernusak and Peter J. Franks},
  journal = {New Phytologist},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  doi = {10.1111/nph.71249},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71249},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Influence of vapour pressure deficit and CO 2 on the thermal sensitivity of stomatal function in tropical trees
AU  - Alexander W. Cheesman
AU  - Peter Cox
AU  - Simon R. G. Jones
AU  - Kali B. Middleby
AU  - Lucas A. Cernusak
AU  - Peter J. Franks
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/16
JO  - New Phytologist
DO  - 10.1111/nph.71249
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71249
AB  - Summary Stomatal conductance to water vapour ( g s ) is typically considered to operate in coordination with photosynthesis ( A ) to balance carbon gain and water loss in an optimal manner. However, at high temperatures that suppress A , g s has been seen to increase or remain high – reducing the predictive accuracy of some stomatal conductance models. We investigated the temperature sensitivity of leaf‐level gas exchange and evaluated a temperature‐dependent modification of a widely used stomatal conductance model across a temperature gradient (30 to 40°C) in three tropical tree species ( Mallotus philippensis , Ficus congesta and Elaeocarpus grandis ) grown and measured under near‐ambient (420 ppm) or elevated (820 ppm) CO 2 , and under either constant or increasing vapour pressure deficit (VPD). Measured A and g s , as well as the model term g 1 , all exhibited a temperature sensitivity that was impacted by [CO 2 ] and VPD regime. Importantly, under both constant and increasing VPD, g 1 increased with leaf temperature. These findings demonstrate that the coupling between A and g s is not static but varies with temperature and environmental context, and that incorporating a representation of this thermal sensitivity provides a tractable improvement to models of plant carbon–water exchange under future climate conditions.
SN  - 0028-646X
SN  - 1469-8137
ER  -