Electron transport is the functional limitation of photosynthesis in field-grown Pima cotton plants at high temperature

Restrictions to photosynthesis can limit plant growth at high temperature in a variety of ways. In addition to increasing photorespiration, moderately high temperatures (35–42 °C) can cause direct injury to the photosynthetic apparatus. Both carbon metabolism and thylakoid reactions have been suggested as the primary site of injury at these temperatures. In the present study this issue was addressed by first characterizing leaf temperature dynamics in Pima cotton (Gossypium barbadense) grown under irrigation in the US desert south‐west. It was found that cotton leaves repeatedly reached temperatures above 40 °C and could fluctuate as much as 8 or 10 °C in a matter of seconds. Laboratory studies revealed a maximum photosynthetic rate at 30–33 °C that declined by 22% at 45 °C. The majority of the inhibition persisted upon return to 30 °C. The mechanism of this limitation was assessed by measuring the response of photosynthesis to CO₂ in the laboratory. The first time a cotton leaf (grown at 30 °C) was exposed to 45 °C, photosynthetic electron transport was stimulated (at high CO₂) because of an increased flux through the photorespiratory pathway. However, upon cooling back to 30 °C, photosynthetic electron transport was inhibited and fell substantially below the level measured before the heat treatment. In the field, the response of assimilation (A) to various internal levels of CO₂ (C_i) revealed that photosynthesis was limited by ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate (RuBP) regeneration at normal levels of CO₂ (presumably because of limitations in thylakoid reactions needed to support RuBP regeneration). There was no evidence of a ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) limitation at air levels of CO₂ and at no point on any of 30 A–C_i curves measured on leaves at temperatures from 28 to 39 °C was RuBP regeneration capacity measured to be in substantial excess of the capacity of Rubisco to use RuBP. It is therefore concluded that photosynthesis in field‐grown Pima cotton leaves is functionally limited by photosynthetic electron transport and RuBP regeneration capacity, not Rubisco activity.     

Nitrogen Relations in a Douglas-fir Plantation

A 42-year-old Western Washington Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziessii(Mirb.) Franco] plantation which was N-deficient was studiedin relation to the application of N applied as urea to the forestfloor, and carbohydrate applied to the forest floor to widenthe C/N ratio and thus intensify the existing N deficiency.After 1 year, needle size was measured and needles were alsoanalyzed for pigment content N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and Mn. As a resultof N fertilization needle size and weight had increased. Needleretention (years) was increased in the N treatments and reducedin the carbohydrates treatments. This effect was reflected inthe quantities of leaf litter-fall. Nitrogen concentrationswere increased in treatments where N was applied as were pigmentcontents but other nutrients decreased in concentration probablyas a result of growth dilution. While there was no significantdecrease in needle N concentration where carbohydrate was applied,the N uptake was reduced because of needlesize and retentiontimechanges. The results are discussed in relation to nutrientdiagnostic work.     

The big ecological questions inhibiting effective environmental management in Australia

The need to improve environmental management in Australia is urgent because human health, well‐being and social stability all depend ultimately on maintenance of life‐supporting ecological processes. Ecological science can inform this effort, but when issues are socially and economically complex the inclination is to wait for science to provide answers before acting. Increasingly, managers and policy‐makers will be called on to use the present state of scientific knowledge to supply reasonable inferences for action based on imperfect knowledge. Hence, one challenge is to use existing ecological knowledge more effectively; a second is to tackle the critical unanswered ecological questions. This paper identifies areas of environmental management that are profoundly hindered by an inability of science to answer basic questions, in contrast to those areas where knowledge is not the major barrier to policy development and management. Of the 22 big questions identified herein, more than half are directly related to climate change. Several of the questions concern our limited understanding of the dynamics of marine systems. There is enough information already available to develop effective policy and management to address several significant ecological issues. We urge ecologists to make better use of existing knowledge in dialogue with policy‐makers and land managers. Because the challenges are enormous, ecologists will increasingly be engaging a wide range of other disciplines to help identify pathways towards a sustainable future.     

Is lack of cycad (Cycadales) diversity a result of a lack of polyploidy?

Many hypotheses exist for the relative diversity of seed plant taxa. We discuss one of them: how the relative dearth of cycad diversity throughout their 300 million year history may be a result of a lack of duplication of their entire nuclear genome, often termed polyploidy. We show theoretically how polyploidy causes speciation via cryptic reproductive isolation. Polyploidy can also cause radiations via epigenetically induced heterochrony and plasticity. Most cycads have only a few large chromosomes because of a lack of whole genome duplication or, except possibly in the genus Zamia, chromosomal fission. Large chromosomes and extremely small effective population sizes result in substantial linkage disequilibrium, genetic hitchhiking and genetic drift in cycads. By contrast, other seed plants have higher incidences of polyploidy and may therefore have been more prone to radiations. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 165 , 156–167.     

Climate‐induced shift in hydrological regime alters basal resource dynamics in a wilderness river ecosystem

1. We integrated a 20‐year ecological data set from a sparsely inhabited, snowmelt‐dominated catchment with hydrologic models to predict the effects of hydrologic shifts on stream biofilm. 2. We used a stepwise multiple regression to assess the relationship between hydrology and biofilm ash‐free dry mass (AFDM) and chlorophyll‐a (chl‐a) under recent climate conditions. Biofilm AFDM was significantly related to the timing of peak streamflow, and chl‐a was significantly related to the timing of median streamflow. We applied these results to output from the variable infiltration capacity hydrologic model, which predicted hydrology under a baseline scenario (+0 °C) and a range of warming scenarios expected with climate change (+1, +2 or +3 °C). 3. When compared to the baseline, the results indicated that earlier peakflows predicted under warming scenarios may lead to earlier initiation of biofilm growth. This may increase biofilm AFDM during the summer by up to 103% (±29) in the +3 °C scenario. Moreover, interannual variability of AFDM was predicted to increase up to 300%. Average chl‐a during the summer increased by up to 90% (±15) in the +3 °C scenario; however, its response was not significantly different from baseline in most years. 4. Because hydrologic change may alter the temporal dynamics of biofilm growth, it may affect the seasonal dynamics of biofilm quality (i.e. chl‐a‐to‐AFDM ratio). The results indicated that hydrologic shifts may increase biofilm quality during the spring, but may decrease it during the summer. Thus, we provide evidence that predicted hydrologic shifts in snowmelt‐dominated streams may alter the quantity and quality of an important basal resource. However, the magnitudes of these predictions are likely to be affected by other environmental changes that are occurring with climate change (e.g. increased wildfire activity and stream warming).     

Logistic regression in comparative wood anatomy: tracheid types, wood anatomical terminology, and new inferences from the Carlquist and Hoekman southern Californian data set

Despite collecting copious amounts of data, wood anatomists rarely perform appropriate statistical analyses, especially in the case of categorical variables. Nevertheless, anatomists have succeeded in identifying strong ecological trends. We show that, with only a slightly more sophisticated analysis, the strength and significance of 'well-known' associations can be quantified, and new associations pinpointed. Using logistic regression to reanalyse the classic Carlquist and Hoekman data set for the southern Californian flora, we show strong support for the notion that true tracheid presence lowers vessel grouping; in contrast, vasicentric tracheids are associated with a diversity of vessel grouping strategies. We show that statistical models can refine anatomical interpretations by identifying unusual species. For example, Fremontodendron californicum and Baccharis salicifolia (=  B. glutinosa ) were identified as unusual in lacking vasicentric tracheids; a consultation of preparations revealed that they are indeed present. For purposes of ecological wood anatomy, anatomical terminology should reflect cell function; we suggest that terminological systems that yield better predictive power in statistical models such as ours are preferable. Finally, we make recommendations ranging from the statistical, e.g. the need to check assumptions and the need for the inclusion of phylogeny, to the biological, e.g. gathering data expressly designed to test functional hypotheses rather than all of the information in standardized lists.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 154 , 331–351.