Acclimation of Leaf Dark Respiration to Temperature in Alpine and Lowland Plant Species

Acclimation to temperature in terms of dark respiration by leavesis a missing link in current efforts to predict the effectsof global warming on plant communities. We studied the acclimationof plants from alpine or lowland areas and asked two questions:(1) do plants acclimate to a change in temperature and doesacclimation depend on the plants' origin; and (2) have alpineplants adapted to low temperatures by respiring faster thanlowland plants at any given temperature? Nineteen alpine andcorresponding lowland species, collected in Switzerland, weregrown at 10 and 20°C for 5 weeks. Night-time leaf dark respirationrates were measured at the growth temperature of each plant.Acclimation patterns ranged from full to no acclimation. Fullacclimation to temperature, defined as the equality betweenrespiration measured at 20°C of plants grown at 20°Cand respiration measured at 10°C of plants grown at 10°C,occurred in only three out of 19 species. Dark respiration ofleaves was stimulated by a 10 K warming, but on average, byabout 50% less than predicted by the instantaneous temperatureresponse, i.e. Q₁₀. Acclimation did not depend on the alpineor lowland origin of the plant, but rather on its genus. Prostratealpine plants displayed the lowest acclimation potential. Weconclude that predictions at the community level cannot be madebased on single species because of the variety observed in therespiration responses.Copyright 1995, 1999 Academic Press Acclimation, alpine and lowland, climate warming, comparative ecology, dark respiration, grassland, Q₁₀, temperature