Circadian rhythms have significant effects on leaf-to-canopy scale gas exchange under field conditions

  1. Víctor Resco de Dios
  2. Arthur Gessler
  3. Juan Pedro Ferrio
  4. Josu G Alday
  5. Michael Bahn
  6. Jorge del Castillo
  7. Sébastien Devidal
  8. Sonia García-Muñoz
  9. Zachary Kayler
  10. Damien Landais
  11. Paula Martín-Gómez
  12. Alexandru Milcu
  13. Clément Piel
  14. Karin Pirhofer-Walzl
  15. Olivier Ravel
  16. Serajis Salekin
  17. David T Tissue
  18. Mark G Tjoelker
  19. Jordi Voltas
  20. Jacques Roy

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Abstract

Background

Molecular clocks drive oscillations in leaf photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and other cell and leaf-level processes over ~24 h under controlled laboratory conditions. The influence of such circadian regulation over whole-canopy fluxes remains uncertain; diurnal CO2 and H2O vapor flux dynamics in the field are currently interpreted as resulting almost exclusively from direct physiological responses to variations in light, temperature and other environmental factors. We tested whether circadian regulation would affect plant and canopy gas exchange at the Montpellier European Ecotron. Canopy and leaf-level fluxes were constantly monitored under field-like environmental conditions, and under constant environmental conditions (no variation in temperature, radiation, or other environmental cues).

Results

We show direct experimental evidence at canopy scales of the circadian regulation of daytime gas exchange: 20–79 % of the daily variation range in CO2 and H2O fluxes occurred under circadian entrainment in canopies of an annual herb (bean) and of a perennial shrub (cotton). We also observed that considering circadian regulation improved performance by 8–17 % in commonly used stomatal conductance models.

Conclusions

Our results show that circadian controls affect diurnal CO2 and H2O flux patterns in entire canopies in field-like conditions, and its consideration significantly improves model performance. Circadian controls act as a ‘memory' of the past conditions experienced by the plant, which synchronizes metabolism across entire plant canopies.

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  1. GigaScience

    Now published in GigaScience doi: 10.1186/s13742-016-0149-y

    Víctor Resco de Dios 1Department of Crop and Forest Sciences-AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.2Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteORCID record for Víctor Resco de DiosFor correspondence: v.rescodedios@gmail.comArthur Gessler 3Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF), 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland.4Institute for Landscape Biogeochemistry, Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374 Müncheberg, Germany.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteORCID record for Arthur GesslerJuan Pedro Ferrio 1Department of Crop and Forest Sciences-AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteORCID record for Juan Pedro FerrioJosu G Alday 1Department of Crop and Forest Sciences-AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.5School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GP, UK.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteORCID record for Josu G AldayMichael Bahn 6Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteORCID record for Michael BahnJorge del Castillo 1Department of Crop and Forest Sciences-AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteSébastien Devidal 7Ecotron Européen de Montpellier, UPS 3248, CNRS, Campus Baillarguet, 34980, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteSonia García-Muñoz 8IMIDRA, Finca “El Encín”, 28800 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteZachary Kayler 4Institute for Landscape Biogeochemistry, Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374 Müncheberg, Germany.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteORCID record for Zachary KaylerDamien Landais 7Ecotron Européen de Montpellier, UPS 3248, CNRS, Campus Baillarguet, 34980, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this sitePaula Martín 1Department of Crop and Forest Sciences-AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteAlexandru Milcu 7Ecotron Européen de Montpellier, UPS 3248, CNRS, Campus Baillarguet, 34980, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.9CNRS, Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE UMR 5175), 1919 route de Mende, F-34293 Montpellier, FranceFind this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteORCID record for Alexandru MilcuClément Piel 7Ecotron Européen de Montpellier, UPS 3248, CNRS, Campus Baillarguet, 34980, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteKarin Pirhofer-Walzl 4Institute for Landscape Biogeochemistry, Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374 Müncheberg, Germany.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteOlivier Ravel 7Ecotron Européen de Montpellier, UPS 3248, CNRS, Campus Baillarguet, 34980, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteSerajis Salekin 10Erasmus Mundus Master on Mediterranean Forestry and Natural Resources Management, Universitat de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteDavid T Tissue 2Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteMark G Tjoelker 2Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteJordi Voltas 1Department of Crop and Forest Sciences-AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this siteJacques Roy 7Ecotron Européen de Montpellier, UPS 3248, CNRS, Campus Baillarguet, 34980, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.Find this author on Google ScholarFind this author on PubMedSearch for this author on this site

    A version of this preprint has been published in the Open Access journal GigaScience (see paper https://doi.org/10.1186/s13742-016-0149-y ), where the paper and peer reviews are published openly under a CC-BY 4.0 license.

    These peer reviews were as follows:

    Reviewer 1: http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/REVIEW.100506 Reviewer 2: http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/REVIEW.100505

  2. Version published to 10.1186/s13742-016-0149-y
  3. Version published to 10.1101/054593v1 on bioRxiv