Complete or overcompensatory thermal acclimation of leaf dark respiration in African tropical trees

What is it about?

Tropical climate is getting warmer, and the productivity of future tropical forests will depend on the ability of trees to adjust their physiological processes, such as leaf dark respiration, to these new, warmer growth conditions. To test this, we planted 16 tropical tree species in warmer growth conditions (up to 6 degree Celsius) and we investigated their ability to adjust leaf respiration. We show that tropical trees are able to adjust their leaf respiration to warmer growth temperatures such that leaf respiration at growth temperature does not increase under warmer conditions.

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