Leaf uptake of carbonyl sulfide and CO2 reveals stomatal responses to photosynthesis

What is it about?

Carbonyl sulfide helps to quantify photosynthesis at canopy and continental scales. This use requires knowing how leaf uptake of carbonyl sulfide relative to photosynthesis varies with light, humidity, and the ambient CO2 level. We show that these responses of the leaf relative uptake of carbonyl sulfide emerge from the coupling between stomatal conductance and photosynthesis.

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Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash

Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This finding will help us extract more accurate information about photosynthesis from carbonyl sulfide measurements. At the ecosystem scale, we can obtain more robust estimates of photosynthesis from carbonyl sulfide flux measurements. On regional to global scales, we can use atmospheric carbonyl sulfide concentration measurements to better constrain the patterns of terrestrial photosynthesis.