Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of symbols
- 1 The general nature of biosphere-atmosphere fluxes
- 2 Thermodynamics, work, and energy
- 3 Chemical reactions, enzyme catalysts, and stable isotopes
- 4 Control over metabolic fluxes
- 5 Modeling the metabolic CO2 flux
- 6 Diffusion and continuity
- 7 Boundary layer and stomatal control over leaf fluxes
- 8 Leaf structure and function
- 9 Water transport within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum
- 10 Leaf and canopy energy budgets
- 11 Canopy structure and radiative transfer
- 12 Vertical structure and mixing of the atmosphere
- 13 Wind and turbulence
- 14 Observations of turbulent fluxes
- 15 Modeling of fluxes at the canopy and landscape scales
- 16 Soil fluxes of CO2, CH4, and NOx
- 17 Fluxes of biogenic volatile compounds between plants and the atmosphere
- 18 Stable isotope variants as tracers for studying biosphere-atmosphere exchange
- References
- Index
- Plate Section
10 - Leaf and canopy energy budgets
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of symbols
- 1 The general nature of biosphere-atmosphere fluxes
- 2 Thermodynamics, work, and energy
- 3 Chemical reactions, enzyme catalysts, and stable isotopes
- 4 Control over metabolic fluxes
- 5 Modeling the metabolic CO2 flux
- 6 Diffusion and continuity
- 7 Boundary layer and stomatal control over leaf fluxes
- 8 Leaf structure and function
- 9 Water transport within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum
- 10 Leaf and canopy energy budgets
- 11 Canopy structure and radiative transfer
- 12 Vertical structure and mixing of the atmosphere
- 13 Wind and turbulence
- 14 Observations of turbulent fluxes
- 15 Modeling of fluxes at the canopy and landscape scales
- 16 Soil fluxes of CO2, CH4, and NOx
- 17 Fluxes of biogenic volatile compounds between plants and the atmosphere
- 18 Stable isotope variants as tracers for studying biosphere-atmosphere exchange
- References
- Index
- Plate Section
Summary
The plant in a field of energy, or in any considered area in which gradients exist, reacts passively to its surroundings . . . it should be clear that the sun, or even outer space, is not more removed from the plant than the next millimeter of air; it is the specific part of heat exchange being considered that determines what should be included in the plant’s environment.
Klaus Raschke (1960)The interaction of environment with a plant is through the flow of energy. There is no other way . . . All energy absorbed by a leaf must be accounted for [through storage within the leaf or loss from the leaf] and hence the energy budget for a plant leaf must balance.
David M. Gates (1968)Energy flows from the sun to the earth where some fraction is absorbed by plant surfaces. Plants use some of that energy to drive primary production, but that is a small fraction of the total absorbed energy. Most of the absorbed energy is redistributed back to the surroundings. Following the laws of thermodynamics, energy can be transformed, transferred, or stored, but not destroyed. Thus, energy input from the surroundings must be balanced by an equal and constant output or be stored within the plant’s mass. The requirement for a full accounting of energy transfers and storage, and thus reconciliation of the plant’s energy budget, has been recognized for several decades as an important perspective from which to study biophysics and the evolutionary adaptation of plants to their environment. The “environment” of a plant consists of all scales between the sun and earth; though we may isolate certain components to prioritize the factors that determine energy exchange. The quotes above, by Klaus Raschke and David Gates, two of the pioneers in the field of plant-atmosphere biophysics state in very clear terms, the continuum of space that describes the “environment” with which a plant must exchange energy, and the necessity of “energy accounting” as a means to understand plant function and adaptation.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Terrestrial Biosphere-Atmosphere Fluxes , pp. 222 - 243Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014