Modelling temporal variation of parameters used in photosynthesis models

Several studies have found seasonal and temporal variability in leaf photosynthesis parameters in different crops. Poirier-Pocovi et al. use six-year-old fruit-bearing branches of ten-year-old apple trees to study and model the seasonal variation of photosynthetic parameters in leaves of vegetative shoots, as a function of global fruit load (at the branch level), with and without girdling, during the growing season of 2015.

The originality of the experiments is they were carried out in the orchard. A comparison was made that predicted variation in photosynthesis rates using several models.

This paper is part of the Annals of Botany Special Issue on Functional-Structural Plant Growth Modelling. It will be free access until June 2018, then available only to subscribers until April 2019 when it will be free access again.