Effect of Errors in Measuring Leaf Temperature and Ambient Gas Concentration on Calculated Resistances to CO(2) and Water Vapor Exchanges in Plant Leaves

Abstract

Errors as small as 1 C in the measurement of leaf temperature (T(leaf)) are shown to cause significant changes in the estimated value of the stomatal resistance (expressed in terms of total resistance to water vapor transfer, summation operatorrH(2)O). The effect increases as T(leaf) increases and as ambient relative humidity increases, if other conditions are maintained constant. The effect on the key CO(2) exchange parameter, the intracellular (or mesophyll) resistance, r(int), tends to be small under open stomata conditions but increases rapidly as stomatal closure occurs, particularly if the true value of r(int) is relatively small.Errors in the determination of the ambient water vapor and CO(2) concentrations can also significantly affect the calculated value of summation operatorrH(2)O and r(int). The effect on summation operatorrH(2)O and summation operatorrCO(2) increases as the ratio of the inlet/outlet concentration departs from unity and also increases as the assumed leaf-air concentration difference decreases. The combined effect on r(int) tends to be less than the individual effects on summation operatorrH(2)O and summation operatorrCO(2) since both are in the same direction.