Coupling biochemical and biophysical processes at the leaf level: an equilibrium photosynthesis model for leaves of C3 plants

The paper presents a generic computer model for estimating short-term steady-state fluxes of CO2, water vapor, and heat from broad leaves and needle-leaved coniferous shoots of C3 plant species. The model explicitly couples all major processes and feedbacks known to impact leaf biochemistry and biophysics including biochemical reactions, stomatal function, and leaf-boundary layer heat- and mass-transport mechanisms. The ability of the model to successfully predict measured photosynthesis and stomatal-conductance data as well as to simulate a variety of observed leaf responses is demonstrated. A model application investigating physiological and environmental regulation of leaf water-use efficiency (WUE) under steady-state conditions is discussed. Simulation results suggest that leaf physiology has a significant control over the environmental sensitivity of leaf WUE. The implementation of a highly efficient solution technique allows the model to be directly incorporated into plant-canopy and terrestrial ecosystem models.