Dominant temperate and subalpine Japanese trees have variable photosynthetic thermal optima according to site mean annual temperature

Abstract

Aim: Global flux data analyses have shown a significant positive and linear relationship between site-­scale photosynthetic optimum temperature (Topt-­s) and averaged temperature variables. However, as existing studies have not fully considered species composition, it remains unclear to what extent the change in Topt-­s is derived from intraspecific plasticity or from a difference in species with a consistent species-­specific Topt-­s. We tested these two hypotheses using the satellite-­derived enhanced vegetation index (EVI).