Abstract
A close correspondence between the rates of transpiration and photosynthesis in higher land plants has been routinely observed over the past 30 years (Heath, 1969). A ready explanation for this correspondence lies in the existence of a common diffusion path for the water vapor as it passes from the inside of the plant to the atmosphere in transpiration, and for the carbon dioxide, which passes from the atmosphere to the inside of the plant, where it is fixed in photosynthesis. The correlation between these two processes is not absolute, however, since carbon dioxide must also diffuse through a liquid phase after it reaches the walls and cytoplasm of the internal photosynthetic cells as well as meet the limitations of the biochemical steps involved in carbon fixation. Transpiration, then, is primarily a biophysical process, whereas photosynthesis is a combination of biophysical and biochemical events. The degree to which the two processes correspond may then depend in large part on the relative magnitude of the limitation imposed by the additional diffusive pathway and the biochemical component of photosynthesis. The interrelationships among the biophysical and biochemical events involved will be considered further below.
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Johnson, H.B. (1975). Gas-Exchange Strategies in Desert Plants. In: Gates, D.M., Schmerl, R.B. (eds) Perspectives of Biophysical Ecology. Ecological Studies, vol 12. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-87810-7_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-87810-7_7
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