Jame, Y. W., H. W. Cutforth, and J. T. Ritchie. 1999. Temperature response function for leaf appearance rate in wheat and corn. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 79:1-10.

Citable PDF link: https://lter.kbs.msu.edu/pub/2735

The ability to predict leaf appearance would enhance our capability of modeling plant development and the rate of leaf area expansion. Many crop models use the constant thermal time for successive leaf tip appearance (which is often termed a phyllochron) as one model parameter to predict total number of leaves and date of anthesis. However, many researchers have found that phyllochron is not constant, but is dependent upon environment. The problem could be related to the simplified assumption that the daily leaf appearance rate is linearly related to temperature (and hence, phyllochron is constant, independent of temperature). In reality, the temperature response function for the development of a biological system is nonlinear. Thus, we fitted daily leaf appearance rate–temperature relationships obtained from growth room studies for both wheat (Triticum aestivum) and corn (Zea mays L.) to a nonlinear beta function with 0 °C as the base temperature and 42 °C as the upper critical temperature. The function described the relationships very well over the full range of temperatures for plant development. Other variables that are used to describe the duration and rate of leaf appearance, such as calendar days, phyllochron, and thermal rate of leaf appearance, are related to the daily leaf appearance rate, eliminating the need to develop various mathematical functions to independently describe the response of these variables to temperature. Because of the nonlinear nature of the temperature response function, we demonstrated that more accurate determinations of daily leaf appearance rates can be achieved by calculating rates over relatively short periods (i.e., hourly) and summing these to get the mean daily rate. Many environmental factors other than temperature also affect leaf appearance rate. However, once the proper temperature response function for leaf appearance rate is determined, it is much easier to determine when and how other factors are involved to modify the leaf appearance rate under a given environment.

DOI: 10.4141/P97-148

Associated Treatment Areas:

Modeling

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