Predicting biochemical acclimation of leaf photosynthesis in soybean under in-field canopy warming using hyperspectral reflectance

Traditional gas exchange measurements are cumbersome, which makes it difficult to capture variation in biochemical parameters, namely the maximum rate of carboxylation measured at a reference temperature (V-cmax25) and the maximum electron transport at a reference temperature (J(max25)), in response to growth temperature over time from days to weeks. Hyperspectral reflectance provides reliable measures of V-cmax25 and J(max25); however, the capability of this method to capture biochemical acclimations of the two parameters to high growth temperature over time has not been demonstrated. In this study, V-cmax25 and J(max25) were measured over multiple growth stages during two growing seasons for field-grown soybeans using both gas exchange techniques and leaf spectral reflectance under ambient and four elevated canopy temperature treatments (ambient+1.5, +3, +4.5, and +6 degrees C). Spectral vegetation indices and machine learning methods were used to build predictive models for V-cmax25 and J(max25), based on the leaf reflectance. Results showed that these models yielded an R-2 of 0.57-0.65 and 0.48-0.58 for V-cmax25 and J(max25), respectively. Hyperspectral reflectance captured biochemical acclimation of leaf photosynthesis to high temperature in the field, improving spatial and temporal resolution in the ability to assess the impact of future warming on crop productivity.

Automated summary

Hyperspectral reflectance can accurately measure the maximum rate of photosynthesis and maximum electron transport in soybean leaves, providing insights into the biochemical acclimation process to high temperatures.