Plant calorimetry: A window to plant physiology and ecology

The use of calorespirometry in developing models for biological growth is discussed. The relationships between respiratory heat, CO2, and O-2 rates and physiological parameters such as substrate carbon conversion efficiency, and substrate and biomass carbon oxidation states are presented and discussed. A biochemical model relating ratios of the respiratory rates to the physiological parameters and biochemical pathways in plants is presented. Examples of applications of these models and equations to plant physiology and ecology are given. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.