Table 1. Abbreviations, equations and units.

α	photosynthetic efficiency; measured from the initial slope of a PI curve	mgC mg chl a −1 s−1/µmol photons m−2 s−1
a*PSII	chl a-specific PSII absorption coefficient	m2 [mg chl a]−1
Ag	gross photosynthetic rate	µmol O2 mg chl a −1 h−1
c	cell concentration	cells mL−1
Chl a	chlorophyll a	pg cell−1
Ek	index of light saturation = Pm/α	µmol m−2 s−1
ETRPSII	Electron transport rate	µmol electrons mg chl a −1 h−1
F o and F o′	minimal fluorescence yield in the dark and in the light respectively	relative units
F m and F m′	maximum fluorescence yield in the dark and in the light respectively	relative units
F v	variable fluorescence yield = F m - F o	relative units
F v/F m	maximum quantum yield of photochemistry = (F m - F o)/F m	relative units
Fq	Difference between fluorescence yields = F m′ - F t	relative units
Ft	actual fluorescence level at a given time excited by the actinic light	relative units
ΦPSII	effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (Genty's parameter) = (F m′-F t)/F m′	relative units
HL	high light
LL	low light
n	number of replicates performed for a given experiment
NPQ	non-photochemical quenching = (F m-F m′)/F m′	relative units
p	Connectivity factor
Pmax	maximum chl-specific carbon fixation rate	mgC mg chl a −1 h−1
PS I	photosystem one
PS II	photosystem two
PQ	Photosynthetic quotient
PTOX	plastid-localized terminal oxidase enzyme
qP	photochemical quenching	relative units
RCPSII/Chl a	photosynthetic unit size	m2 (mol Chl a)−1−1
σPSII	effective absorption cross section of PSII under dark acclimation	A2 PSII
t	time	day
μ	specific growth rate = (ln c - ln c0)/(t - t0)	day−1