Table 2.
Photosynthetic parameters of the three species growing at lower and higher elevations (detailed in Table 1). Values of Amax, Vcmax and Jmax were obtained by fitting the Farquhar et al. (1980) model of leaf photosynthesis to five A/Pi response curves for each species at each elevation. Means of a parameter followed by the same letter were not statistically different using a one-way ANOVA (P > 0.05) with LSD post hoc test.
| Q. spinosa | S. atopantha | R. dentatus | F5,30 | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amax (μmol m−2 s−1) | |||||
| Low elevation | 23.31 ± 1.33 b | 28.52 ± 1.18 c | 32.50 ± 0.95 d | 171.800 | 3.934 × 10−21 |
| High elevation | 7.75 ± 0.55 a | 46.02 ± 1.23 d | 55.45 ± 1.47 e | ||
| Vcmax (μmol m−2 s−1) | |||||
| Low elevation | 58.26 ± 2.42 b | 58.56 ± 2.22 b | 81.25 ± 2.87 c | 72.301 | 8.123 × 10−6 |
| High elevation | 31.73 ± 1.66 a | 80.85 ± 2.49 c | 101.90 ± 3.86 c | ||
| Jmax (μmol m−2 s−1) | |||||
| Low elevation | 236.70 ± 13.06 b | 249.49 ± 13.40 b | 334.37 ± 19.66 c | 79.564 | 2.168 × 10−16 |
| High elevation | 56.65 ± 4.36 a | 381.31 ± 6.49 c | 450.36 ± 21.61 d | ||
| Jmax/Vcmax | |||||
| Low elevation | 4.09 ± 0.24 b | 4.25 ± 0.10 b | 4.10 ± 0.15 b | 41.107 | 1.533 × 10−12 |
| High elevation | 1.80 ± 0.13 a | 4.73 ± 0.09 b | 4.42 ± 0.16 b | ||