Abstract

Main Main References Introduction Terrestrial plant respiration is a major component of the global carbon cycle, releasing ca. 60 Pg C yr-1 to the atmosphere: six times more than anthropogenic CO2 emissions from all sources combined (Ciais et al. 2014). About half this flux is leaf maintenance respiration in darkness (Rd) (Atkin et al. 2007). Rd is highly temperature-dependent, following a near-exponential relationship over short time-scales (Heskel et al. 2016). It has been predicted that global warming will increase Rd and accelerate future climate change via a carbon-climate feedback (Cox et al. 2000; Huntingford et al. 2013). However, large uncertainties in future ...