Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-t27h7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-16T13:49:13.570Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reassessment of Maximum Growth Rates for C3 and C4 Crops

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

J. L. Monteith
J. L. Monteith
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leics. LE12 5RD
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Figures for maximum crop growth rates, reviewed by Gifford (1974), suggest that the productivity of C3 and C4 species is almost indistinguishable. However, close inspection of these figures at source and correspondence with several authors revealed a number of errors. When all unreliable figures were discarded, the maximum growth rate for C3 stands fell in the range 34–39 g m−2 d−1 compared with 50–54 g m−2 d−1 for C4 stands. Maximum growth rates averaged over the whole growing season showed a similar difference: 13 g m−2 d−1 for C3 and 22 g m−2 d−1 for C4. These figures correspond to photosynthetic efficiencies of approximately 1·4 and 2·0%.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , January 1978 , pp. 1 - 5
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Arias, P. J. & Butterworth, M. (1965). Proc. 9th Int. Grassl. Cong. 1. 407.Google Scholar
Begg, J. E. (1965) Nature, Lond. 205, 1025.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackman, G. E. (1968). In Functioning of Terrestrial Ecosystems (ed. Eckardt, F. E.), 243. UNESCO; Paris.Google Scholar
Borden, R. J. (1942) Hawaiian Planters Record 46, 191.Google Scholar
Cooper, J. P. (1975) In Photosynthesis and Productivity in Different Environments (Ed. Cooper, J. P.), 593. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dykova, D. (1971). Photosynthetica 5, 329.Google Scholar
Evans, L. T. (1975). Crop Physiology. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gifford, R. M. (1974). Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 1, 107.Google Scholar
Haggar, R. J. & Coupar, D. C. (1972). Expl Agric. 8, 251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiroi, T. & Monsi, M. (1966). J. Fac. Sci. Tokyo Univ. Sec. III, 9, 241.Google Scholar
Loomis, R. S. & Gerakis, P. A. (1975). In Photosynthesis and Productivity in Different Environments (Ed. Cooper, J. P.), 145. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Loomis, R. S. & Williams, W. A. (1963). Crop Sci. 3, 67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorenz, O. A. (1944). Proc. Arner. Soc. Hort. 44, 389.Google Scholar
Murata, Y. & Togari, Y. (1975). In Crop Productivity and Solar Energy (Ed. Murata, Y.). University of Tokyo.Google Scholar
Newton, J. (1968). PhD thesis, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Penfound, W. T. (1956). Limnol. Oceanogr. 1, 92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanaka, A., Kawano, K. & Yanaguchi, J. (1966). Int. Rice Res. Inst. Bull. 7, 1.Google Scholar
Williams, W. A., Loomis, R. S. & Lepley, C. R. (1965). Crop Sci. 5, 211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoshida, S. & Cock, J. H. (1971). International Rice Comm. Newsl. 20, 1.Google Scholar
Zelitch, I. (1975). In Environmental and Biological Control of Photosynthesis (Ed. Marcelle, R.), 251. The Hague: Junk.CrossRefGoogle Scholar