Estimating ecosystem maximum light use efficiency based on the water use efficiency principle

Light use efficiency (LUE) defines the vegetation of converting radiative energy into biochemical through photosynthesis. Estimating maximum LUE (εmax) is critical yet challenging for quantifying gross primary production (GPP) using LUE-based models. This study describes an analytical method estimating εmax based on water (WUE) as determined by plant and carbon gain. Unlike other complex parameterization schemes, this WUE-based simple requires four variables relatively easy to acquire. The estimates compare favorably well with values traditional curve fitting that reported in literature, clearly distinguished between C3 (1.48 ± 0.33 ) C4 (2.63 0.21 dominated ecosystems. range was narrow across different years sites within a biome. estimate theoretically constrained can be directly incorporated models GPP estimation