Mesophyll conductance (gm) is essential to determine accurate physiological parameters used to model photosynthesis in forest ecosystems. This study aimed to determine the effects of time of day on photosynthetic parameters, and to assess the effect of using either intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) or chloroplast CO2 concentration (Cc), on maximum carboxylation velocity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), Vcmax. We used Amazonian saplings of Myrcia paivae and Minquartia guianensis. Photosynthetic parameters were measured using an infrared gas analyzer (IRGA); gm was determined using both gas exchange and chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence and gas-exchange data alone. Leaf thickness (LT) and specific leaf area (SLA) were also measured. Air temperature, relative humidity or understory light did not correlate with gm and on average daily IRGA-fluorometer-determined gm was 0.04 mol(CO2) m-2 s-1 for M. paivae and 0.05 mol(CO2) m-2 s-1 for M. guianensis. Stomatal conductance (gs), gm, electron transport rate (JF), and light-saturated net photosynthetic rate (PNmax) were lower in the afternoon than in the morning. However, no effect of time of day was observed on Vcmax. LT and SLA did not affect any of the examined parameters.
IRGA-determined g m was almost the double of the value obtained using the IRGA-fluorescence method. Vcmax values determined using Cc were about 25% higher than those obtained using Ci, which highlighted the importance of using Cc in Vcmax calculation. Decline in PNmax at the end of the afternoon reflected variations in gs and gm rather than changes in Vcmax. Diurnal variation in gm appeared to be associated more with endogenous than with atmospheric factors. and H. C. S. Nascimento, R. A. Marenco.