Abstract
A lichen growing in a continental Antarctic region with low temperatures and strong irradiance in summer was investigated for evidence of photoinhibition. Field experiments with Umbilicaria aprina from a sheltered site with heavy snowpack showed no effects of photoinhibition when the lichen was exposed to strong sun irradiance for nearly 11 h a day. This was evident from CO2 exchange and simultaneous chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements. CO2 exchange was also not affected if quartz glass allowing greater UV penetration, was used as a lid for the cuvette. The dependency of net photosynthesis on photosynthetic photon flux density suggests that the lichen is photophilous.
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Received: 2 April 1997 / Accepted: 11 August 1997
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Kappen, L., Schroeter, B., Green, T. et al. Chlorophyll a fluorescence and CO2 exchange of Umbilicaria aprina under extreme light stress in the cold. Oecologia 113, 325–331 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050383
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050383