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Description

This global data set of photosynthetic rates and leaf nutrient traits was compiled from a comprehensive literature review. It includes estimates of Vcmax (maximum rate of carboxylation), Jmax (maximum rate of electron transport), leaf nitrogen content (N), leaf phosphorus content (P), and specific leaf area (SLA) data from both experimental and ambient field conditions, for a total of 325 species and treatment combinations. Both the original published Vcmax and Jmax values as well as estimates at standard temperature are reported.

The maximum rate of carboxylation (Vcmax) and the maximum rate of electron transport (Jmax) are primary determinants of photosynthetic rates in plants, and modeled carbon fluxes are highly sensitive to these parameters. Previous studies have shown that Vcmax and Jmax correlate with leaf nitrogen across species and regions, and locally across species with leaf phosphorus and specific leaf area, yet no universal relationship suitable for global-scale models is currently available.

These data are suitable for exploring the general relationships of Vcmax and Jmax with each other and with leaf N, P and SLA. This data set contains one *.csv file.

Product Summary

Platforms
NOT APPLICABLE
Instruments
NOT APPLICABLE
Spatial Extent

N: 58.42 S: -43.2 E: 176.13 W: -122.4

Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1993-01-01 to 2010-12-31
Data Partner
THE OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY (ORNL) DISTRIBUTED ACTIVE ARCHIVE CENTER (DAAC) (ORNL_DAAC)
Concept ID
C2784384781-ORNL_CLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
1
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Plant Characteristics ,
Phosphorus ,
Nutrients ,
Nitrogen ,
Leaf Characteristics

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Walker, A. P., Aranda, I., Beckerman, A. P., Bown, H., Cernusak, L. A., Dang, Q. L., Domingues, T. F., Gu, L., Guo, S., Han, Q., Kattge, J., Kubiske, M., Manter, D., Merilo, E., Midgley, G. F., Porte, A., Scales, J. C., Tissue, D., Turnbull, T., … Wullschleger, S. D. (2014). A Global Data Set of Leaf Photosynthetic Rates, Leaf N and P, and Specific Leaf Area (Version 1). ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1224 Date Accessed: 2026-04-30

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

Publications Citing This Dataset

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Title Year Author Topic
Functional traits explain growth response to successive hotter droughts across a wide set of common and future tree species in Europe Kretz, L., Schnabel, F., Richter, R., Raabgrund, A., Kattge, J., Andraczek, K., Kahl, A., Kunne, T., Wirth, C. Nutrients, Leaf Characteristics, Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nitrogen
Applying a unified framework to compare taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity in Holocene pollen records Penny, Amelia M., Chao, Anne, Davies, Althea L., Magurran, Anne E. Nutrients, Leaf Characteristics, Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nitrogen
Resolving the effects of functional traits on tree growth rates: The influence of temporal dynamics and divergent strategies by leaf habit Deziel, Megane, Schoenig, Daniel, SousaSilva, Rita, Searle, Eric B., Parker, William C., CavenderBares, Jeannine, Mereu, Simone, SchererLorenzen, Michael, Nock, Charles A., Messier, Christian, Reich, Peter, Stefanski, Artur, Dong, Ning, Hajek, Peter, Gravel, Dominique, Paquette, Alain Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nutrients, Nitrogen, Leaf Characteristics
A slow-fast trait continuum at the whole community level in relation to land-use intensification Neyret, Margot, Le Provost, Gaetane, Boesing, Andrea Larissa, Schneider, Florian D., Baulechner, Dennis, Bergmann, Joana, de Vries, Franciska T., Fiore-Donno, Anna Maria, Geisen, Stefan, Goldmann, Kezia, Merges, Anna, Saifutdinov, Ruslan A., Simons, Nadja K., Tobias, Joseph A., Zaitsev, Andrey S., Gossner, Martin M., Jung, Kirsten, Kandeler, Ellen, Krauss, Jochen, Penone, Caterina, Schloter, Michael, Schulz, Stefanie, Staab, Michael, Wolters, Volkmar, Apostolakis, Antonios, Birkhofer, Klaus, Boch, Steffen, Boeddinghaus, Runa S., Bolliger, Ralph, Bonkowski, Michael, Buscot, Francois, Dumack, Kenneth, Fischer, Markus, Gan, Huei Ying, Heinze, Johannes, Holzel, Norbert, John, Katharina, Klaus, Valentin H., Kleinebecker, Till, Marhan, Sven, Muller, Jorg, Renner, Swen C., Rillig, Matthias C., Schenk, Noelle V., Schoning, Ingo, Schrumpf, Marion, Seibold, Sebastian, Socher, Stephanie A., Solly, Emily F., Teuscher, Miriam, van Kleunen, Mark, Wubet, Tesfaye, Manning, Peter Nutrients, Leaf Characteristics, Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nitrogen
Global terrestrial nitrogen uptake and nitrogen use efficiency Peng, Yunke, Prentice, Iain Colin, Bloomfield, Keith J., Campioli, Matteo, Guo, Zhiwen, Sun, Yuanfeng, Tian, Di, Wang, Xiangping, Vicca, Sara, Stocker, Benjamin D. Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nutrients, Nitrogen, Leaf Characteristics
Geomorphological processes shape plant community traits in the Arctic Kemppinen, Julia, Niittynen, Pekka, Happonen, Konsta, le Roux, Peter C., Aalto, Juha, Hjort, Jan, Maliniemi, Tuija, Karjalainen, Olli, Rautakoski, Helena, Luoto, Miska Nutrients, Leaf Characteristics, Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nitrogen
Virtual laboratory for understanding impact of heterogeneity on ecohydrologic processes across scales Wang, Kunxuan, Kumar, Praveen Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Biomass, Carbon, Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen Compounds, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Air Temperature, Precipitation Amount, Agricultural Lands, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Soil Chemistry, Soil Classification, Discharge, Soil Depth, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Albedo, Respiration Rate, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Runoff, Biogeochemical Cycles, Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nutrients, Nitrogen, Wind Speed, Humidity, Surface Temperature, Shortwave Downward Irradiance
Global climate and nutrient controls of photosynthetic capacity Peng, Yunke, Bloomfield, Keith J., Cernusak, Lucas A., Domingues, Tomas F., Colin Prentice, I. Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nutrients, Nitrogen, Leaf Characteristics
Integrating evolutionary, demographic and ecophysiological processes to predict the adaptive dynamics of forest tree populations under global change Oddou-Muratorio, Sylvie, Davi, Hendrik, Lefevre, Francois Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nutrients, Nitrogen, Leaf Characteristics
Research challenges and opportunities for using big data in global Xia, Jianyang, Wang, Jing, Niu, Shuli Photosynthesis, Primary Production, VEGETATION PRODUCTIVITY, Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nutrients, Nitrogen, Leaf Characteristics
The acquisitiveconservative axis of leaf trait variation emerges even in homogeneous environments Gorne, Lucas D, Diaz, Sandra, Minden, Vanessa, Onoda, Yusuke, Kramer, Koen, Muir, Christopher, Michaletz, Sean T, Lavorel, Sandra, Sharpe, Joanne, Jansen, Steven, Slot, Martijn, Chacon, Eduardo, Boenisch, Gerhard Nutrients, Leaf Characteristics, Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Biomass, Forest Composition/Vegetation Structure, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Litter Characteristics, Vegetation Species, Carbon, Nitrogen, Soil Bulk Density, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Texture
Where ResourceAcquisitive Species Are Located: The Role of Habitat Heterogeneity Seyednasrollah, Bijan, Clark, James S. Phosphorus, Soil Chemistry, Carbon, Leaf Characteristics, Nitrogen, Nutrients, Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Carbon, Nitrogen
Transient dynamics of terrestrial carbon storage: mathematical foundation and its applications Luo, Yiqi, Shi, Zheng, Lu, Xingjie, Xia, Jianyang, Liang, Junyi, Jiang, Jiang, Wang, Ying, Smith, Matthew J., Jiang, Lifen, Ahlstrom, Anders, Chen, Benito, Hararuk, Oleksandra, Hastings, Alan, Hoffman, Forrest, Medlyn, Belinda, Niu, Shuli, Rasmussen, Martin, Todd-Brown, Katherine, Wang, Ying-Ping Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nutrients, Nitrogen, Leaf Characteristics
An environmental cost-benefit analysis of alternative green roofing strategies William, Reshmina, Goodwell, Allison, Richardson, Meredith, Le, Phong V.V., Kumar, Praveen, Stillwell, Ashlynn S. Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nutrients, Nitrogen, Leaf Characteristics
The relationship of leaf photosynthetic traits Vcmax and Jmax to leaf nitrogen, leaf phosphorus, and specific leaf area: a metaanalysis and modeling study Walker, Anthony P., Beckerman, Andrew P., Gu, Lianhong, Kattge, Jens, Cernusak, Lucas A., Domingues, Tomas F., Scales, Joanna C., Wohlfahrt, Georg, Wullschleger, Stan D., Woodward, F. Ian Plant Characteristics, Phosphorus, Nutrients, Nitrogen, Leaf Characteristics
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