3.6 | Respiration
Dark respiration of treatment plants increased less steeply than that of control plants (Fig. 7), resulting in a lower Q10 (Table 4; non-overlapping 90% credible interval). Respiration rates at a set temperature of 30°C were not different between control and treatment plants, nor did switching the conditions affect the plants’ R30 (Table 4). Moving control plants to treatment conditions decreased Q10(Table 4). The acclimation metrics (Eqn. 10 and 11) indicated limited acclimation; AcclimSetTemp was 0.86 (Table 4), indicating that respiration at 30°C was higher in treatment plants relative to control plants. When compared at their respective mean nighttime temperatures (26.5 vs 29.5°C) treatment plants respired considerably more than controls (AcclimHomeo was 0.63—or 0.66 when calculated for mean daytime temperatures). Transfer from control to treatment caused a marginally significant decrease in Q10 (paired two-sample t-test, t = 2.4, P = 0.08), while the transfer from treatment to control conditions did not lead to a significant change of Q10 (Table 4). AcclimSetTemp and AcclimHomeo were both lower following short-term transfer than when comparing plants at their growth conditions (Table 4). Notwithstanding the acclimation metrics, the lower Q10 values in treatment plants resulted in lower respiration rates at temperatures >35°C (Fig. 7).