LAUSR

At its simplest, photosynthesis can be regarded as how trees and plants draw down carbon dioxide (CO2 ) from the atmosphere and use this to grow. The mechanisms behind this process have fascinated research scientists for many centuries. Photosynthesis represents a major exchange of carbon between the atmosphere and the land surface, and with a magnitude of ~120 PgC yr-1 , this flux is key to the global carbon cycle. Although most photosynthesis is offset by respiration (i.e. the release by vegetation of CO2 back to the atmosphere), the difference between these fluxes is sufficiently large that the land surface currently draws down nearly one-third of CO2 emissions from anthropogenic activity (Le Quéré et al., 2015).