Abstract: Using an improved gas-exchange technique for leaf chamber the authors' conclusions derived from electrical analogy analysis and simulation have been tested. In most devices for gas-exchange measurements, a fixed ventilation speed is used, which results in a fixed boundary layer conductance of leaf, but the results of experiments are often used to predict canopy transpiration or photosynthesis where the boundary layer conductance changes with the position of the leaf in the canopy and the wind speed above the canopy. To change the boundary layer conductance of a leaf, a barrier of variable size was inserted into the leaf chamber to decrease the wind speed over the leaf. The responses of stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate, and transpiration rate to light were then measured. The relationships amongst them have been tested. The experimental results matched well with the results predicted by electrical analogy analysis and simulation in most cases.

Key words: Leaf chamber, Boundary layer conductance, Stomatal conductance, Photosynthetic rate, Transpiration rate