A new approach to distinguishing photosynthetic types of plants. A case study in Northeast China Transect (NECT) platform

Discriminant analysis is an important method in multivariable statistic ana lysis to show what type an individual should belong to. Based on actual fie ld photosynthetic value set obtained from our research platform, North East China Transect (NECT), a new approach, developed from the concept and prin ciple of discriminant analysis, was proposed to distinguish C-3 and C-4 pla nts. Indices related to plant photosynthetic capacity measured by an LCA4 p hotosynthesis system were selected to build the discriminant model which is based on four related parameters: net photosynthetic rate, transpiration r ate, stomatal conductance, and difference in temperature between leaf surfa ce and atmosphere. Compared with other approaches, the present one is fast, straightforward, and efficient.