Discriminant analysis is an important method in multivariable statistic analysis to show what type an individual should belong to. Based on actual field photosynthetic value set obtained from our research platform, North East China Transect (NECT), a new approach, developed from the concept and principle of discriminant analysts, was proposed to distinguish C3 and C4 plants. Indices related to plant photosynthetic capacity measured by an LCA4 photosynthesis system were selected to build the discriminant model which is based on four related parameters: net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and difference in temperature between leaf surface and atmosphere. Compared with other approaches, the present one is fast, straightforward, and efficient. and H. P. Tang, X. S. Zhang.
High altitude profoundly influenced plant diversity and distribution on mountains of southern Sinai (Egypt). Plants exhibiting the C3-mode of photosynthesis were widely distributed along the altitudinal transect. Plants exhibiting the C4-mode were restricted below an altitude of about 1400 m above sea level. The transition from C3-dominated areas to C4-dominated areas occurred between 1200 and 1400 m a.s.l. and O. H. Sayed, M. K. Mohamed.
Photosynthetic pathway type, based on 5*^C measurements, was determined for 48 species in 39 genera and 15 families of flowering plants from the grassiand region of Northeast China. Of this total, 10 species in 10 genera from 4 families were found to háve C4 photosynthesis; 38 species in 29 genera from 13 families had C3 photosynthesis. One C4 species in the Chenopodiaceae and three in the Gramineae had not been previously docnmented in the literatuře. The C4 species were most frequent in disturbed habitats, meadow steppe and šalině grassiand; C3 species dominated the other habitats sampled.