Photosynthesis of leaves is commonly observed to have a saturating response to increases in their nitrogen (N) content, while the response of plant maintenance respiration is more nearly linear over the normal range of tissue N contents. Hence, for a given amount of foliage, net primary productivity (NPP) may have a maximum value with respect to variations in plant N content. Using a simple analytically-solvable model of NPP, this idea is formulated and its broad implications for plant growth are explored at the scale of a closed stand of vegetation. The maximum-NPP hypothesis implies that NPP is proportional to intercepted radiation, as commonly observed. The light utilization coefficient (), defined as the slope of this relationship, is predicted to be
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Roderick C. Dewar (1996) studied this question.