Plant phenology and yield predictions require precise knowledge of crop‐weather relationships. The objective of this research is to identify an inherent biochemical trait that may provide a useful index to link the physical parameters of the environment with the plant biochemistry. We define the term thermal kinetic window as the range of plant temperatures at which the apparent Michaelis constant, Km, is at or below 200% of the minimum observed value. For example, the thermal kinetic window of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) glyoxylate reductase for NADH is between 17.5 and 23°C, and the thermal kinetic window for cotton ( Gossypium hirustum L.) is between 23.5 and 32°C. A linear relationship between the time that foliage temperatures were within their thremal kinetic window and plant biomass production was obtained for both wheat and cotton. Wheat and cotton were within their thermal kinetic windows less than 30% of the season, suggesting that approximately 70% of the growing season is available for increasing crop production either through changes in management practices or genetics. Measurements of foliage temperatures coupled with enzyme kinetics provide a unique description of the biological‐physical interactions.
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Burke et al. (1988) studied this question.