[Factors Affecting Photosynthetic Rate]

How Light Intensity Affects Photosynthetic Rate

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As light intensity increases, the photosynthetic rate increases until a point is reached where the rate begins to level off. At low light intensity, photosynthesis occurs slowly because only a small quantity of ATP and NADPH is created by the light dependent reactions. As light intensity increases, more ATP and NADPH are created, thus increasing the photosynthetic rate. At high light intensity, photosynthetic rate levels out, not due to light intensity but due to other limiting factors, including competition between oxygen and carbon dioxide for the active site on RUBP carboxylase.


Other Factors Affecting Photosynthetic Rate

[Carbon Dioxide Concentration] [Temperature]


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