Sunlight is a crucial abiotic factor in the health of living organisms. Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill have identified how plants maximize efficiency for capturing enough sunlight—but not too much—for photosynthesis.
chlorophyll
Plants use only some colors in the solar spectrum
Now that biologists at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill have discovered that plants can detect shadows, a fair follow-up question might ask: When sunlight is shining on the plant, just how much of the solar light spectrum do plants use in photosynthesis?