We showed that temperature responses of dark respiration for foliage of Pinus radiata could be approximated by Arrhenius kinetics, whereby E(0) determines shape of the exponential response and denotes overall activation energy of respiratory metabolism. Reproducible and predictable deviation from strict Arrhenius kinetics depended on foliage age, and differed between R(CO2) and R(O2). Inhibition of oxygen reduction (R(O2)) by cyanide (inhibiting COX) or SHAM (inhibiting AOX) resulted in reproducible changes of the temperature sensitivity for R(O2), but did not affect R(CO2). Enthalpic growth--preservation of electrons in anabolic products--could be approximated with knowledge of four variables: activation energies (E(0)) for both R(CO2) and R(O2), and basal rates of respiration at a low reference temperature (R(REF)). Rates of enthalpic growth by P. radiata needles were large in spring due to differences between R(REF) of oxidative decarboxylation and that of oxygen reduction, while overall activation energies for the two processes were similar. Later during needle development, enthalpic growth was dependent on differences between E(0) for R(CO2) as compared with R(O2), and increased E(0)(R(O2)) indicated greater contributions of cytochrome oxidase to accompany the switch from carbohydrate sink to source. Temperature-dependent increments in stored energy can be calculated as the difference between R(CO2)DeltaH(CO2) and R(O2)DeltaH(O2).