In the large boreal forest of Canada, global warming should be leading to an increase in average daily temperature of at least 2 °C (scenario B1) by 2050 (IPCC, 2014) and to rises in the frequency and duration of summertime episodes of extreme heat waves and drought (Romero-Lankao et al., 2014). It is unclear today whether changes in average climatic factors or extreme events will be the main drivers of species responses to climate change. Downregulation of net CO2 uptake as a result of global warming may reduce species fitness and ecosystem feedback on the global carbon cycle (Sage et al., 2008). It is important to understand how physiological processes involved in photosynthetic and respiration rates will respond to future climatic regimes in order to (1) accurately predict climate change effect on carbon uptake at different scales (Way and Yamori, 2014), (2) reduce the uncertainty around the anticipated feedbacks of forest ecosystems, and global carbon cycle to climate change (Niu et al., 2012; Girardin et al., 2016) and (3) determine the intrinsic acclimation and genetic abilities of tree species to adapt to climate change in the short and longer terms (Bigras, 2000; Way and Sage, 2008b; Gunderson et al., 2010). Thermal acclimation of both dark respiration (Rd) and net photosynthetic rate (An) through biochemical, biophysical and structural adjustments may help plants to maintain a positive carbon balance in warming conditions (Medlyn et al., 2002; Atkin et al., 2005; Sage et al., 2008; Way and Yamori, 2014). However, the extent to which thermal acclimation may help boreal conifer species to cope with global warming remains poorly understood. Currently, few reports show a lack, or very limited thermal acclimation, of An for boreal tree species (Way and Sage, 2008a, b; Dillaway and Kruger, 2010; Ow et al., 2010; Silim et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2015). Conversely, it has been reported that boreal tree species may show a moderate to strong thermal acclimation of Rd in response to experimental warming (Gunderson et al., 2000; Ow et al., 2008; Way and Sage, 2008b; Silim et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2015; Reich et al., 2016), or following a thermal latitudinal gradient (Tjoelker et al., 2009; Dillaway and Kruger, 2011).