Light intensity is an important factor in determining the plant photosynthetic rate (how fast photosynthesis is occurring). The light compensation point is the level of light at which photosynthetic uptake of CO2 is equal to the amount of CO2 released by respiration. In general, as the light intensity increases above the light compensation point, photosynthesis rates also increase in a linear relationship with light intensity until a certain maximum or saturating level is reached (Fig--).