1. |
- Acosta, Manuel, et al.
(author)
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Soil surface CO2 efflux measurements in Norway spruce forests: Comparison between four different sites across Europe - from boreal to alpine forest
- 2013
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In: Geoderma. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-7061. ; 192, s. 295-303
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Extensive measurements of soil surface (including vegetation cover) CO2 efflux were carried out on 80 positions at four different forest sites (Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic and Italy) using a closed dynamic chamber technique. The period of measurement was 4-5 consecutive days per site. Two approaches were used to analyze the measured data, the Q(10) parameter and the Arrhenius relationship. Basic environmental factors such as soil temperature and moisture were measured. All the four investigated sites showed a positive dependence of the soil surface CO2 efflux on soil temperature. The four datasets generally resulted in good agreement (up to 93%) between the approaches and residual analysis showed no significant difference between approaches (less than 8%). The Q(10) ranged between 2.0 and 23 among the sites. The highest spatial variation of the soil surface CO2 efflux at 10 degrees C (expressed by the coefficient of variation CV) ranged from 30 to 65% between sites. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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2. |
- Feigenwinter, Christian, et al.
(author)
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Comparison of horizontal and vertical advective CO2 fluxes at three forest sites
- 2008
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In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2240 .- 0168-1923. ; 148:1, s. 12-24
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Extensive field measurements have been performed at three CarboEurope-Integrated Project forest sites with different topography (Renon/Ritten, Italian Alps, Italy; Wetzstein, Thuringia, Germany; Norunda, Uppland, Sweden) to evaluate the relevant terms of the carbon balance by measuring CO2 concentrations [CO2] and the wind field in a 3D multi-tower cube setup. The same experimental setup (geometry and instrumentation) and the same methodology were applied to all the three experiments. It is shown that all sites are affected by advection in different ways and strengths. Everywhere, vertical advection (F-VA) occurred only at night. During the day, F-VA disappeared because of turbulent mixing, leading to a uniform vertical profile of [CO2]. Mean F-VA was nearly zero at the hilly site (wetzstein) and at the flat site (Norunda). However, large, momentary positive or negative contributions occurred at the flat site, whereas vertical non-turbulent fluxes were generally very small at the hilly site. At the slope site (Renon), F-VA was always positive at night because of the permanently negative mean vertical wind component resulting from downslope winds. Horizontal advection also occurred mainly at night. It was positive at the slope site and negative at the flat site in the mean diurnal course. The size of the averaged non-turbulent advective fluxes was of the same order of magnitude as the turbulent flux measured by eddy-covariance technique, but the scatter was very high. This implies that it is not advisable to use directly measured quantities of the non-turbulent advective fluxes for the estimation of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) on e.g. an hourly basis. However, situations with and without advection were closely related to local or synoptic meteorological conditions. Thus, it is possible to separate advection affected NEE estimates from fluxes which are representative of the source term. However, the development of a robust correction scheme for advection requires a more detailed site-specific analysis of single events for the identification of the relevant processes. This paper presents mean characteristics of the advective CO2 fluxes in a first site-to-site comparison and evaluates the main problems for future research.
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3. |
- Flechard, Chris R., et al.
(author)
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Carbon-nitrogen interactions in European forests and semi-natural vegetation - Part 1: Fluxes and budgets of carbon, nitrogen and greenhouse gases from ecosystem monitoring and modelling
- 2020
-
In: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1726-4170 .- 1726-4189. ; 17:6, s. 1583-1620
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The impact of atmospheric reactive nitrogen (N-r) deposition on carbon (C) sequestration in soils and biomass of unfertilized, natural, semi-natural and forest ecosystems has been much debated. Many previous results of this dC/dN response were based on changes in carbon stocks from periodical soil and ecosystem inventories, associated with estimates of N-r deposition obtained from large-scale chemical transport models. This study and a companion paper (Flechard et al., 2020) strive to reduce uncertainties of N effects on C sequestration by linking multi-annual gross and net ecosystem productivity estimates from 40 eddy covariance flux towers across Europe to local measurement-based estimates of dry and wet N-r deposition from a dedicated collocated monitoring network. To identify possible ecological drivers and processes affecting the interplay between C and N-r inputs and losses, these data were also combined with in situ flux measurements of NO, N2O and CH4 fluxes; soil NO3- leaching sampling; and results of soil incubation experiments for N and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as surveys of available data from online databases and from the literature, together with forest ecosystem (BAS-FOR) modelling. Multi-year averages of net ecosystem productivity (NEP) in forests ranged from -70 to 826 gCm(-2) yr(-1) at total wet + dry inorganic N-r deposition rates (N-dep) of 0.3 to 4.3 gNm(-2) yr(-1) and from -4 to 361 g Cm-2 yr(-1) at N-dep rates of 0.1 to 3.1 gNm(-2) yr(-1) in short semi-natural vegetation (moorlands, wetlands and unfertilized extensively managed grasslands). The GHG budgets of the forests were strongly dominated by CO2 exchange, while CH4 and N2O exchange comprised a larger proportion of the GHG balance in short semi-natural vegetation. Uncertainties in elemental budgets were much larger for nitrogen than carbon, especially at sites with elevated N-dep where N-r leaching losses were also very large, and compounded by the lack of reliable data on organic nitrogen and N-2 losses by denitrification. Nitrogen losses in the form of NO, N2O and especially NO3- were on average 27%(range 6 %-54 %) of N-dep at sites with N-dep < 1 gNm(-2) yr(-1) versus 65% (range 35 %-85 %) for N-dep > 3 gNm(-2) yr(-1). Such large levels of N-r loss likely indicate that different stages of N saturation occurred at a number of sites. The joint analysis of the C and N budgets provided further hints that N saturation could be detected in altered patterns of forest growth. Net ecosystem productivity increased with N-r deposition up to 2-2.5 gNm(-2) yr(-1), with large scatter associated with a wide range in carbon sequestration efficiency (CSE, defined as the NEP/GPP ratio). At elevated N-dep levels (> 2.5 gNm(-2) yr(-1)), where inorganic N-r losses were also increasingly large, NEP levelled off and then decreased. The apparent increase in NEP at low to intermediate N-dep levels was partly the result of geographical cross-correlations between N-dep and climate, indicating that the actual mean dC/dN response at individual sites was significantly lower than would be suggested by a simple, straightforward regression of NEP vs. N-dep.
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4. |
- George, Jan Peter, et al.
(author)
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Method comparison of indirect assessments of understory leaf area index (LAIu) : A case study across the extended network of ICOS forest ecosystem sites in Europe
- 2021
-
In: Ecological Indicators. - : Elsevier BV. - 1470-160X .- 1872-7034. ; 128
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Leaf area index (LAI) is a key ecological indicator for describing the structure of canopies and for modelling energy exchange between atmosphere and biosphere. While LAI of the forest overstory can be accurately assessed over large spatial scales via remote sensing, LAI of the forest understory (LAIu) is still largely ignored in ecological studies and ecosystem modelling due to the fact that it is often too complex to be destructively sampled or approximated by other site parameters. Additionally, so far only few attempts have been made to retrieve understory LAI via remote sensing, because dense canopies with high LAI are often hindering retrieval algorithms to produce meaningful estimates for understory LAI. Consequently, the forest understory still constitutes a poorly investigated research realm impeding ecological studies to properly account for its contribution to the energy absorption capacity of forest stands. This study aims to compare three conceptually different indirect retrieval methodologies for LAIu over a diverse panel of forest understory types distributed across Europe. For this we carried out near-to-surface measurements of understory reflectance spectra as well as digital surface photography over the extended network of Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) forest ecosystem sites. LAIu was assessed by exploiting the empirical relationship between vegetation cover and light absorption (Beer-Lambert- Bouguer law) as well as by utilizing proposed relationships with two prominent vegetation indices: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and simple ratio (SR). Retrievals from the three methods were significantly correlated with each other (r = 0.63–0.99, RMSE = 0.53–0.72), but exhibited also significant bias depending on the LAI scale. The NDVI based retrieval approach most likely overestimates LAI at productive sites when LAIu > 2, while the simple ratio algorithm overestimates LAIu at sites with sparse understory vegetation and presence of litter or bare soil. The purely empirical method based on the Beer-Lambert law of light absorption seems to offer a good compromise, since it provides reasonable LAIu values at both low and higher LAI ranges. Surprisingly, LAIu variation among sites seems to be largely decoupled from differences in climate and light permeability of the overstory, but significantly increased with vegetation diversity (expressed as species richness) and hence proposes new applications of LAIu in ecological modelling.
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5. |
- Haesen, Stef, et al.
(author)
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ForestClim : Bioclimatic variables for microclimate temperatures of European forests
- 2023
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In: Global Change Biology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 29:11, s. 2886-2892
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Microclimate research gained renewed interest over the last decade and its importance for many ecological processes is increasingly being recognized. Consequently, the call for high-resolution microclimatic temperature grids across broad spatial extents is becoming more pressing to improve ecological models. Here, we provide a new set of open-access bioclimatic variables for microclimate temperatures of European forests at 25 x 25 m2 resolution.
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6. |
- Harper, Anna B., et al.
(author)
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Improvement of modeling plant responses to low soil moisture in JULESvn4.9 and evaluation against flux tower measurements
- 2021
-
In: Geoscientific Model Development. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1991-959X .- 1991-9603. ; 14:6, s. 3269-3294
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Drought is predicted to increase in the future due to climate change, bringing with it myriad impacts on ecosystems. Plants respond to drier soils by reducing stomatal conductance in order to conserve water and avoid hydraulic damage. Despite the importance of plant drought responses for the global carbon cycle and local and regional climate feedbacks, land surface models are unable to capture observed plant responses to soil moisture stress. We assessed the impact of soil moisture stress on simulated gross primary productivity (GPP) and latent energy flux (LE) in the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) vn4.9 on seasonal and annual timescales and evaluated 10 different representations of soil moisture stress in the model. For the default configuration, GPP was more realistic in temperate biome sites than in the tropics or high-latitude (cold-region) sites, while LE was best simulated in temperate and high-latitude (cold) sites. Errors that were not due to soil moisture stress, possibly linked to phenology, contributed to model biases for GPP in tropical savanna and deciduous forest sites. We found that three alternative approaches to calculating soil moisture stress produced more realistic results than the default parameterization for most biomes and climates. All of these involved increasing the number of soil layers from 4 to 14 and the soil depth from 3.0 to 10.8 m. In addition, we found improvements when soil matric potential replaced volumetric water content in the stress equation (the "soil14_psi" experiments), when the critical threshold value for inducing soil moisture stress was reduced ("soil14_p0"), and when plants were able to access soil moisture in deeper soil layers ("soil14_dr&z.ast;2"). For LE, the biases were highest in the default configuration in temperate mixed forests, with overestimation occurring during most of the year. At these sites, reducing soil moisture stress (with the new parameterizations mentioned above) increased LE and increased model biases but improved the simulated seasonal cycle and brought the monthly variance closer to the measured variance of LE. Further evaluation of the reason for the high bias in LE at many of the sites would enable improvements in both carbon and energy fluxes with new parameterizations for soil moisture stress. Increasing the soil depth and plant access to deep soil moisture improved many aspects of the simulations, and we recommend these settings in future work using JULES or as a general way to improve land surface carbon and water fluxes in other models. In addition, using soil matric potential presents the opportunity to include plant functional type-specific parameters to further improve modeled fluxes.
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7. |
- Johnston, Alice S.A., et al.
(author)
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Temperature thresholds of ecosystem respiration at a global scale
- 2021
-
In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 5:4, s. 487-494
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ecosystem respiration is a major component of the global terrestrial carbon cycle and is strongly influenced by temperature. The global extent of the temperature–ecosystem respiration relationship, however, has not been fully explored. Here, we test linear and threshold models of ecosystem respiration across 210 globally distributed eddy covariance sites over an extensive temperature range. We find thresholds to the global temperature–ecosystem respiration relationship at high and low air temperatures and mid soil temperatures, which represent transitions in the temperature dependence and sensitivity of ecosystem respiration. Annual ecosystem respiration rates show a markedly reduced temperature dependence and sensitivity compared to half-hourly rates, and a single mid-temperature threshold for both air and soil temperature. Our study indicates a distinction in the influence of environmental factors, including temperature, on ecosystem respiration between latitudinal and climate gradients at short (half-hourly) and long (annual) timescales. Such climatological differences in the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration have important consequences for the terrestrial net carbon sink under ongoing climate change.
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8. |
- Jung, Martin, et al.
(author)
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Global patterns of land-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide, latent heat, and sensible heat derived from eddy covariance, satellite, and meteorological observations
- 2011
-
In: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 2156-2202. ; 116, s. 00-07
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We upscaled FLUXNET observations of carbon dioxide, water, and energy fluxes to the global scale using the machine learning technique, model tree ensembles (MTE). We trained MTE to predict site-level gross primary productivity (GPP), terrestrial ecosystem respiration (TER), net ecosystem exchange (NEE), latent energy (LE), and sensible heat (H) based on remote sensing indices, climate and meteorological data, and information on land use. We applied the trained MTEs to generate global flux fields at a 0.5 degrees x 0.5 degrees spatial resolution and a monthly temporal resolution from 1982 to 2008. Cross-validation analyses revealed good performance of MTE in predicting among-site flux variability with modeling efficiencies (MEf) between 0.64 and 0.84, except for NEE (MEf = 0.32). Performance was also good for predicting seasonal patterns (MEf between 0.84 and 0.89, except for NEE (0.64)). By comparison, predictions of monthly anomalies were not as strong (MEf between 0.29 and 0.52). Improved accounting of disturbance and lagged environmental effects, along with improved characterization of errors in the training data set, would contribute most to further reducing uncertainties. Our global estimates of LE (158 +/- 7 J x 10(18) yr(-1)), H (164 +/- 15 J x 10(18) yr(-1)), and GPP (119 +/- 6 Pg C yr(-1)) were similar to independent estimates. Our global TER estimate (96 +/- 6 Pg C yr(-1)) was likely underestimated by 5-10%. Hot spot regions of interannual variability in carbon fluxes occurred in semiarid to semihumid regions and were controlled by moisture supply. Overall, GPP was more important to interannual variability in NEE than TER. Our empirically derived fluxes may be used for calibration and evaluation of land surface process models and for exploratory and diagnostic assessments of the biosphere.
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9. |
- Migliavacca, Mirco, et al.
(author)
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Semiempirical modeling of abiotic and biotic factors controlling ecosystem respiration across eddy covariance sites
- 2011
-
In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013. ; 17:1, s. 390-409
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this study we examined ecosystem respiration (R-ECO) data from 104 sites belonging to FLUXNET, the global network of eddy covariance flux measurements. The goal was to identify the main factors involved in the variability of R-ECO: temporally and between sites as affected by climate, vegetation structure and plant functional type (PFT) (evergreen needleleaf, grasslands, etc.). We demonstrated that a model using only climate drivers as predictors of R-ECO failed to describe part of the temporal variability in the data and that the dependency on gross primary production (GPP) needed to be included as an additional driver of R-ECO. The maximum seasonal leaf area index (LAI(MAX)) had an additional effect that explained the spatial variability of reference respiration (the respiration at reference temperature T-ref=15 degrees C, without stimulation introduced by photosynthetic activity and without water limitations), with a statistically significant linear relationship (r2=0.52, P < 0.001, n=104) even within each PFT. Besides LAI(MAX), we found that reference respiration may be explained partially by total soil carbon content (SoilC). For undisturbed temperate and boreal forests a negative control of total nitrogen deposition (N-depo) on reference respiration was also identified. We developed a new semiempirical model incorporating abiotic factors (climate), recent productivity (daily GPP), general site productivity and canopy structure (LAI(MAX)) which performed well in predicting the spatio-temporal variability of R-ECO, explaining > 70% of the variance for most vegetation types. Exceptions include tropical and Mediterranean broadleaf forests and deciduous broadleaf forests. Part of the variability in respiration that could not be described by our model may be attributed to a series of factors, including phenology in deciduous broadleaf forests and management practices in grasslands and croplands.
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10. |
- Moderow, Uta, et al.
(author)
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Available energy and energy balance closure at four coniferous forest sites across Europe
- 2009
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In: Theoretical and Applied Climatology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-4483 .- 0177-798X. ; 98:3-4, s. 397-412
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The available energy (AE), driving the turbulent fluxes of sensible heat and latent heat at the earth surface, was estimated at four partly complex coniferous forest sites across Europe (Tharandt, Germany; Ritten/Renon, Italy; Wetzstein, Germany; Norunda, Sweden). Existing data of net radiation were used as well as storage change rates calculated from temperature and humidity measurements to finally calculate the AE of all forest sites with uncertainty bounds. Data of the advection experiments MORE II (Tharandt) and ADVEX (Renon, Wetzstein, Norunda) served as the main basis. On-site data for referencing and cross-checking of the available energy were limited. Applied cross checks for net radiation (modelling, referencing to nearby stations and ratio of net radiation to global radiation) did not reveal relevant uncertainties. Heat storage of sensible heat J (H), latent heat J (E), heat storage of biomass J (veg) and heat storage due to photosynthesis J (C) were of minor importance during day but of some importance during night, where J (veg) turned out to be the most important one. Comparisons of calculated storage terms (J (E), J (H)) at different towers of one site showed good agreement indicating that storage change calculated at a single point is representative for the whole canopy at sites with moderate heterogeneity. The uncertainty in AE was assessed on the basis of literature values and the results of the applied cross checks for net radiation. The absolute mean uncertainty of AE was estimated to be between 41 and 52 W m(-2) (10-11 W m(-2) for the sum of the storage terms J and soil heat flux G) during mid-day (approximately 12% of AE). At night, the absolute mean uncertainty of AE varied from 20 to about 30 W m(-2) (approximately 6 W m(-2) for J plus G) resulting in large relative uncertainties as AE itself is small. An inspection of the energy balance showed an improvement of closure when storage terms were included and that the imbalance cannot be attributed to the uncertainties in AE alone.
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11. |
- Montagnani, Leonardo, et al.
(author)
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A new mass conservation approach to the study of CO2 advection in an alpine forest
- 2009
-
In: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 2156-2202. ; 114
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A new method is proposed for the computation of CO2 Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) and its components in a forest ecosystem. Advective flux is estimated by taking into account the air mass conservation principle. For this purpose, wind and dry air density values on the surface of the control volume are first corrected and then the advective flux is estimated on the surface of the control volume. Turbulent flux is also computed along the surface of the control volume while storage flux is computed inside the volume. Additional characteristics of this method are that incompressibility of the mean flow is not assumed a priori, and that vertical and horizontal advective fluxes are not treated separately, but their sum is estimated directly. The methodology is applied to experimental data collected with a three-dimensional scheme at the alpine site of Renon during the Advex project (July 2005). The advection flux was found to be prevailing positive at night and negative during the day, as was found in previous studies on advection for the same site, but showed a lower scatter in half-hour calculated values. We tested the effect of its summation on turbulent and storage fluxes to produce half-hourly values of NEE. Nighttime NEE values were used in functional relations with soil temperature, daytime values with PPFD. The effect of addition of the advection component was an increase in the values of parameters indicating ecosystem respiration, quantum yield, and photosynthetic capacity. The coefficient of correlation between NEE and environmental drivers increased.
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12. |
- Nicolini, Giacomo, et al.
(author)
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Impact of CO2 storage flux sampling uncertainty on net ecosystem exchange measured by eddy covariance
- 2018
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In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1923. ; 248, s. 228-239
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Complying with several assumption and simplifications, most of the carbon budget studies based on eddy covariance (EC) measurements quantify the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) by summing the flux obtained by EC (FC) and the storage flux (SC). SC is the rate of change of a scalar, CO2 molar fraction in this case, within the control volume underneath the EC measurement level. It is given by the difference in the quasi-instantaneous profiles of concentration at the beginning and end of the EC averaging period, divided by the averaging period. The approaches used to estimate SC largely vary, from measurements based on a single sampling point usually located at the EC measurement height, to measurements based on profile sampling. Generally a single profile is used, although multiple profiles can be positioned within the control volume. Measurement accuracy reasonably increases with the spatial sampling intensity, however limited resources often prevent more elaborated measurement systems. In this study we use the experimental dataset collected during the ADVEX campaign in which turbulent and non-turbulent fluxes were measured in three forest sites by the simultaneous use of five towers/profiles. Our main objectives are to evaluate both the uncertainty of SC that derives from an insufficient sampling of CO2 variability, and its impact on concurrent NEE estimates.Results show that different measurement methods may produce substantially different SC flux estimates which in some cases involve a significant underestimation of the actual SC at a half-hourly time scales. A proper measuring system, that uses a single vertical profile of which the CO2 sampled at 3 points (the two closest to the ground and the one at the lower fringe of the canopy layer) is averaged with CO2 sampled at a certain distance and at the same height, improves the horizontal representativeness and reduces this (proportional) bias to 2–10% in such ecosystems. While the effect of this error is minor on long term NEE estimates, it can produce significant uncertainty on half-hourly NEE fluxes.
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13. |
- Niu, Shuli, et al.
(author)
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Thermal optimality of net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide and underlying mechanisms.
- 2012
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In: New Phytologist. - : Wiley. - 1469-8137 .- 0028-646X. ; 194:3, s. 775-783
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- • It is well established that individual organisms can acclimate and adapt to temperature to optimize their functioning. However, thermal optimization of ecosystems, as an assemblage of organisms, has not been examined at broad spatial and temporal scales. • Here, we compiled data from 169 globally distributed sites of eddy covariance and quantified the temperature response functions of net ecosystem exchange (NEE), an ecosystem-level property, to determine whether NEE shows thermal optimality and to explore the underlying mechanisms. • We found that the temperature response of NEE followed a peak curve, with the optimum temperature (corresponding to the maximum magnitude of NEE) being positively correlated with annual mean temperature over years and across sites. Shifts of the optimum temperature of NEE were mostly a result of temperature acclimation of gross primary productivity (upward shift of optimum temperature) rather than changes in the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration. • Ecosystem-level thermal optimality is a newly revealed ecosystem property, presumably reflecting associated evolutionary adaptation of organisms within ecosystems, and has the potential to significantly regulate ecosystem-climate change feedbacks. The thermal optimality of NEE has implications for understanding fundamental properties of ecosystems in changing environments and benchmarking global models.
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14. |
- Peaucelle, Marc, et al.
(author)
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Covariations between plant functional traits emerge from constraining parameterization of a terrestrial biosphere model
- 2019
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In: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 28:9, s. 1351-1365
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aim: The mechanisms of plant trait adaptation and acclimation are still poorly understood and, consequently, lack a consistent representation in terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs). Despite the increasing availability of geo-referenced trait observations, current databases are still insufficient to cover all vegetation types and environmental conditions. In parallel, the growing number of continuous eddy-covariance observations of energy and CO2 fluxes has enabled modellers to optimize TBMs with these data. Past attempts to optimize TBM parameters mostly focused on model performance, overlooking the ecological properties of ecosystems. The aim of this study was to assess the ecological consistency of optimized trait-related parameters while improving the model performances for gross primary productivity (GPP) at sites. Location: Worldwide. Time period: 1992–2012. Major taxa studied: Trees and C3 grasses. Methods: We optimized parameters of the ORCHIDEE model against 371 site-years of GPP estimates from the FLUXNET network, and we looked at global covariation among parameters and with climate. Results: The optimized parameter values were shown to be consistent with leaf-scale traits, in particular, with well-known trade-offs observed at the leaf level, echoing the leaf economic spectrum theory. Results showed a marked sensitivity of trait-related parameters to local bioclimatic variables and reproduced the observed relationships between traits and climate. Main conclusions: Our approach validates some biological processes implemented in the model and enables us to study ecological properties of vegetation at the canopy level, in addition to some traits that are difficult to observe experimentally. This study stresses the need for: (a) implementing explicit trade-offs and acclimation processes in TBMs; (b) improving the representation of processes to avoid model-specific parameterization; and (c) performing systematic measurements of traits at FLUXNET sites in order to gather information on plant ecophysiology and plant diversity, together with micro-meteorological conditions.
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15. |
- Peltoniemi, Mikko, et al.
(author)
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Does canopy mean nitrogen concentration explain variation in canopy light use efficiency across 14 contrasting forest sites?
- 2012
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In: Tree Physiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1758-4469 .- 0829-318X. ; 32:2, s. 200-218
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The maximum light use efficiency (LUE = gross primary production (GPP)/absorbed photosynthetic photon flux density (aPPFD)) of plant canopies has been reported to vary spatially and some of this variation has previously been attributed to plant species differences. The canopy nitrogen concentration [N] can potentially explain some of this spatial variation. However, the current paradigm of the N-effect on photosynthesis is largely based on the relationship between photosynthetic capacity (A(max)) and [N], i.e., the effects of [N] on photosynthesis rates appear under high PPFD. A maximum LUE-[N] relationship, if it existed, would influence photosynthesis in the whole range of PPFD. We estimated maximum LUE for 14 eddy-covariance forest sites, examined its [N] dependency and investigated how the [N]-maximum LUE dependency could be incorporated into a GPP model. In the model, maximum LUE corresponds to LUE under optimal environmental conditions before light saturation takes place (the slope of GPP vs. PPFD under low PPFD). Maximum LUE was higher in deciduous/mixed than in coniferous sites, and correlated significantly with canopy mean [N]. Correlations between maximum LUE and canopy [N] existed regardless of daily PPFD, although we expected the correlation to disappear under low PPFD when LUE was also highest. Despite these correlations, including [N] in the model of GPP only marginally decreased the root mean squared error. Our results suggest that maximum LUE correlates linearly with canopy [N], but that a larger body of data is required before we can include this relationship into a GPP model. Gross primary production will therefore positively correlate with [N] already at low PPFD, and not only at high PPFD as is suggested by the prevailing paradigm of leaf-level A(max)-[N] relationships. This finding has consequences for modelling GPP driven by temporal changes or spatial variation in canopy [N].
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16. |
- Pisek, Jan, et al.
(author)
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Retrieval and validation of forest background reflectivity from daily Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) data across European forests
- 2021
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In: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1726-4170 .- 1726-4189. ; 18:2, s. 621-635
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Information about forest background reflectance is needed for accurate biophysical parameter retrieval from forest canopies (overstory) with remote sensing. Separating under- and overstory signals would enable more accurate modeling of forest carbon and energy fluxes. We retrieved values of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of the forest understory with the multi-angular Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF)/albedo data (gridded 500 m daily Collection 6 product), using a method originally developed for boreal forests. The forest floor background reflectance estimates from the MODIS data were compared with in situ understory reflectance measurements carried out at an extensive set of forest ecosystem experimental sites across Europe. The reflectance estimates from MODIS data were, hence, tested across diverse forest conditions and phenological phases during the growing season to examine their applicability for ecosystems other than boreal forests. Here we report that the method can deliver good retrievals, especially over different forest types with open canopies (low foliage cover). The performance of the method was found to be limited over forests with closed canopies (high foliage cover), where the signal from understory becomes too attenuated. The spatial heterogeneity of individual field sites and the limitations and documented quality of the MODIS BRDF product are shown to be important for the correct assessment and validation of the retrievals obtained with remote sensing.
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17. |
- Rannik, Üllar, et al.
(author)
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Impact of coordinate rotation on eddy covariance fluxes at complex sites
- 2020
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In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1923 .- 1873-2240. ; 287
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The choice of coordinate system to calculate eddy covariance fluxes becomes particularly relevant at complex measurement sites. The traditional way is to perform double rotation (DR) of the coordinate system i.e., to calculate turbulent fluxes in a coordinate system that is aligned with the flow streamlines within the flux averaging period (e.g., Kaimal and Finnigan, 1994). The second approach, the so-called planar-fitted (PF) coordinate system, averages the flow over a longer period of time, in practice a month or more. The PF method allows to derive an intercept coefficient of the vertical wind speed which can be attributed to the offset of the sonic anemometer or the average vertical flow related to meteorological conditions. We evaluated the variants of the PF methods using data from a variety of sites ranging from complex urban and forest sites to nearly ideal forest and peatland sites. At complex sites, we found that the intercept of the vertical wind speed derived from the PF method is a function of wind direction, time of day and/or stability. The sector-wise PF (SPF) method frequently led to insignificant statistical relationships. We tested a continuous PF (CPF) method where the relationship establishing the coordinate frame was represented as the continuous function in the form of Fourier series. The method enabled to obtain the PF with lower uncertainty as compared to the SPF method, by selecting necessary number of harmonics for each site based on confidence intervals of estimated parameters. Therefore, we recommend to use the CPF method in cases when the number of observations in some wind direction interval is low or the obtained SPF is insignificant due to large variance in measurements. We also showed that significant systematic difference can exist in cumulative turbulent fluxes between the DR and PF methods over a longer period of time. Derived vertical advection of carbon dioxide exhibited large variability with wind direction due to topography at complex sites and therefore, without considering horizontal advection, cannot be used to improve the net ecosystem exchange estimation during nocturnal, low turbulence conditions.
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18. |
- Rebmann, Corinna, et al.
(author)
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ICOS eddy covariance flux-station site setup : A review
- 2018
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In: International Agrophysics. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 0236-8722 .- 2300-8725. ; 32:4, s. 471-494
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Integrated Carbon Observation System Research Infrastructure aims to provide long-Term, continuous observations of sources and sinks of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapour. At ICOS ecosystem stations, the principal technique for measurements of ecosystem-Atmosphere exchange of GHGs is the eddy-covariance technique. The establishment and setup of an eddy-covariance tower have to be carefully reasoned to ensure high quality flux measurements being representative of the investigated ecosystem and comparable to measurements at other stations. To fulfill the requirements needed for flux determination with the eddy-covariance technique, variations in GHG concentrations have to be measured at high frequency, simultaneously with the wind velocity, in order to fully capture turbulent fluctuations. This requires the use of high-frequency gas analysers and ultrasonic anemometers. In addition, to analyse flux data with respect to environmental conditions but also to enable corrections in the post-processing procedures, it is necessary to measure additional abiotic variables in close vicinity to the flux measurements. Here we describe the standards the ICOS ecosystem station network has adopted for GHG flux measurements with respect to the setup of instrumentation on towers to maximize measurement precision and accuracy while allowing for flexibility in order to observe specific ecosystem features.
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19. |
- Sarneel, Judith M., et al.
(author)
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Reading tea leaves worldwide : decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilization
- 2024
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In: Ecology Letters. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1461-023X .- 1461-0248. ; 27:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large-scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization factors of plant-derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easy-to-degrade components accumulate during early-stage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved mass-loss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during early-stage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models.
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20. |
- Sarneel, Judith M., et al.
(author)
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Reading tea leaves worldwide: Decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilization
- 2024
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In: ECOLOGY LETTERS. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1461-023X .- 1461-0248. ; 27:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large-scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization factors of plant-derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easy-to-degrade components accumulate during early-stage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved mass-loss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during early-stage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models.
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21. |
- Stoy, Paul C., et al.
(author)
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A data-driven analysis of energy balance closure across FLUXNET research sites: The role of landscape scale heterogeneity
- 2013
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In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2240 .- 0168-1923. ; 171, s. 137-152
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The energy balance at most surface-atmosphere flux research sites remains unclosed. The mechanisms underlying the discrepancy between measured energy inputs and outputs across the global FLUXNET tower network are still under debate. Recent reviews have identified exchange processes and turbulent motions at large spatial and temporal scales in heterogeneous landscapes as the primary cause of the lack of energy balance closure at some intensively-researched sites, while unmeasured storage terms cannot be ruled out as a dominant contributor to the lack of energy balance closure at many other sites. We analyzed energy balance closure across 173 ecosystems in the FLUXNET database and explored the relationship between energy balance closure and landscape heterogeneity using MODIS products and GLOBEstat elevation data. Energy balance closure per research site (C-EBS)averaged 0.84 +/- 0.20, with best average closures in evergreen broadleaf forests and savannas (0.91-0.94) and worst average closures in crops, deciduous broadleaf forests, mixed forests and wetlands (0.70-0.78). Half-hourly or hourly energy balance closure on a percent basis increased with friction velocity (u.) and was highest on average under near-neutral atmospheric conditions. C-EBS was significantly related to mean precipitation, gross primary productivity and landscape-level enhanced vegetation index (EVI) from MODIS, and the variability in elevation, MODIS plant functional type, and MODIS EVI. A linear model including landscape-level variability in both EVI and elevation, mean precipitation, and an interaction term between EVI variability and precipitation had the lowest Akaike's information criterion value. C-EBS in landscapes with uniform plant functional type approached 0.9 and C-EBS in landscapes with uniform EVI approached 1. These results suggest that landscape-level heterogeneity in vegetation and topography cannot be ignored as a contributor to incomplete energy balance closure at the flux network level, although net radiation measurements, biological energy assimilation, unmeasured storage terms, and the importance of good practice including site selection when making flux measurements should not be discounted. Our results suggest that future research should focus on the quantitative mechanistic relationships between energy balance closure and landscape-scale heterogeneity, and the consequences of mesoscale circulations for surface-atmosphere exchange measurements. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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22. |
- Yao, Yunjun, et al.
(author)
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Assessment and simulation of global terrestrial latent heat flux by synthesis of CMIP5 climate models and surface eddy covariance observations
- 2016
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In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1923. ; 223, s. 151-167
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The latent heat flux (LE) between the terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere is a major driver of the global hydrological cycle. In this study, we evaluated LE simulations by 45 general circulation models (GCMs) in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) by a comparison with eddy covariance (EC) observations from 240 globally distributed sites from 2000 to 2009. In addition, we improved global terrestrial LE estimates for different land cover types by synthesis of seven best CMIP5 models and EC observations based on a Bayesian model averaging (BMA) method. The comparison results showed substantial differences in monthly LE among all GCMs. The model CESM1-CAM5 has the best performance with the highest predictive skill and a Taylor skill score (S) from 0.51-0.75 for different land cover types. The cross-validation results illustrate that the BMA method has improved the accuracy of the CMIP5 GCM's LE simulation with a decrease in the averaged root-mean-square error (RMSE) by more than 3 W/m2 when compared to the simple model averaging (SMA) method and individual GCMs. We found an increasing trend in the BMA-based global terrestrial LE (slope of 0.018 W/m2 yr-1, p <0.05) during the period 1970-2005. This variation may be attributed directly to the inter-annual variations in air temperature (Ta), surface incident solar radiation (Rs) and precipitation (P). However, our study highlights a large difference from previous studies in a continuous increasing trend after 1998, which may be caused by the combined effects of the variations of Rs, Ta, and P on LE for different models on these time scales. This study provides corrected-modeling evidence for an accelerated global water cycle with climate change.
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23. |
- Yao, Yunjun, et al.
(author)
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Estimation of high-resolution terrestrial evapotranspiration from Landsat data using a simple Taylor skill fusion method
- 2017
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In: Journal of Hydrology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-1694. ; 553, s. 508-526
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Estimation of high-resolution terrestrial evapotranspiration (ET) from Landsat data is important in many climatic, hydrologic, and agricultural applications, as it can help bridging the gap between existing coarse-resolution ET products and point-based field measurements. However, there is large uncertainty among existing ET products from Landsat that limit their application. This study presents a simple Taylor skill fusion (STS) method that merges five Landsat-based ET products and directly measured ET from eddy covariance (EC) to improve the global estimation of terrestrial ET. The STS method uses a weighted average of the individual ET products and weights are determined by their Taylor skill scores (S). The validation with site-scale measurements at 206 EC flux towers showed large differences and uncertainties among the five ET products. The merged ET product exhibited the best performance with a decrease in the averaged root-mean-square error (RMSE) by 2–5 W/m2 when compared to the individual products. To evaluate the reliability of the STS method at the regional scale, the weights of the STS method for these five ET products were determined using EC ground-measurements. An example of regional ET mapping demonstrates that the STS-merged ET can effectively integrate the individual Landsat ET products. Our proposed method provides an improved high-resolution ET product for identifying agricultural crop water consumption and providing a diagnostic assessment for global land surface models.
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24. |
- Yi, Chuixiang, et al.
(author)
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Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continents
- 2010
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In: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9326. ; 5:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships between climate and terrestrial CO2 exchange with the atmosphere across biomes and continents are lacking. Here we present data describing the relationships between net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) and climate factors as measured using the eddy covariance method at 125 unique sites in various ecosystems over six continents with a total of 559 site-years. We find that NEE observed at eddy covariance sites is (1) a strong function of mean annual temperature at mid-and high-latitudes, (2) a strong function of dryness at mid-and low-latitudes, and (3) a function of both temperature and dryness around the mid-latitudinal belt (45 degrees N). The sensitivity of NEE to mean annual temperature breaks down at similar to 16 degrees C (a threshold value of mean annual temperature), above which no further increase of CO2 uptake with temperature was observed and dryness influence overrules temperature influence.
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25. |
- Yuan, Wenping, et al.
(author)
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Redefinition and global estimation of basal ecosystem respiration rate
- 2011
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In: Global Biogeochemical Cycles. - 0886-6236. ; 25
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Basal ecosystem respiration rate (BR), the ecosystem respiration rate at a given temperature, is a common and important parameter in empirical models for quantifying ecosystem respiration (ER) globally. Numerous studies have indicated that BR varies in space. However, many empirical ER models still use a global constant BR largely due to the lack of a functional description for BR. In this study, we redefined BR to be ecosystem respiration rate at the mean annual temperature. To test the validity of this concept, we conducted a synthesis analysis using 276 site-years of eddy covariance data, from 79 research sites located at latitudes ranging from similar to 3 degrees S to similar to 70 degrees N. Results showed that mean annual ER rate closely matches ER rate at mean annual temperature. Incorporation of site-specific BR into global ER model substantially improved simulated ER compared to an invariant BR at all sites. These results confirm that ER at the mean annual temperature can be considered as BR in empirical models. A strong correlation was found between the mean annual ER and mean annual gross primary production (GPP). Consequently, GPP, which is typically more accurately modeled, can be used to estimate BR. A light use efficiency GPP model (i.e., EC-LUE) was applied to estimate global GPP, BR and ER with input data from MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications) and MODIS (Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). The global ER was 103 Pg C yr (-1), with the highest respiration rate over tropical forests and the lowest value in dry and high-latitude areas.
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