Abstract
Current methods to study relations between stem respiration and stem growth have been hampered by problems in quantifying stem growth from dendrometer measurements, particularly on a daily time scale. This is mainly due to the water-related influences within these measurements that mask growth. A previously published model was used to remove water-related influences from measured radial stem variations to reveal a daily radial growth signal . We analysed the intra- and inter-annual relations between and estimated growth respiration rates (Rg) on a daily scale for 5 years. Results showed that Rg was weakly correlated to stem growth prior to tracheid formation, but was significant during the early summer. In the late summer, the correlation decreased slightly relative to the early summer. A 1-day time lag was found of preceding Rg. Using wavelet analysis and measurements from eddy covariance, it was found that Rg followed gross primary production and temperature with a 2 and 3 h time lag, respectively.This study shows that further in-depth analysis of in-situ growth and growth respiration dynamics is greatly needed, with a focus on cellular respiration at specific developmental stages, its woody tissue costs and linkages to source–sink processes and environmental drivers.
Highlights
Stem growth, net primary production (NPP) and the physiological costs to maintain and grow woody tissue have been of great interest because of their contribution to forest carbon budgets
Using wavelet analysis and measurements from eddy covariance, it was found that Rg followed gross primary production and temperature with a 2 and 3 h time lag, respectively.This study shows that further in-depth analysis of in-situ growth and growth respiration dynamics is greatly needed, with a focus on cellular respiration at specific developmental stages, its woody tissue costs and linkages to source–sink processes and environmental drivers
Our study has demonstrated that dendrometers are powerful instruments to study the stem growth of trees provided that the reversible daily variations in stem water status are accounted for
Summary
Net primary production (NPP) and the physiological costs to maintain and grow woody tissue have been of great interest because of their contribution to forest carbon budgets. The components of NPP, gross primary production (GPP) and autotrophic respiration have been studied extensively in relation to biomass growth and carbon budgets (Ryan et al 1997, Xiao et al 2003, Goulden et al 2011). The contribution of different tree organs to ecosystem respiration and individual trees is unclear, as methodologies for measuring stem respiration and stem growth differ.
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