Low-cost chamber design for simultaneous CO2 and O2 flux measurements between tree stems and the atmosphere.

David Herrera Ramírez,Henrik Hartmann,Juliane Helm,Martin Göbel,Boaz Hilman,Kathy Steppe,Jan Muhr

doi:10.1093/treephys/tpab022

David Herrera Ramírez, Henrik Hartmann + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpab022

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Abstract

Tree stem CO2 efflux is an important component of ecosystem carbon fluxes and has been the focus of many studies. While CO2 efflux can easily be measured, a growing number of studies have shown that it is not identical with actual in situ respiration. Complementing measurements of CO2 flux with simultaneous measurements of O2 flux provides an additional proxy for respiration, and the combination of both fluxes can potentially help getting closer to actual measures of respiratory fluxes. To date, however, the technical challenge to measure relatively small changes in O2 concentration against its high atmospheric background has prevented routine O2 measurements in field applications. Here, we present a new and low-cost field-tested device for autonomous real-time and quasi-continuous long-term measurements of stem respiration by combining CO2 (NDIR-based) and O2 (quenching-based) sensors in a tree stem chamber. Our device operates as a cyclic-closed system and measures changes in both CO2 and O2 concentration within the chamber over time. The device is battery powered with a >1-week power independence, and data acquisition is conveniently achieved by an internal logger. Results from both field and laboratory tests document that our sensors provide reproducible measurements of CO2 and O2 exchange fluxes under varying environmental conditions.

Highlights

Stem CO2 efflux is an important part of the carbon balance of forest ecosystems, as it accounts for 5–42% of the total ecosystem respiratory fluxes in forests (Lavigne et al 1997, Damesin et al 2002, Chambers et al 2004, Ryan et al 2009, Trumbore et al 2013, Yang et al 2016)
Complementing measurements of CO2 flux with simultaneous measurements of O2 flux provides an additional proxy for respiration, and the combination of both fluxes can potentially help getting closer to actual measures of respiratory fluxes
Stem CO2 efflux is an important part of the carbon balance of forest ecosystems, as it accounts for 5–42% of the total ecosystem respiratory fluxes in forests (Lavigne et al 1997, Damesin et al 2002, Chambers et al 2004, Ryan et al 2009, Trumbore et al 2013, Yang et al 2016)

Summary

Introduction

Stem CO2 efflux is an important part of the carbon balance of forest ecosystems, as it accounts for 5–42% of the total ecosystem respiratory fluxes in forests (Lavigne et al 1997, Damesin et al 2002, Chambers et al 2004, Ryan et al 2009, Trumbore et al 2013, Yang et al 2016) It is typically measured by using chambers of various designs and measurement principles (e.g., Xu et al 2000, Pumpanen et al 2004, Maier and Clinton 2006, Saveyn et al 2008, Etzold et al 2013, Hilman and Angert 2016, Katayama et al 2016, Brändle and Kunert 2019) and often assumed equal, or at least proportional, to the rate of actual respiration in the underlying tissues. While chambers can provide accurate flux measurements, these fluxes

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