Abstract
Abstract. Typhoons are very unpredictable natural disturbances to subtropical mangrove forests in Asian countries, but little information is available on how these disturbances affect ecosystem level carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange of mangrove wetlands. In this study, we examined short-term effect of frequent strong typhoons on defoliation and net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) of subtropical mangroves, and also synthesized 19 typhoons during a 4-year period between 2009 and 2012 to further investigate the regulation mechanisms of typhoons on ecosystem carbon and water fluxes following typhoon disturbances. Strong wind and intensive rainfall caused defoliation and local cooling effect during the typhoon season. Daily total NEE values decreased by 26–50% following some typhoons (e.g., W28-Nockten, W35-Molave and W35-Lio-Fan), but significantly increased (43–131%) following typhoon W23-Babj and W38-Megi. The magnitudes and trends of daily NEE responses were highly variable following different typhoons, which were determined by the balance between the variances of gross ecosystem production (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (RE). Furthermore, results from our synthesis indicated that the landfall time of typhoon, wind speed and rainfall were the most important factors controlling the CO2 fluxes following typhoon events. These findings indicate that different types of typhoon disturbances can exert very different effects on CO2 fluxes of mangrove ecosystems and that typhoon will likely have larger impacts on carbon cycle processes in subtropical mangrove ecosystems as the intensity and frequency of typhoons are predicted to increase under future global climate change scenarios.
Highlights
Mangrove ecosystems only cover a small fraction of world forests, they are highly important components in coastal and global carbon cycle (Bouillon et al, 2008; Kristensen et al, 2008; Donato et al, 2011)
Changes in tropical cyclone activities are an important component of global climate change, and the characteristics of tropical cyclones are likely to change in a warming climate (Webster et al, 2005; Emanuel, 2007; IPCC, 2013; Knutson et al, 2010)
Kwon et al (2010) observed that net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) depression occurred with different timing, magnitude and mechanism in a deciduous forest and farmland during the Asian monsoon. These results indicate that the relative effects of these microclimatic factors determine the balance between gross ecosystem production (GEP) and RE, and the different trends and magnitudes in NEE responses following disturbances
Summary
Mangrove ecosystems only cover a small fraction of world forests, they are highly important components in coastal and global carbon cycle (Bouillon et al, 2008; Kristensen et al, 2008; Donato et al, 2011). They provide other numerous ecological services, such as coastal protection, fishery production, biodiversity maintenance and nutrient cycling (Tomlinson, 1986; Gilbert and Janssen, 1998).
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