Variability In Carbon Exchange Research Articles

Seasonal and interannual variations in carbon fluxes in East Asia semi-arid grasslands

Semiarid regions have substantial interannual variation in carbon exchange between terrestrial ecosystem and atmosphere but the diverse responses of carbon fluxes to climate variability are poorly known. We compared carbon exchange processes and the responses to environmental factors in a meadow steppe at Tongyu (TY) and a typical steppe at Maodeng (MD) using long-term continuous eddy covariance measurements. TY precipitation was 25% greater than MD. Both grasslands had interannual fluctuations of carbon sink and source and acted as weak carbon sinks averagely (−22.9 ± 41.0 gCm−2 yr−1 for TY and − 11.8 ± 45.0 gCm−2 yr−1 for MD). The seasonal dynamics of carbon fluxes were significantly related to water availability at MD but more strongly related to air temperature at TY. During dry years, the controlling effect of water availability on carbon fluxes increased. Summer precipitation and soil moisture played key roles in the interannual variations in carbon fluxes in both grasslands. At MD, net carbon uptake was negatively related to summer air temperature likely because warming induced water deficit decreased photosynthesis. Greenness index derived from PhenoCam images captured key phenological phases and diverse magnitude of canopy dynamics. The index was correlated with seasonal and annual variations in carbon fluxes at both grasslands, suggesting the potential of PhenoCam for monitoring the spatial and temporal variations in canopy dynamics in different semiarid grasslands.

Sensitivity of Temperate Desert Steppe Carbon Exchange to Seasonal Droughts and Precipitation Variations in Inner Mongolia, China

Arid grassland ecosystems have significant interannual variation in carbon exchange; however, it is unclear how environmental factors influence carbon exchange in different hydrological years. In this study, the eddy covariance technique was used to investigate the seasonal and interannual variability of CO2 flux over a temperate desert steppe in Inner Mongolia, China from 2008 to 2010. The amounts and times of precipitation varied significantly throughout the study period. The precipitation in 2009 (186.4 mm) was close to the long-term average (183.9±47.6 mm), while the precipitation in 2008 (136.3 mm) and 2010 (141.3 mm) was approximately a quarter below the long-term average. The temperate desert steppe showed carbon neutrality for atmospheric CO2 throughout the study period, with a net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) of −7.2, −22.9, and 26.0 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2008, 2009, and 2010, not significantly different from zero. The ecosystem gained more carbon in 2009 compared to other two relatively dry years, while there was significant difference in carbon uptake between 2008 and 2010, although both years recorded similar annual precipitation. The results suggest that summer precipitation is a key factor determining annual NEE. The apparent quantum yield and saturation value of NEE (NEEsat) and the temperature sensitivity coefficient of ecosystem respiration (Reco) exhibited significant variations. The values of NEEsat were −2.6, −2.9, and −1.4 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 in 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively. Drought suppressed both the gross primary production (GPP) and Reco, and the drought sensitivity of GPP was greater than that of Reco. The soil water content sensitivity of GPP was high during the dry year of 2008 with limited soil moisture availability. Our results suggest the carbon balance of this temperate desert steppe was not only sensitive to total annual precipitation, but also to its seasonal distribution.

Carbon, water, and heat flux responses to experimental burning and drought in a tallgrass prairie

Drought and fire are common disturbances to grassland ecosystems. We report two years of eddy covariance ecosystem–atmosphere fluxes and biometric variables measured in nearby burned and unburned pastures in the US Southern Great Plains. Over the course of the experiment, annual precipitation (∼600mmyr−1) was lower than the long term mean (∼860mmyr−1). Soil moisture decreased from productive conditions in March 2005 dry, unproductive conditions during the growing season starting in March 2006. Just prior to the burn in early March 2005, burned and unburned pastures contained 520±60 and 360±40gCm−2 of total above ground biomass (AGB) and litter, respectively. The fire removed approximately 200gCm−2 of litter and biomass. In the 2005 growing season following the burn, maximum green AGB was 450±60 and 270±40gCm−2, with corresponding cumulative annual net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) of −330 and −150gCm−2 for the burned and unburned pastures, respectively. In contrast to NEE, cumulative mean sensible heat and water fluxes were approximately equal in both pastures during the growing season, suggesting either an increase in water use efficiency or a decrease in evaporation in the burned relative to the unburned pasture. In the 2006 growing season, dry conditions decreased carbon uptake and latent heat, and increased sensible heat fluxes. Peak AGB was reduced to 210±30gCm−2 and 140±30gCm−2 in the burned and unburned pastures, respectively, while NEE was near zero. These results suggest that the lack of precipitation was responsible for most of the interannual variation in carbon exchange for these un-irrigated prairie pastures.

Variability in carbon exchange of European croplands

The estimated net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO 2 based on measurements at 17 flux sites in Europe for 45 cropping periods showed an average loss of −38 gC m −2 per cropping period. The cropping period is defined as the period after sowing or planting until harvest. The variability taken as the standard deviation of these cropping periods was 251 gC m −2. These numbers do not include lateral inputs such as the carbon content of applied manure, nor the carbon exchange out of the cropping period. Both are expected to have a major effect on the C budget of high energy summer crops such as maize. NEE and gross primary production (GPP) can be estimated by crop net primary production based on inventories of biomass at these sites, independent of species and regions. NEE can also be estimated by the product of photosynthetic capacity and the number of days with the average air temperature >5 °C. Yield measured at these sites or reported at the NUTS2 level dataset of EUROSTAT is a relatively poor predictor of NEE. To investigate the difference in the variability in CO 2 emissions of different crops at the same location and to compare this variation with the variation of the same crop at different locations and with the inter-annual variation the measured dataset at the flux sites was extended with simulated data. These simulations show that the variability in carbon exchange is determined by: firstly the choice of crop and the location and to a lesser extent by the yearly differences in climate.

Climate-Driven Interannual Variability in Net Ecosystem Exchange in the Northern Great Plains Grasslands

Abstract The Northern Great Plains grasslands respond differently under various climatic conditions; however, there have been no detailed studies investigating the interannual variability in carbon exchange across the entire Northern Great Plains grassland ecosystem. We developed a piecewise regression model to integrate flux tower data with remotely sensed data and mapped the 8-d and 500-m net ecosystem exchange (NEE) for the years from 2000 to 2006. We studied the interannual variability of NEE, characterized the interannual NEE difference in climatically different years, and identified the drought impact on NEE. The results showed that NEE was highly variable in space and time across the 7 yr. Specifically, NEE was consistently low (−35 to 322 g C·m −2 ·yr −1 ) with an average annual NEE of −2 ± 242 g C·m −2 ·yr −1 and a cumulative flux of −152 g C·m −2 . The Northern Great Plains grassland was a weak source for carbon during 2000–2006 because of frequent droughts, which strongly affected the carbon balance, especially in the Western High Plains and Northwestern Great Plains. Comparison of the NEE map with a drought monitor map confirmed a substantial correlation between drought and carbon dynamics. If drought severity or frequency increases in the future, the Northern Great Plains grasslands may become an even greater carbon source.

Incorporation of crop phenology in Simple Biosphere Model (SiBcrop) to improve land-atmosphere carbon exchanges from croplands

Abstract. Croplands are man-made ecosystems that have high net primary productivity during the growing season of crops, thus impacting carbon and other exchanges with the atmosphere. These exchanges play a major role in nutrient cycling and climate change related issues. An accurate representation of crop phenology and physiology is important in land-atmosphere carbon models being used to predict these exchanges. To better estimate time-varying exchanges of carbon, water, and energy of croplands using the Simple Biosphere (SiB) model, we developed crop-specific phenology models and coupled them to SiB. The coupled SiB-phenology model (SiBcrop) replaces remotely-sensed NDVI information, on which SiB originally relied for deriving Leaf Area Index (LAI) and the fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fPAR) for estimating carbon dynamics. The use of the new phenology scheme within SiB substantially improved the prediction of LAI and carbon fluxes for maize, soybean, and wheat crops, as compared with the observed data at several AmeriFlux eddy covariance flux tower sites in the US mid continent region. SiBcrop better predicted the onset and end of the growing season, harvest, interannual variability associated with crop rotation, day time carbon uptake (especially for maize) and day to day variability in carbon exchange. Biomass predicted by SiBcrop had good agreement with the observed biomass at field sites. In the future, we will predict fine resolution regional scale carbon and other exchanges by coupling SiBcrop with RAMS (the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System).

Large interannual CO2 and energy exchange variability in a freshwater marsh under consistent environmental conditions

We analyzed a 5‐year record of the CO2 and energy exchange, Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP), maximum Leaf Area Index (LAImax), and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) for a Typha marsh in Southern California. The marsh was a net source of carbon over the study, despite high rates of ANPP. Interannual Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) variability was the largest that has been reported for any terrestrial ecosystem and was attributed to changes in maximum photosynthetic rates (GEEmax). The variation in energy and mass exchange was coupled between years; years with higher than average rates of carbon uptake were associated with lower than average sensible heat fluxes. Remotely sensed measures of surface greenness (EVI) were closely related to GEEmax variation, providing further evidence of interannual variability. We were unable to attribute the fluctuations in GEEmax to the direct effects of weather on ecosystem physiology, or to interannual variation in LAImax. GEE did not vary systematically with air temperature or the presence of standing water in the marsh; GEEmax did not vary with LAImax between years. Rather, interannual variation in carbon exchange at the SJFM resulted from shifts in the marsh's production efficiency (the rates of gross or net CO2 exchange per LAI) that were not caused by changes in the weather. Our findings challenge the assumptions that interannual variation of land‐atmosphere exchange is universally caused by the direct effect of weather on ecosystem physiology, and that an ecosystem's physiological response to the physical environment is consistent from year‐to‐year.

Seasonal variation in carbon exchange and its ecological analysis over Leymus chinensis steppe in Inner Mongolia

Eddy covariance technique was used to measure carbon flux during two growing seasons in 2003 and 2004 over typical steppe in the Inner Mongolia Plateau, China. The results showed that there were two different CO2 flux diurnal patterns at the grassland ecosystem. One had a dual peak in diurnal course of CO2 fluxes with a depression of CO2 flux after noon, and the other had a single peak. In 2003, the maximum diurnal uptake and emitting value of CO2 were −7.4 and 5.4 g·m−2·d−1 respectively and both occurred in July. While in 2004, the maximum diurnal uptake and release of CO2 were −12.8 and 5.8 g·m−2·d−1 and occurred both in August. The grassland fixed 294.66 and 467.46 g CO2·m−2 in 2003 and 2004, and released 333.14 and 437.17 g CO2·m−2 in 2003 and 2004, respectively from May to September. Water availability and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) are two important factors of controlling CO2 flux. Consecutive precipitation can cause reduction in the ability of ecosystem carbon exchange. Under favorable soil water conditions, daytime CO2 flux is dependent on PAR. CO2 flux, under soil water stress conditions, is obviously less than those under favorable soil water conditions, and there is a light saturation phenomena at PAR=1200 μmol·m−2·s−1. Soil respiration was temperature dependent when there was no soil water stress; otherwise, this response became accumulatively decoupled from soil temperature.

Temperature and snow-melt controls on interannual variability in carbon exchange in the high Arctic

Net Ecosystem CO2 Exchange (NEE) was studied during the summer season (June–August) at a high Arctic heath ecosystem for 5 years in Zackenberg, NE Greenland. Integrated over the 80 day summer season, the heath is presently a sink ranging from −1.4 g C m−2 in 1997 to −23.3 g C m−2 in 2003. The results indicate that photosynthesis might be more variable than ecosystem respiration on the seasonal timescale. The years focused on in this paper differ climatically, which is reflected in the measured fluxes. The environmental conditions during the five years strongly indicated that time of snow-melt and air temperature during the growing season are closely related to the interannual variation in the measured fluxes of CO2 at the heath. Our estimates suggest that net ecosystem CO2 uptake is enhanced by 0.16 g C m−2 per increase in growing degree-days during the period of growth. This study emphasises that increased summer time air temperatures are favourable for this particular ecosystem in terms of carbon accumulation.

Interannual variability and timing of growing‐season CO2 exchange in a boreal forest

We studied the interannual variability of cumulative net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and its connection with cumulative or average climatic variables during five growing seasons. The analysis was based on a 5‐year‐long time series of CO2 flux measured from April 1996 to April 2001 in a Scots pine forest in southern Finland by the eddy covariance technique. The onset of the ecosystem growing season was best connected with air temperature, and the end of the growing season was best connected with day length. With these variables we were able to predict the timing and the length of each growing season within 0–3 days. The forest was a sink of carbon with little interannual variability: The uptake during the four full growing seasons varied by 80 g C m−2, ranging from 230 to 310 g C m−2. The estimated winter release each year varied between 60 and 90 g C m−2. The interannual variation in seasonal (spring, summer, autumn) carbon exchange ranged from 30 g C m−2 in autumn and spring to 80 g C m−2 in summer. The average climatic variables explained the variability of the seasonal or growing‐season cumulative NEE only partly. Both the daytime and the nighttime CO2 fluxes contributed markedly to the variability in carbon exchange, indicating that photosynthesis and respiration have an equally important influence on NEE.

Variability in carbon exchange and light utilization among boreal forest stands: implications for remote sensing of net primary production

Variability in carbon exchange, net primary production (NPP), and light-use efficiency were explored for 63 boreal forest stands in northeastern Minnesota using an ecophysiological model. The model was initialized with extensive field measurements of Populus tremuloides Michx. and Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP stand properties. The results showed that the proportion of total carbon assimilation expended in autotrophic respiration (i.e., the respiration to assimilation ratio, R/A) was significantly different for the two tree species and this explained much of the variability in the amount of net production per unit absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR), referred to as PAR utilization ( epsilonn). This is the first known study to directly link variability in respiratory costs to epsilonn. Total assimilation per unit APAR ( epsilong) was much less variable than epsilonnand was not significantly different between species. Greater stomatal control on some moisture stressed sites accounted for most of the variability in epsilong. The lack of a simple relationship between light harvesting and net carbon gain indicates that estimation of net primary production with satellite remote sensing requires additional information on respiration costs; however, evidence for convergence in epsilongcan be used to simplify the remote sensing of gross primary production over large areas.