Estimates of species- and ecosystem-level respiration of woody stems along an elevational gradient in the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico

Variability in temperature dependence of stem CO2 efflux from Norway spruce trees

This study presents results from continuous measurements of stem CO2 efflux carried out for seven experimental seasons (from May to October) in a young Norway spruce forest. The objectives of the study were to determine variability in the response of stem CO2 efflux to stem temperature over the season and to observe differences in the calculated relationship between stem temperature and CO2 efflux based on full growing season data or on data divided into periods according to stem growth rate. Temperature sensitivity of stem CO2 efflux (Q10) calculated for the established periods ranged between 1.61 and 3.46 and varied over the season, with the lowest values occurring in July and August. Q10 calculated using data from the full growing seasons ranged between 2.30 and 2.94 and was often significantly higher than Q10 calculated for the individual periods. Temperature-normalized stem CO2 efflux (R10) determined using Q10 from growing season data was overestimated when the temperature was below 10 °C and underestimated when the temperature was above 10 °C, compared with R10 calculated using Q10 established for the individual periods. The differences in daily mean R10 calculated by these two approaches ranged between -0.9 and 0.2 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1. The results of this study confirm that long periods for determining the temperature dependence of stem CO2 efflux encompass different statuses of the wood (especially in relation to stem growth). This may cause bias in models using this relationship for estimating stem CO2 efflux as a function of temperature.

Temporal dynamics and vertical variations in stem CO2 efflux of Styphnolobium japonicum

CO₂ efflux (E_CO2) from stems and branches is highly variable within trees. To investigate the mechanisms underlying the temporal dynamics and vertical variations in E_CO2, we measured the stem E_CO2 by infrared gas analysis (IRGA) and meteorological conditions at 10 different heights from 0.1 to 3.7 m aboveground on two consecutive days every month for 1 year in six Styphnolobium japonicum trees with a similar size. The results indicated that the seasonal change in E_CO2 roughly followed the seasonal variations in woody tissue temperature (T_W) and stem radial diameter increment (Di). Together, T_W and Di explained the monthly change in E_CO2, and the contributions of T_W and Di changed with the stem positions and growth stages. The diurnal patterns of E_CO2 differed greatly between the growing and dormant season, showing a bimodal distribution with an obvious midday depression in the former and a unimodal distribution in the latter. The strong vertical variation in the day-time E_CO2 of the growing season was mainly caused by the vertical gradients of T_W, Di and difference in sapwood volume per unit of the stem surface along the trunk. The temperature-sensitivity coefficient (Q₁₀) was not constant, as assumed in some models, but was instead vertically altered and highly dependent on the measurement temperature. For all stem positions, the highest Q₁₀ value appeared at approximately 5 °C, and both higher and lower temperatures decreased Q₁₀. Our study demonstrated that application of a constant Q₁₀ would cause an estimation error when scaling up chamber-based measurements to annual carbon budgets at the whole-stem level.

Pan-tropical analysis of climate effects on seasonal tree growth

Climate models predict a range of changes in tropical forest regions, including increased average temperatures, decreased total precipitation, reduced soil moisture and alterations in seasonal climate variations. These changes are directly related to the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations, primarily CO2. Assessing seasonal forest growth responses to climate is of utmost importance because woody tissues, produced by photosynthesis from atmospheric CO2, water and light, constitute the main component of carbon sequestration in the forest ecosystem. In this paper, we combine intra-annual tree growth measurements from published tree growth data and the corresponding monthly climate data for 25 pan-tropical forest sites. This meta-analysis is designed to find the shared climate drivers of tree growth and their relative importance across pan-tropical forests in order to improve carbon uptake models in a global change context. Tree growth reveals significant intra-annual seasonality at seasonally dry sites or in wet tropical forests. Of the overall variation in tree growth, 28.7% was explained by the site effect, i.e. the tree growth average per site. The best predictive model included four climate variables: precipitation, solar radiation (estimated with extrasolar radiation reaching the atmosphere), temperature amplitude and relative soil water content. This model explained more than 50% of the tree growth variations across tropical forests. Precipitation and solar radiation are the main seasonal drivers of tree growth, causing 19.8% and 16.3% of the tree growth variations. Both have a significant positive association with tree growth. These findings suggest that forest productivity due to tropical tree growth will be reduced in the future if climate extremes, such as droughts, become more frequent.

Patterns of wood carbon dioxide efflux across a 2,000-m elevation transect in an Andean moist forest

During a 1-year measurement period, we recorded the CO₂ efflux from stems (R_S) and coarse woody roots (R_R) of 13–20 common tree species at three study sites at 1,050, 1,890 and 3,050 m a.s.l. in an Andean moist forest. The objective of this work was to study elevation changes of woody tissue CO₂ efflux and the relationship to climate variation, site characteristics and growth. Furthermore, we aim to provide insights into important respiration–productivity relationships of a little studied tropical vegetation type. We expected R_S and R_R to vary with dry and humid season conditions. We further expected R_S to vary more than R_R due to a more stable soil than air temperature regime. Seasonal variation in woody tissue CO₂ efflux was indeed mainly attributable to stems. At the same time, temperature played only a small role in triggering variations in R_S. At stand level, the ratio of C release (g C m⁻² ground area year⁻¹) between stems and roots varied from 4:1 at 1,050 m to 1:1 at 3,050 m, indicating the increasing prevalence of root activity at high elevations. The fraction of growth respiration from total respiration varied between 10 (3,050 m) and 14% (1,050 m) for stems and between 5 (1,050 m) and 30% (3,050 m) for roots. Our results show that respiratory activity and hence productivity is not driven by low temperatures towards higher elevations in this tropical montane forest. We suggest that future studies should examine the limitation of carbohydrate supply from leaves as a driver for the changes in respiratory activity with elevation.