Evapotranspiration dynamics and their drivers in a temperate mixed forest in northeast China

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a vital part of the global water cycle and is closely related to carbon sequestration. Analysing ET dynamics and their drivers would benefit for improving our understanding of the global water and carbon cycles. Using an eddy covariance (EC) approach, we analysed ET dynamics and their drivers in a temperate mixed forest over northeast China from 2016 to 2017. The results showed that 43.55% of our eddy covariance data passed the quality control. In addition, the energy balance ratio was 0.62, indicating that measurements were reliable. The measured ET showed clear single peak patterns with seasonal and diurnal variations. The daily ET ranged from 0 to 7.75 mm d^-1 and the hourly ET ranged from 0 to 0.28 mm h^-1. The ranges of hourly ET floated from 0 to 0.05 mm h^-1 at non-growing season (November to April) while ranged from 0 to 0.28 mm h^-1 at active growing season (May to October). The diurnal ET dynamics during the non-growing season were driven by air temperature (T _a)_, but were governed by global radiation (R _g) during the active growing season. Leaf area index (LAI) comprehensively reflected the variations of T _a and R _g, and was found to be the primary factor shaping the seasonal dynamics of ET. The annual ET rates were 501.91 ± 5.30 mm year^-1 and 554.60 ± 11.24 mm year^-1 for 2016 and 2017, respectively. Therefore, energy supply, represented by T _a and R _g, governed ET dynamics in our temperate mixed forest, while variables representing the energy supply affecting ET dynamics differed among seasons and time scales. ET dynamics indicated that a temperate mixed forest is important to the global water cycle. Our results improved our understanding of ET dynamics in the studied region.

Trends of major, minor and rare earth elements in decomposing litter in a cool temperate ecosystem, South Korea

The decomposition dynamics of 34 different elements in four different litter types (foliar and woody litter) from Pinus densiflora (Korean red pine) and Castanea crenata (Korean chestnut) was investigated in a cool temperate ecosystem using the litterbag method. Two contrasting trends were observed in the dynamics of elements with accumulated mass loss of litter and carbon. Leaf litter of Korean chestnut, which was richer in elements, showed a general decrease in concentrations of elements with accumulated mass loss of litter and carbon on a dry mass basis during decomposition in the field. Other litter types, with initially lower concentrations of elements, exhibited an increase in concentration on a dry mass basis during field incubation. Highest relative increase in the concentration was noticed for the minor elements, and for the woody litters. Concentrations of major and minor elements increased by factors ranging from 1.07 for antimony (Sb) to 853.7 for vanadium (V). Rare earth elements (REE) concentrations increased by factors ranging from 1.04 for scandium (Sc) to 83.5 for thorium (Th). Our results suggest that litter type plays an important role for nutrient dynamics. Results from principal component analysis for major, minor, and rare earth elements showed grouping of elements and high correlation among them (P < 0.05), which suggests a common source. At both sites, element concentrations were high in the soil, especially for REE. This suggests that increase in element concentrations during field incubation probably was due to transfer of elements from soil to the overlying decomposing litter.

Patterns in floral traits and plant breeding systems on Southern Ocean Islands

The harsh climatic conditions and paucity of potential pollinators on Southern Ocean Islands (SOIs; latitude 46°S-55°S) lead to the expectation that anemophily or self-fertilization are the dominant modes of plant sexual reproduction. However, at least some species have showy inflorescences suggesting biotic pollination or dimorphic breeding systems necessitating cross-pollination. This study investigates whether anemophily and self-compatibility are common on SOIs, whether species or genera with these traits are more widespread or frequent at higher latitudes, and whether gender dimorphy is correlated with anemophily, as might occur if reliance on pollinators was a disadvantage. Of the 321 flowering plant species in the SOI region, 34.3 % possessed floral traits consistent with anemophily. Compatibility information was located for 94 potentially self-fertilizing species, of which 92.6 % were recorded as partially or fully self-compatible. Dioecy occurred in 7.1 % of species overall and up to 10.2 % of island floras, but has not clearly arisen in situ. Gynodioecy occurred in 3.4 % of species. The frequency of anemophily and gender dimorphy did not differ between the SOI flora and southern hemisphere temperate reference floras. At the species level, gender dimorphy was positively associated with fleshy fruit, but at the genus level it was associated with occurrence in New Zealand and a reduced regional distribution. Anemophily was more prevalent in genera occurring on subantarctic islands and the proportion of species with floral traits suggestive of biotic pollination was significantly higher on climatically milder, cool temperate islands. These results support the contention that reliance on biotic pollinators has constrained the distribution of species on SOIs; however, it is also clear that the reproductive biology of few SOI species has been studied in situ and many species likely employ a mixed mating strategy combining biotic pollination with self-fertilization.