The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO 2 , water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as gap-filled time series, ecosystem respiration and photosynthetic uptake estimates, estimation of uncertainties, and metadata about the measurements, presented for the first time in this paper. In addition, 206 of these sites are for the first time distributed under a Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0) license. This paper details this enhanced dataset and the processing methods, now made available as open-source codes, making the dataset more accessible, transparent, and reproducible.

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The leaf economics spectrum1,2 and the global spectrum of plant forms and functions3 revealed fundamental axes of variation in plant traits, which represent different ecological strategies that are shaped by the evolutionary development of plant species2. Ecosystem functions depend on environmental conditions and the traits of species that comprise the ecological communities4. However, the axes of variation of ecosystem functions are largely unknown, which limits our understanding of how ecosystems respond as a whole to anthropogenic drivers, climate and environmental variability4,5. Here we derive a set of ecosystem functions6 from a dataset of surface gas exchange measurements across major terrestrial biomes. We find that most of the variability within ecosystem functions (71.8%) is captured by three key axes. The first axis reflects maximum ecosystem productivity and is mostly explained by vegetation structure. The second axis reflects ecosystem water-use strategies and is jointly explained by variation in vegetation height and climate. The third axis, which represents ecosystem carbon-use efficiency, features a gradient related to aridity, and is explained primarily by variation in vegetation structure. We show that two state-of-the-art land surface models reproduce the first and most important axis of ecosystem functions. However, the models tend to simulate more strongly correlated functions than those observed, which limits their ability to accurately predict the full range of responses to environmental changes in carbon, water and energy cycling in terrestrial ecosystems7,8.

Achieving higher canopy photosynthesis rates is one of the keys to increasing future crop production; however, this typically requires additional water inputs because of increased water loss through the stomata. Lowland rice canopies presently consume a large amount of water, and any further increase in water usage may significantly impact local water resources. This situation is further complicated by changing the environmental conditions such as rising atmospheric CO concentration ([CO ]). Here, we modeled and compared evapotranspiration of fully developed rice canopies of a high-yielding rice cultivar (Oryza sativa L. cv. Takanari) with a common cultivar (cv. Koshihikari) under ambient and elevated [CO ] (A-CO and E-CO , respectively) via leaf ecophysiological parameters derived from a free-air CO enrichment (FACE) experiment. Takanari had 4%-5% higher evapotranspiration than Koshihikari under both A-CO and E-CO , and E-CO decreased evapotranspiration of both varieties by 4%-6%. Therefore, if Takanari was cultivated under future [CO ] conditions, the cost for water could be maintained at the same level as for cultivating Koshihikari at current [CO ] with an increase in canopy photosynthesis by 36%. Sensitivity analyses determined that stomatal conductance was a significant physiological factor responsible for the greater canopy photosynthesis in Takanari over Koshihikari. Takanari had 30%-40% higher stomatal conductance than Koshihikari; however, the presence of high aerodynamic resistance in the natural field and lower canopy temperature of Takanari than Koshihikari resulted in the small difference in evapotranspiration. Despite the small difference in evapotranspiration between varieties, the model simulations showed that Takanari clearly decreased canopy and air temperatures within the planetary boundary layer compared to Koshihikari. Our results indicate that lowland rice varieties characterized by high-stomatal conductance can play a key role in enhancing productivity and moderating heat-induced damage to grain quality in the coming decades, without significantly increasing crop water use.

The Arctic experiences a high-radiation environment in the summer with 24-hour daylight for more than two months. Damage to plants and ecosystem metabolism can be muted by overcast conditions common in much of the Arctic. However, with climate change, extreme dry years and clearer skies could lead to the risk of increased photoxidation and photoinhibition in Arctic primary producers. Mosses, which often exceed the NPP of vascular plants in Arctic areas, are often understudied. As a result, the effect of specific environmental factors, including light, on these growth forms is poorly understood. Here, we investigated net ecosystem exchange (NEE) at the ecosystem scale, net Sphagnum CO2 exchange (NSE), and photoinhibition to better understand the impact of light on carbon exchange from a moss-dominated coastal tundra ecosystem during the summer season 2006. Sphagnum photosynthesis showed photoinhibition early in the season coupled with low ecosystem NEE. However, later in the season, Sphagnum maintained a significant CO2 uptake, probably for the development of subsurface moss layers protected from strong radiation. We suggest that the compact canopy structure of Sphagnum reduces light penetration to the subsurface layers of the moss mat and thereby protects the active photosynthetic tissues from damage. This stress avoidance mechanism allowed Sphagnum to constitute a significant percentage (up to 60%) of the ecosystem net daytime CO2 uptake at the end of the growing season despite the high levels of radiation experienced.

An open black spruce forest, the most common ecosystem in interior Alaska, is characterized by patchy canopy gaps where the forest understory is exposed. This study measured CO2, sensible heat, and latent heat fluxes with eddy covariance (EC) in one of those large canopy gaps, and estimated understory fluxes in a black spruce forest in 2011-2014. Then understory fluxes and ecosystem fluxes were compared. The understory fluxes during the snow-free seasons were determined by two approaches. The first approach determined understory fluxes as the fluxes from the canopy gap, assuming that fluxes under the canopy crown also had the same magnitude as the canopy gap fluxes. The second approach determined the understory fluxes by scaling canopy gap fluxes with a canopy gap fraction, assuming that only canopy gaps, which mostly constitutes the forest floor, contribute to fluxes. The true understory fluxes would be in between these two estimates. Overall, the understory accounted for 53 (39-66) %, 61 (45-77) %, 63 (45-80) %, 73 (56-90) %, and 79 (59-98) % of the total net ecosystem productivity (NEP), gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (RE), sensible heat flux (H), and latent heat flux (LE), respectively. The ratio of understory NEP (NEPU) to the ecosystem NEP (NEPE) and similarly calculated LEU/LEE during the daytime increased with vapor pressure deficit (VPD) at low VPD conditions (~ 2000 Pa) at half-hourly temporal scale. At high VPD conditions, however, NEPU/NEPE decreased with VPD, whereas LEU/LEE was maintained at the high level even at high VPD conditions. Despite large ranges of the estimates for the understory contributions, we conclude that the understory plays an important role in the carbon and energy balances of the black spruce ecosystem, and their contribution highly depends on the level of VPD.

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