Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration decreases stomatal conductance in many species, but the savings of water from reduced transpiration may permit the forest to retain greater leaf area index (L). Therefore, the net effect on water use in forest ecosystems under a higher CO2 atmosphere is difficult to predict. The free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) facility (n = 3) in a 14‐m tall (in 1996) Pinus taeda L. stand was designed to reduce uncertainties in predicting such responses. Continuous measurements of precipitation, throughfall precipitation, sap flux, and soil moisture were made over 3.5 years under ambient (CO2a) and elevated (CO2e) ambient + 200 µmol mol−1). Annual stand transpiration under ambient CO2 conditions accounted for 84–96% of latent heat flux measured with the eddy‐covariance technique above the canopy. Under CO2e, P. taeda transpired less per unit of leaf area only when soil drought was severe. Liquidambar styraciflua, the other major species in the forest, used progressively less water, settling at 25% reduction in sap flux density after 3.5 years under CO2e. Because P. taeda dominated the stand, and severe drought periods were of relatively short duration, the direct impact of CO2e on water savings in the stand was undetectable. Moreover, the forest used progressively more water under CO2e, probably because soil moisture availability progressively increased, probably owing to a reduction in soil evaporation caused by more litter buildup in the CO2e plots. The results suggest that, in this forest, the effect of CO2e on transpiration was greater indirectly through enhanced litter production than directly through reduced stomatal conductance. In forests composed of species more similar to L. styraciflua, water savings from stomatal closure may dominate the response to CO2e.

We linked a leaf‐level CO2 assimilation model with a model that accounts for light attenuation in the canopy and measurements of sap‐flux‐based canopy conductance into a new canopy conductance‐constrained carbon assimilation (4C‐A) model. We estimated canopy CO2 uptake (AnC) at the Duke Forest free‐air CO2 enrichment (FACE) study. Rates of AnC estimated from the 4C‐A model agreed well with leaf gas exchange measurements (Anet) in both CO2 treatments. Under ambient conditions, monthly sums of net CO2 uptake by the canopy (AnC) were 13% higher than estimates based on eddy‐covariance and chamber measurements. Annual estimates of AnC were only 3% higher than carbon (C) accumulations and losses estimated from ground‐based measurements for the entire stand. The C budget for the Pinus taeda component was well constrained (within 1% of ground‐based measurements). Although the closure of the C budget for the broadleaf species was poorer (within 20%), these species are a minor component of the forest. Under elevated CO2, the C used annually for growth, turnover, and respiration balanced only 80% of the AnC. Of the extra 700 g C m−2 a−1 (1999 and 2000 average), 86% is attributable to surface soil CO2 efflux. This suggests that the production and turnover of fine roots was underestimated or that mycorrhizae and rhizodeposition became an increasingly important component of the C balance. Under elevated CO2, net ecosystem production increased by 272 g C m−2 a−1: 44% greater than under ambient CO2. The majority (87%) of this C was sequestered in a moderately long‐term C pool in wood, with the remainder in the forest floor–soil subsystem.

Intermediate disturbances shape forest structure and composition, which may in turn alter carbon, nitrogen, and water cycling. We used a large-scale experiment in a forest in northern lower Michigan where we prescribed an intermediate disturbance by stem girdling all canopy-dominant early successional trees to simulate an accelerated age-related senescence associated with natural succession. Using 3 years of eddy covariance and sap flux measurements in the disturbed area and an adjacent control plot, we analyzed disturbance-induced changes to plot level and species-specific transpiration and stomatal conductance. We found transpiration to be~15% lower in disturbed plots than in unmanipulated control plots. However, species-specific responses to changes in microclimate varied. While red oak and white pine showed increases in stomatal conductance during postdisturbance (62.5 and 132.2%, respectively), red maple reduced stomatal conductance by 36.8%. We used the hysteresis between sap flux and vapor pressure deficit to quantify diurnal hydraulic stress incurred by each species in both plots. Red oak, a ring porous anisohydric species, demonstrated the largest mean relative hysteresis, while red maple, bigtooth aspen, and paper birch, all diffuse porous species, had the lowest relative hysteresis. We employed the Penman-Monteith model for LE to demonstrate that these species-specific responses to disturbance are not well captured using current modeling strategies and that accounting for changes to leaf area index and plot microclimate are insufficient to fully describe the effects of disturbance on transpiration.

Abstract. The goal of this study is to characterize the sensible (H) and latent (LE) heat exchange for different land covers in the heterogeneous steppe landscape of the Xilin River catchment, Inner Mongolia, China. Eddy-covariance flux measurements at 50–100 m above ground were conducted in July 2009 using a weight-shift microlight aircraft. Wavelet decomposition of the turbulence data enables a spatial discretization of 90 m of the flux measurements. For a total of 8446 flux observations during 12 flights, MODIS land surface temperature (LST) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) in each flux footprint are determined. Boosted regression trees are then used to infer an environmental response function (ERF) between all flux observations (H, LE) and biophysical (LST, EVI) and meteorological drivers. Numerical tests show that ERF predictions covering the entire Xilin River catchment (&amp;approx;3670 km2) are accurate to ≤18% (1 σ). The predictions are then summarized for each land cover type, providing individual estimates of source strength (36 W m−2 < H < 364 W m−2, 46 W m−2 < LE < 425 W m−2) and spatial variability (11 W m−2 < σH < 169 W m−2, 14 W m−2 < σLE < 152 W m−2) to a precision of ≤5%. Lastly, ERF predictions of land cover specific Bowen ratios are compared between subsequent flights at different locations in the Xilin River catchment. Agreement of the land cover specific Bowen ratios to within 12 &amp;pm; 9% emphasizes the robustness of the presented approach. This study indicates the potential of ERFs for (i) extending airborne flux measurements to the catchment scale, (ii) assessing the spatial representativeness of long-term tower flux measurements, and (iii) designing, constraining and evaluating flux algorithms for remote sensing and numerical modelling applications.

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Many temperate and boreal forests are subject to insect epidemics. In the eastern US, over 41 million meters squared of tree basal area are thought to be at risk of gypsy moth defoliation. However, the decadal-to-century scale implications of defoliation events for ecosystem carbon dynamics are not well understood. In this study, the effects of defoliation intensity, periodicity and spatial pattern on the carbon cycle are investigated in a set of idealized model simulations.A mechanistic terrestrial biosphere model, ecosystem demography model 2, is driven with observations from a xeric oak-pine forest located in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Simulations indicate that net ecosystem productivity (equal to photosynthesis minus respiration) decreases linearly with increasing defoliation intensity. However, because of interactions between defoliation and drought effects, aboveground biomass exhibits a nonlinear decrease with increasing defoliation intensity. The ecosystem responds strongly with both reduced productivity and biomass loss when defoliation periodicity varies from 5 to 15 yr, but exhibits a relatively weak response when defoliation periodicity varies from 15 to 60 yr. Simulations of spatially heterogeneous defoliation resulted in markedly smaller carbon stocks than simulations with spatially homogeneous defoliation. These results show that gypsy moth defoliation has a large effect on oak-pine forest biomass dynamics, functioning and its capacity to act as a carbon sink.

Disturbances such as fire, hurricanes, and herbivory often result in the net release of CO 2 from forests to the atmosphere, but the magnitude of carbon (C) loss is poorly quantified and difficult to predict. Here, we investigate the carbon balance of an oak/pine forest in the New Jersey Pine Barrens using the Canopy Conductance Constrained Carbon Assimilation (4C-A) model. The 4C-A model utilizes whole-tree sap-flux and leaf-level photosynthetic gas exchange measurements at distinct canopy levels to estimate canopy assimilation. After model parameterization, sensitivity analyses, and evaluation against eddy flux measurements made in 2006, the model was used to predict C assimilation for an undisturbed year in 2005, and in 2007 when the stand was completely defoliated for 2-3 weeks during an infestation of gypsy moths (Lymantria dispar L.). Following defoliation, only 50% of the foliage reemerged in a second flush. In 2007, canopy net assimilation (A nC ), as modeled with the 4C-A, was reduced to approximately 75% of A nC in 2006 (940 vs. 1240 g C m À2 a À1 ). Overall, net primary production (NPP) in 2007 was approximately 240 g C m À2 a À1 (vs. 250 g C m À2 a À1 in 2006), with 60% of NPP allocated to foliage production, a short-term carbon pool. Woody biomass accumulation, a long-term carbon pool, was reduced by 20% compared with the previous year (72 vs. 57 g C m À2 a À1 in 2006 and 2007, respectively). The overall impact of the defoliation spanned 21% of upland forests (320 km 2 ) in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, representing a significant amount of overall C not being taken up from the atmosphere by the forest, thus not accumulated in the biosphere.

This paper describes the formation of, and initial results for, a new FLUXNET coordination network for ecosystem-scale methane (CH4) measurements at 60 sites globally, organized by the Global Carbon Project in partnership with other initiatives and regional flux tower networks. The objectives of the effort are presented along with an overview of the coverage of eddy covariance (EC) CH4 flux measurements globally, initial results comparing CH4 fluxes across the sites, and future research directions and needs. Annual estimates of net CH4 fluxes across sites ranged from −0.2 ± 0.02 g C m–2 yr–1 for an upland forest site to 114.9 ± 13.4 g C m–2 yr–1 for an estuarine freshwater marsh, with fluxes exceeding 40 g C m–2 yr–1 at multiple sites. Average annual soil and air temperatures were found to be the strongest predictor of annual CH4 flux across wetland sites globally. Water table position was positively correlated with annual CH4 emissions, although only for wetland sites that were not consistently inundated throughout the year. The ratio of annual CH4 fluxes to ecosystem respiration increased significantly with mean site temperature. Uncertainties in annual CH4 estimates due to gap-filling and random errors were on average ±1.6 g C m–2 yr–1 at 95% confidence, with the relative error decreasing exponentially with increasing flux magnitude across sites. Through the analysis and synthesis of a growing EC CH4 flux database, the controls on ecosystem CH4 fluxes can be better understood, used to inform and validate Earth system models, and reconcile differences between land surface model- and atmospheric-based estimates of CH4 emissions.