Deforestation in mid-to high latitudes is hypothesized to have the potential to cool the Earth's surface by altering biophysical processes [1][2][3] . In climate models of continental-scale land clearing, the cooling is triggered by increases in surface albedo and is reinforced by a land albedo-sea ice feedback 4,5 . This feedback is crucial in the model predictions; without it other biophysical processes may overwhelm the albedo effect to generate warming instead 5 . Ongoing land-use activities, such as land management for climate mitigation, are occurring at local scales (hectares) presumably too small to generate the feedback, and it is not known whether the intrinsic biophysical mechanism on its own can change the surface temperature in a consistent manner 6,7 . Nor has the effect of deforestation on climate been demonstrated over large areas from direct observations. Here we show that surface air temperature is lower in open land than in nearby forested land. The effect is 0.85 6 0.44 K (mean 6 one standard deviation) northwards of 456 N and 0.21 6 0.53 K southwards. Below 356 N there is weak evidence that deforestation leads to warming. Results are based on comparisons of temperature at forested eddy covariance towers in the USA and Canada and, as a proxy for small areas of cleared land, nearby surface weather stations. Night-time temperature changes unrelated to changes in surface albedo are an important contributor to the overall cooling effect. The observed latitudinal dependence is consistent with theoretical expectation of changes in energy loss from convection and radiation across latitudes in both the daytime and night-time phase of the diurnal cycle, the latter of which remains uncertain in climate models 8 .The latitudinal gradient of land-use impact is evident in the comparison of the surface air temperature recorded at FLUXNET (www.fluxnet.ornl.gov) forest towers 9 (Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Fig. 1) and surface weather stations in North America (Fig. 1a). Here we use the surface stations as proxies for cleared land. In accordance with the requirement of the World Meteorological Organization, these stations are located in open grassy fields that have biophysical characteristics similar to those of open land, such as being covered by snow in northern latitudes in the winter 10 . Latitude accounts for 31% of the variations in the temperature difference DT between the forest sites and the adjacent open lands (number of site pairs n 5 37). The rate of change in DT with latitude is 20.070 6 0.010 K per degree (mean 6 one standard error, s.e., P , 0.005). At these sites, the annual net all-wave radiation R n

Improving the accuracy of estimates of forest carbon exchange is a central priority for understanding ecosystem response to increased atmospheric CO levels and improving carbon cycle modelling. However, the spatially continuous parameterization of photosynthetic capacity (Vcmax) at global scales and appropriate temporal intervals within terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) remains unresolved. This research investigates the use of biochemical parameters for modelling leaf photosynthetic capacity within a deciduous forest. Particular attention is given to the impacts of seasonality on both leaf biophysical variables and physiological processes, and their interdependent relationships. Four deciduous tree species were sampled across three growing seasons (2013-2015), approximately every 10 days for leaf chlorophyll content (Chl ) and canopy structure. Leaf nitrogen (N ) was also measured during 2014. Leaf photosynthesis was measured during 2014-2015 using a Li-6400 gas-exchange system, with A-Ci curves to model Vcmax. Results showed that seasonality and variations between species resulted in weak relationships between Vcmax normalized to 25°C (Vcmax25) and N (R = 0.62, P < 0.001), whereas Chl demonstrated a much stronger correlation with Vcmax25 (R = 0.78, P < 0.001). The relationship between Chl and N was also weak (R = 0.47, P < 0.001), possibly due to the dynamic partitioning of nitrogen, between and within photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic fractions. The spatial and temporal variability of Vcmax25 was mapped using Landsat TM/ETM satellite data across the forest site, using physical models to derive Chl . TBMs largely treat photosynthetic parameters as either fixed constants or varying according to leaf nitrogen content. This research challenges assumptions that simple N -Vcmax25 relationships can reliably be used to constrain photosynthetic capacity in TBMs, even within the same plant functional type. It is suggested that Chl provides a more accurate, direct proxy for Vcmax25 and is also more easily retrievable from satellite data. These results have important implications for carbon modelling within deciduous ecosystems.

Abstract. We analyzed half-hourly tower-based flux measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) from a boreal aspen forest and a temperate mixed deciduous forest in Canada to examine the influences of clouds on forest carbon uptake. We showed that the presence of clouds consistently and significantly increased the net ecosystem exchanges (NEE) of CO2 of both forests from the level under clear skies. The enhancement varied with cloudiness, solar elevation angles, and differed between the two forests. For the aspen forest the enhancement at the peak ranged from about 30% for the 200-25 ø interval of solar elevation angles to about 55% for the 550-60 ø interval. For the mixed forest the enhancement at the peak ranged from more than 60% for the 300-35 ø interval of solar elevation angles to about 30% for the 650-70 ø interval. Averaged over solar elevation angles >20 ø , the aspen and mixed forests had the maximal NEE at the irradiance equivalent to 78 and 71% of the clear-sky radiation, respectively. The general patterns of current sky conditions at both sites permit further increases in cloudiness to enhance their carbon uptake. We found that both forests can tolerate exceedingly large reductions of solar radiation (53% for the aspen forest and 46% for the mixed forest) caused by increases in cloudiness without lowering their capacities of carbon uptake. We suggest that the enhancement of carbon uptake under cloudy conditions results from the interactions of multiple environmental factors associated with the presence of clouds. IntroductionClouds, as a natural weather element at a given location, strongly influence environmental conditions on the ground surface via radiative transfer, latent heating, and precipitation [Benner and Curry, 1998]. Therefore it is expected that clouds can have important ramifications on CO2 exchanges between terrestrial ecosystems and the overlying atmosphere.

AbstTactWater vapour and CO2 fluxes were measured using the eddy correlation method above and below the overstorey of a 21-m tall aspen stand in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan as part of the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS). Measurements were made at the 39.5-m and 4-m heights using 3-dimensional sonic anemometers (Kaijo-Denki and Solent, respectively) and closed-path gas analysers (LI-COR 6262) with 6-m and 4.7-m long heated sampling tubing, respectively. Continuous measurements were made from early October to mid-November 1993 and from early February to lateSeptember 1994. Soil CO2 flux (respiration) was measured using a LI-COR 6000-09 soil chamber and soil evaporation was measured using lysimetry.The leaf area index of the aspen and hazelnut understorey reached 1.8 and 3.3, respectively. The maximum daily evapotranspiration (£) rate was 5-6 mm d^^ Following leaf-out the hazelnut and soil accounted for 22% of the forest £. The estimated total £ was 403 mm for 1994. About 88% of the precipitation in 1994 was lost as evapotranspiration.During the growing season, the magnitude of half-hourly eddy fluxes of CO2 from the atmosphere into the forest reached 1.2 mg CO2 m'^ s^* (33 |imol C m~^ s"^) during the daytime. Downward eddy fluxes at the 4-m height were observed when the hazelnut was growing rapidly in June and July. Under well-ventilated night-time conditions, the eddy fluxes of CO2 above the aspen and hazelnut, corrected for canopy storage, increased exponentially with soil temperature at the 2-cm depth. Estimates of daytime respiration rates using these relationships agreed well with soil chamber measurements. During the 1994 growing season, the cumulative net ecosystem exchange (N££) was -3.5 t C ha"^ y"^ (a net gain by the system). For 1994, cumulative NEE, ecosystem respiration (K) and gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP = R-NEE) were estimated to be -1.3, 8.9 and 10.2 t C ha"^ y~^, respectively. Gross photosynthesis of the hazelnut was 32% of GEP.

Both species showed a decrease in canopy conductance as the saturation deficit increased and both showed an increase in canopy conductance as the photosynthetic active radiation increased. There was a linear relationship between forest leaf area index and forest canopy conductance. The timing, duration, and maximum leaf area of this deciduous boreal forest was found to be an important control on transpiration at both levels of the canopy. The full-leaf hazelnut daytime mean Priestley and Taylor [1972] a coefficient of 1.22 indicated transpiration was largely energy controlled and the quantity of energy received at the hazelnut surface was a function of aspen leaf area. The full-leaf aspen daytime mean c• of 0.91 indicated some stomatal control on transpiration, with a directly proportional relationship b6tWeen forest leaf area and forest canopy conductance, varying c• during much of the season through a range very sensitive to regional scale transpiration and surface-convective boundary layer feedbacks. IntroductionThe boreal forest represents one of the world's largest yet least understood ecosystems. Of the estimated 48.5 million km 2 total land area of the world's forests, 12.0 (25%) is covered by boreal forest, second only to the 17.0 (35%) covered by tropical rain forest. Boreal forest net primary productivity (ex---1 pressed as dry matter) accounts for an estimated 9.6 Gt yr (13%) of the world's forests 73.9, exceeding both temperate deciduous 8.4 (11%) and temperate coniferous 6.5 (9%) forests [Salisbury and Ross, 1978].•University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. 2Atmospheric Environment Service, Downsview, Ontario, Canada.•Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Continuing with the work presented by Black et al. [1996], the objectives of this paper are (1) to describe the diurnal and seasonal patterns of the aspen overstory and hazelnut understory energy balance, (2) to describe the diurnal and seasonal patterns of canopy water vapor conductances for both the aspen and the hazelnut, and (3) to relate the canopy conductances to the ambient meteorological conditions at both the canopy and the regional levels. Site DescriptionThe study site (