Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litter and methodologies, adding major uncertainty to syntheses, comparisons and meta-analyses across different experiments and sites. In the TeaComposition initiative, the potential litter decomposition is investigated by using standardized substrates (Rooibos and Green tea) for comparison of litter mass loss at 336 sites (ranging from -9 to +26 °C MAT and from 60 to 3113 mm MAP) across different ecosystems. In this study we tested the effect of climate (temperature and moisture), litter type and land-use on early stage decomposition (3 months) across nine biomes. We show that litter quality was the predominant controlling factor in early stage litter decomposition, which explained about 65% of the variability in litter decomposition at a global scale. The effect of climate, on the other hand, was not litter specific and explained <0.5% of the variation for Green tea and 5% for Rooibos tea, and was of significance only under unfavorable decomposition conditions (i.e. xeric versus mesic environments). When the data were aggregated at the biome scale, climate played a significant role on decomposition of both litter types (explaining 64% of the variation for Green tea and 72% for Rooibos tea). No significant effect of land-use on early stage litter decomposition was noted within the temperate biome. Our results indicate that multiple drivers are affecting early stage litter mass loss with litter quality being dominant. In order to be able to quantify the relative importance of the different drivers over time, long-term studies combined with experimental trials are needed.
Plant phenological development is orchestrated through subtle changes in photoperiod, temperature, soil moisture and nutrient availability. Presently, the exact timing of plant development stages and their response to climate and management practices 5 are crudely represented in land surface models. As visual observations of phenology are laborious, there is a need to supplement long-term observations with automated techniques such as those provided by digital repeat photography at high temporal and spatial resolution. We present the first synthesis from a growing observational network of digital cameras installed on towers across Europe above deciduous and evergreen 10 forests, grasslands and croplands, where vegetation and atmosphere CO2 fluxes are measured continuously. Using colour indices from digital images and using piecewise regression analysis of time-series, we explored whether key changes in canopy phenology could be detected automatically across different land use types in the network. The piecewise regression approach could capture the start and end of the growing 15 season, in addition to identifying striking changes in colour signals caused by flowering and management practices such as mowing. Exploring the dates of green up and senescence of deciduous forests extracted by the piecewise regression approach against dates estimated from visual observations we found that these phenological events could be detected adequately (RMSE< 8 and 11 days for leaf out and leaf fall 20 respectively). We also investigated whether the seasonal patterns of red, green and blue colour fractions derived from digital images could be modelled mechanistically using the PROSAIL model parameterised with information of seasonal changes in canopy leaf area and leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations. From a model sensitivity analysis we found that variations in colour fractions, and in particular the late spring 25 “green hump” observed repeatedly in deciduous broadleaf canopies across the network, are essentially dominated by changes in the respective pigment concentrations. Using the model we were able to explain why this spring maximum in green signal is often observed out of phase with the maximum period of canopy photosynthesis in ecosystems across Europe. Coupling such quasi-continuous digital records of canopy colours with co-located CO2 flux measurements will improve our understanding of how changes in growing season length are likely to shape the capacity of European ecosystems to sequester CO2 in the future
We investigated seasonal changes in the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) and its relation to the diurnal profile of photosynthetic light use efficiency (LUE) in mature Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi Sarg.) forest throughout the growing season from June to October 2003. The daily mean value of needle PRI showed seasonal variation, strongly correlated with the chlorophyll concentration and carotenoid/chlorophyll ratio of the needles. During the green period from early June to late September, the hourly values of both PRI and LUE showed significant midday depression, and were positively correlated. In late October, however, because the PRI of yellowing needles tended to increase slightly at midday in contrast to the LUE, this correlation became negative. Even before autumn senescence, the sensitivity of PRI to LUE changed with the season. Correlation analysis indicated that the slope and intercept of the regression line of the PRI-LUE relationship increased during summer, with peaks in July and August, respectively. The seasonal change in slope was strongly correlated with the foliar photosynthetic pigment concentration, nitrogen concentration, air temperature and the daily mean value of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The value of the intercept was positively correlated with the daily mean PRI. These results suggest that although diurnal change in LUE cannot be estimated quantitatively from PRI on its own throughout the growing season, the combined use of PRI and other variables such as foliar pigments or NDVI could improve the remote evaluation of seasonal changes in LUE of deciduous tree leaves.
To evaluate the effects on CO2 exchange of clearcutting a mixed forest and replacing it with a plantation, 4.5 years of continuous eddy covariance measurements of CO2 fluxes and soil respiration measurements were conducted in a conifer‐broadleaf mixed forest in Hokkaido, Japan. The mixed forest was a weak carbon sink (net ecosystem exchange, −44 g C m−2 yr−1), and it became a large carbon source (569 g C m−2 yr−1) after clearcutting. However, the large emission in the harvest year rapidly decreased in the following 2 years (495 and 153 g C m−2 yr−1, respectively) as the gross primary production (GPP) increased, while the total ecosystem respiration (RE) remained relatively stable. The rapid increase in GPP was attributed to an increase in biomass and photosynthetic activity of Sasa dwarf bamboo, an understory species. Soil respiration increased in the 3 years following clearcutting, in the first year mainly owing to the change in the gap ratio of the forest, and in the following years because of increased root respiration by the bamboo. The ratio of soil respiration to RE increased from 44% in the forest to nearly 100% after clearcutting, and aboveground parts of the vegetation contributed little to the RE although the respiration chamber measurements showed heterogeneous soil condition after clearcutting.
To evaluate the sensitivity of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) and Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc.) to high N deposition, 1year-old seedlings were grown in brown forest soil treated with N as NH 4 NO 3 at 0, 25, 50, 100 and 300 mg l -1 fresh soil volume, equivalent to 0, 28, 57, 113 and 340 kg N ha -1 . Net photosynthetic rate and whole-plant dry mass of C. japonica seedlings were increased by the N treatment, whilst those of P. densiflora seedlings were significantly reduced by the highest N treatment. The reduction in the net photosynthesis of P. densiflora seedlings was mainly due to a depression of carboxylation efficiency accompanied by a decrease in concentration and activity of Rubisco in the needles. In P. densiflora seedlings, needle concentrations of P and Mg were decreased, and the concentrations of N and Mn were increased by the highest N treatment. The reductions in needle protein concentration and Rubisco activity were negatively correlated with the ratios of N/P and Mn/Mg in the needles. These results suggest that nutrient imbalances of these elements may be induced in P. densiflora seedlings grown under high N deposition. We conclude that P. densiflora is more sensitive to high N deposition than C. japonica, and that the relatively high atmospheric N deposition to Japanese forest ecosystems may adversely affect the health of N-sensitive tree species such as P. densiflora.
The effects of warming on the temperature response of leaf photosynthesis have become an area of major concern in recent decades. Although growth temperature (GT) and day length (DL) affect leaf gas exchange characteristics, the way in which these factors influence the temperature dependence of photosynthesis remains uncertain. We established open-top canopy chambers at the canopy top of a deciduous forest, in which average daytime leaf temperature was increased by 1.0 °C. We conducted gas exchange measurements for the canopy leaves of deciduous trees exposed to artificial warming during different seasons. The carbon dioxide assimilation rate at 20 °C (A) was not affected by warming, whereas that at 25 °C (A) tended to be higher in leaves exposed to warming. Warming increased the optimal temperature of photosynthesis by increasing the activation energy for the maximum rate of carboxylation. Regression analysis indicated that both GT and DL strongly influenced gas exchange characteristics. Sensitivity analysis revealed that DL affected A without obvious effects on the temperature dependence of A, whereas GT almost maintained constant A and strongly influenced the temperature dependence. These results indicate that GT and DL have different influences on photosynthesis; GT and DL affect the 'slope' and intercept' of the temperature dependence of photosynthesis, respectively.
Research on canopy arthropods has progressed from species inventories to the study of their interactions and networks, enhancing our understanding of how hyper-diverse communities are maintained. Previous studies often focused on sampling individual tree species, individual trees or their parts. We argue that such selective sampling is not ideal when analyzing interaction network structure, and may lead to erroneous conclusions. We developed practical and reproducible sampling guidelines for the plot-based analysis of arthropod interaction networks in forest canopies. Our sampling protocol focused on insect herbivores (leaf-chewing insect larvae, miners and gallers) and non-flying invertebrate predators (spiders and ants). We quantitatively sampled the focal arthropods from felled trees, or from trees accessed by canopy cranes or cherry pickers in 53 0.1 ha forest plots in five biogeographic regions, comprising 6,280 trees in total. All three methods required a similar sampling effort and provided good foliage accessibility. Furthermore, we compared interaction networks derived from plot-based data to interaction networks derived from simulated non-plot-based data focusing either on common tree species or a representative selection of tree families. All types of non-plot-based data showed highly biased network structure towards higher connectance, higher web asymmetry, and higher nestedness temperature when compared with plot-based data. Furthermore, some types of non-plot-based data showed biased diversity of the associated herbivore species and specificity of their interactions. Plot-based sampling thus appears to be the most rigorous approach for reconstructing realistic, quantitative plant-arthropod interaction networks that are comparable across sites and regions. Studies of plant interactions have greatly benefited from a plot-based approach and we argue that studies of arthropod interactions would benefit in the same way. We conclude that plot-based studies on canopy arthropods would yield important insights into the processes of interaction network assembly and dynamics, which could be maximised via a coordinated network of plot-based study sites.
To understand better the plant response to ozone, we isolated and characterized an ozone-sensitive (ozs1) mutant strain from a set of T-DNA-tagged Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia. The mutant plants show enhanced sensitivity to ozone, desiccation and sulfur dioxide, but have normal sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide, low temperature and high light levels. The T-DNA was inserted at a single locus which is linked to ozone sensitivity. Identification of the genomic sequences flanking the T-DNA insertion revealed disruption of a gene encoding a transporter-like protein of the tellurite resistance/C(4)-dicarboxylate transporter family. Plants with either of two different T-DNA insertions in this gene were also sensitive to ozone, and these plants failed to complement ozs1. Transpiration levels, stomatal conductance levels and the size of stomatal apertures were greater in ozs1 mutant plants than in the wild type. The stomatal apertures of ozs1 mutant plants responded to light fluctuations but were always larger than those of the wild-type plants under the same conditions. The stomata of the mutant and wild-type plants responded similarly to stimuli such as light, abscisic acid, high concentrations of carbon dioxide and ozone. These results suggest that OZS1 helps to close stomata, being not involved in the responses to these signals.
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