scholarly journals Estimates of energy partitioning, evapotranspiration, and net ecosystem exchange of CO2 for an urban lawn and a tallgrass prairie in the Denver metropolitan area under contrasting conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Thienelt ◽  
Dean E. Anderson

AbstractLawns as a landcover change substantially alter evapotranspiration, CO2, and energy exchanges and are of rising importance considering their spatial extent. We contrast eddy covariance (EC) flux measurements collected in the Denver, Colorado, USA metropolitan area in 2011 and 2012 over a lawn and a xeric tallgrass prairie. Close linkages between seasonal vegetation development, energy fluxes, and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2 were found. Irrigation of the lawn modified energy and CO2 fluxes and greatly contributed to differences observed between sites. Due to greater water inputs (precipitation + irrigation) at the lawn in this semi-arid climate, energy partitioning at the lawn was dominated by latent heat (LE) flux. As a result, evapotranspiration (ET) of the lawn was more than double that of tallgrass prairie (2011: 639(±17) mm vs. 302(±9) mm; 2012: 584(±15) mm vs. 265(±7) mm). NEE for the lawn was characterized by a longer growing season, higher daily net uptake of CO2, and growing season NEE that was also more than twice that of the prairie (2011: −173(±23) g C m−2 vs. -81(±10) g C m−2; 2012: −73(±22) g C m−2 vs. -21(±8) g C m−2). During the drought year (2012), temperature and water stress greatly influenced the direction and magnitude of CO2 flux at both sites. The results suggest that lawns in Denver can function as carbon sinks and conditionally contribute to the mitigation of carbon emissions - directly by CO2 uptake and indirectly through effects of evaporative cooling on microclimate and energy use.

2011 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2298-2308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi-Bin Ji ◽  
Wen-Zhi Zhao ◽  
Er-Si Kang ◽  
Zhi-Hui Zhang ◽  
Bo-Wen Jin ◽  
...  

AbstractContinuous eddy covariance measurements of CO2, water vapor, and heat fluxes were obtained from a maize field within an oasis in northwest China from 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009. The experimental setup used was shown to provide reliable flux estimates on the basis of cross-checks made using various quality tests of the flux data. Results show that the highest half-hourly CO2 fluxes (Fc) were −55.7 and 6.9 μmol m−2 s−1 during the growing and nongrowing seasons, respectively. The daily net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) ranged from −14.7 to 2.2 g C m−2 day−1 during the growing season; however, the daily NEE fell to between 0.2 and 2.1 g C m−2 day−1 during the nongrowing season. The annual NEE calculated by integrating flux measurements and filling in missing and spurious data was about −487.9 g C m−2. The total NEE during the growing season (−692.9 g C m−2) and the annual NEE were in the middle of the range, when compared with results obtained for maize fields in different studies and regions, whereas the differences between the off-season NEE from this study (205.0 g C m−2) and those defined in previous studies were very small. In addition, the seasonal variations in energy balance and evapotranspiration over the maize field were also addressed.


1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 1596-1602 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Bentivenga ◽  
B. A. D. Hetrick

Previous research on North American tallgrass prairie grasses has shown that warm-season grasses rely heavily on vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, while cool-season grasses are less dependent on the symbiosis (i.e., receive less benefit). This led to the hypothesis that cool-season grasses are less dependent on the symbiosis, because the growth of these plants occurs when mycorrhizal fungi are inactive. Field studies were performed to assess the effect of phenology of cool- and warm-season grasses on mycorrhizal fungal activity and fungal species composition. Mycorrhizal fungal activity in field samples was assessed using the vital stain nitro blue tetrazolium in addition to traditional staining techniques. Mycorrhizal activity was greater in cool-season grasses than in warm-season grasses early (April and May) and late (December) in the growing season, while mycorrhizal activity in roots of the warm-season grasses was greater (compared with cool-season grasses) in midseason (July and August). Active mycorrhizal colonization was relatively high in both groups of grasses late in the growing season, suggesting that mycorrhizal fungi may proliferate internally or may be parasitic at this time. Total Glomales sporulation was generally greater in the rhizosphere of cool-season grasses in June and in the rhizosphere of the warm-season grasses in October. A growth chamber experiment was conducted to examine the effect of temperature on mycorrhizal dependence of cool- and warm-season grasses. For both groups of grasses, mycorrhizal dependence was greatest at the temperature that favored growth of the host. The results suggest that mycorrhizal fungi are active in roots when cool-season grasses are growing and that cool-season grasses may receive benefit from the symbiosis under relatively cool temperature regimes. Key words: cool-season grasses, tallgrass prairie, vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizae, warm-season grasses.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 12165-12182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ü. Rannik ◽  
N. Altimir ◽  
I. Mammarella ◽  
J. Bäck ◽  
J. Rinne ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study scrutinizes a decade-long series of ozone deposition measurements in a boreal forest in search for the signature and relevance of the different deposition processes. The canopy-level ozone flux measurements were analysed for deposition characteristics and partitioning into stomatal and non-stomatal fractions, with the main focus on growing season day-time data. Ten years of measurements enabled the analysis of ozone deposition variation at different time-scales, including daily to inter-annual variation as well as the dependence on environmental variables and concentration of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC-s). Stomatal deposition was estimated by using multi-layer canopy dispersion and optimal stomatal control modelling from simultaneous carbon dioxide and water vapour flux measurements, non-stomatal was inferred as residual. Also, utilising the big-leaf assumption stomatal conductance was inferred from water vapour fluxes for dry canopy conditions. The total ozone deposition was highest during the peak growing season (4 mm s−1) and lowest during winter dormancy (1 mm s−1). During the course of the growing season the fraction of the non-stomatal deposition of ozone was determined to vary from 26 to 44% during day time, increasing from the start of the season until the end of the growing season. By using multi-variate analysis it was determined that day-time total ozone deposition was mainly driven by photosynthetic capacity of the canopy, vapour pressure deficit (VPD), photosynthetically active radiation and monoterpene concentration. The multi-variate linear model explained the high portion of ozone deposition variance on daily average level (R2 = 0.79). The explanatory power of the multi-variate model for ozone non-stomatal deposition was much lower (R2 = 0.38). The set of common environmental variables and terpene concentrations used in multivariate analysis were able to predict the observed average seasonal variation in total and non-stomatal deposition but failed to explain the inter-annual differences, suggesting that some still unknown mechanisms might be involved in determining the inter-annual variability. Model calculation was performed to evaluate the potential sink strength of the chemical reactions of ozone with sesquiterpenes in the canopy air space, which revealed that sesquiterpenes in typical amounts at the site were unlikely to cause significant ozone loss in canopy air space. The results clearly showed the importance of several non-stomatal removal mechanisms. Unknown chemical compounds or processes correlating with monoterpene concentrations, including potentially reactions at the surfaces, contribute to non-stomatal sink term.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 3203-3218 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lohila ◽  
K. Minkkinen ◽  
M. Aurela ◽  
J.-P. Tuovinen ◽  
T. Penttilä ◽  
...  

Abstract. Drainage for forestry purposes increases the depth of the oxic peat layer and leads to increased growth of shrubs and trees. Concurrently, the production and uptake of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) change: due to the accelerated decomposition of peat in the presence of oxygen, drained peatlands are generally considered to lose peat carbon (C). We measured CO2 exchange with the eddy covariance (EC) method above a drained nutrient-poor peatland forest in southern Finland for 16 months in 2004–2005. The site, classified as a dwarf-shrub pine bog, had been ditched about 35 years earlier. CH4 and N2O fluxes were measured at 2–5-week intervals with the chamber technique. Drainage had resulted in a relatively little change in the water table level, being on average 40 cm below the ground in 2005. The annual net ecosystem exchange was −870 ± 100 g CO2 m−2 yr−1 in the calendar year 2005, indicating net CO2 uptake from the atmosphere. The site was a small sink of CH4 (−0.12 g CH4 m−2 yr−1) and a small source of N2O (0.10 g N2O m−2 yr−1). Photosynthesis was detected throughout the year when the air temperature exceeded −3 °C. As the annual accumulation of C in the above and below ground tree biomass (175 ± 35 g C m−2) was significantly lower than the accumulation observed by the flux measurement (240 ± 30 g C m−2), about 65 g C m−2 yr−1 was likely to have accumulated as organic matter into the peat soil. This is a higher average accumulation rate than previously reported for natural northern peatlands, and the first time C accumulation has been shown by EC measurements to occur in a forestry-drained peatland. Our results suggest that forestry-drainage may significantly increase the CO2 uptake rate of nutrient-poor peatland ecosystems.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Hei-Laan Yeung ◽  
Carole Helfter ◽  
Neil Mullinger ◽  
Mhairi Coyle ◽  
Eiko Nemitz

<p>Peatlands North of 45˚ represent one of the largest terrestrial carbon (C) stores. They play an important role in the global C-cycle, and their ability to sequester carbon is controlled by multiple, often competing, factors including precipitation, temperature and phenology. Land-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) is dynamic, and exhibits marked seasonal and inter-annual variations which can effect the overall carbon sink strength in both the short- and long-term.</p><p>Due to increased incidences of climate anomalies in recent years, long-term datasets are essential to disambiguate natural variability in Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) from shorter-term fluctuations. This is particularly important at high latitudes (>45˚N) where the majority of global peatlands are found. With increasing pressure from stressors such as climate and land-use change, it has been predicted that with a ca. 3<sup>o</sup>C global temperature rise by 2100, UK peatlands could become a net source of C.</p><p>NEE of CO<sub>2</sub> has been measured using the eddy-covariance (EC) method at Auchencorth Moss (55°47’32 N, 3°14’35 W, 267 m a.s.l.), a temperate, lowland, ombrotrophic peatland in central Scotland, continuously since 2002. Alongside EC data, we present a range of meteorological parameters measured at site including soil temperature, total solar and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), rainfall, and, since April 2007, half-hourly water table depth readings. The length of record and range of measurements make this dataset an important resource as one of the longest term records of CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes from a temperate peatland.</p><p>Although seasonal cycles of gross primary productivity (GPP) were highly variable between years, the site was a consistent CO<sub>2</sub> sink for the period 2002-2012. However, net annual losses of CO<sub>2</sub> have been recorded on several occasions since 2013. Whilst NEE tends to be positively correlated with the length of growing season, anomalies in winter weather also explain some of the variability in CO<sub>2</sub> sink strength the following summer.</p><p>Additionally, water table depth (WTD) plays a crucial role, affecting both GPP and ecosystem respiration (R<sub>eco</sub>). Relatively dry summers in recent years have contributed to shifting the balance between R<sub>eco</sub> and GPP: prolonged periods of low WTD were typically accompanied by an increase in R<sub>eco</sub>, and a decrease in GPP, hence weakening the overall CO<sub>2</sub> sink strength. Extreme events such as drought periods and cold winter temperatures can have significant and complex effects on NEE, particularly when such meteorological anomalies co-occur. For example, a positive annual NEE occurred in 2003 when Europe experienced heatwave and summer drought. More recently, an unusually long spell of snow lasting until the end of March delayed the onset of the 2018 growing season by up to 1.5 months compared to previous years. This was followed by a prolonged dry spell in summer 2018, which weakened GPP, increased R<sub>eco</sub> and led to a net annual loss of 47.4 ton CO<sub>2</sub>-C km<sup>-2</sup>. It is clear that the role of Northern peatlands within the carbon cycle is being modified, driven by changes in climate at both local and global scales.</p>


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Eckhardt ◽  
Christian Knoblauch ◽  
Lars Kutzbach ◽  
Gillian Simpson ◽  
Evgeny Abakumov ◽  
...  

Abstract. Arctic tundra ecosystems are currently facing rates of amplified climate change. This is critical as these ecosystems store significant amounts of carbon in their soils, which can be mineralized to CO2 and CH4 and released to the atmosphere. To understand how the CO2 net ecosystem exchange (NEE) fluxes will react to changing climatic conditions, it is necessary to understand the individual responses of the physiological processes contributing to CO2 NEE. Therefore, this study aimed: (i) to partition NEE fluxes at the soil-plant-atmosphere interface in an arctic tundra ecosystem; and (ii) to identify the main environmental drivers of these fluxes. Hereby, the NEE fluxes were partitioned into gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Reco) and further into autotrophic (RA) and heterotrophic respiration (RH). The study examined flux data collected during the growing season in 2015 using closed chamber measurements in a polygonal tundra landscape in the Lena River Delta, northeastern Siberia. The measured fluxes on the microscale (1 m–10 m) were used to model the NEE, GPP, Reco, RH, RA and net ecosystem production (NPP) over the growing season. Here, for the first time, the differing response of in situ measured RA and RH fluxes from permafrost-affected soils to hydrological conditions have been examined. It was shown that low RA fluxes are associated to a high water table, most likely due to the submersion of mosses, while an effect of water table fluctuations on RH fluxes was not observed. Furthermore, this work found the polygonal tundra in the Lena River Delta to be a sink for atmospheric CO2 during the growing season. Spatial heterogeneity was apparent with the net CO2 uptake at a wet, depressed polygon center being more than twice as high as that measured at a drier polygon rim. In addition to higher GPP fluxes, the differences in NEE between the two microsites were caused by lower Reco fluxes at the center compared to the rim. Here, the contrasting hydrological conditions caused the CO2 flux differences between the microsites, where high water levels lad to lower decomposition rates due to anoxic conditions.


2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Dolman ◽  
T. C. Maximov ◽  
E. J. Moors ◽  
A. P. Maximov ◽  
J. A. Elbers ◽  
...  

Abstract. Observations of the net ecosystem exchange of water and CO2 were made during two seasons in 2000 and 2001 above a Larch forest in Far East Siberia (Yakutsk). The measurements were obtained by eddy correlation. There is a very sharply pronounced growing season of 100 days when the forest is leaved. Maximum half hourly uptake rates are 18 µmol m-2 s-1; maximum respiration rates are 5 µmol m-2 s-1. Net annual sequestration of carbon was estimated at 160 gCm-2 in 2001. Applying no correction for low friction velocities added 60 g C m-2. The net carbon exchange of the forest was extremely sensitive to small changes in weather that may switch the forest easily from a sink to a source, even in summer. June was the month with highest uptake in 2001. The average evaporation rate of the forest approached 1.46 mm day-1 during the growing season, with peak values of 3 mm day-1 with an estimated annual evaporation of 213 mm, closely approaching the average annual rainfall amount. 2001 was a drier year than 2000 and this is reflected in lower evaporation rates in 2001 than in 2000. The surface conductance of the forest shows a marked response to increasing atmospheric humidity deficits. This affects the CO2 uptake and evaporation in a different manner, with the CO2 uptake being more affected. There appears to be no change in the relation between surface conductance and net ecosystem uptake normalized by the atmospheric humidity deficit at the monthly time scale. The response to atmospheric humidity deficit is an efficient mechanism to prevent severe water loss during the short intense growing season. The associated cost to the sequestration of carbon may be another explanation for the slow growth of these forests in this environment.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 3357-3380 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Luyssaert ◽  
G. Abril ◽  
R. Andres ◽  
D. Bastviken ◽  
V. Bellassen ◽  
...  

Abstract. Globally, terrestrial ecosystems have absorbed about 30% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions over the period 2000–2007 and inter-hemispheric gradients indicate that a significant fraction of terrestrial carbon sequestration must be north of the Equator. We present a compilation of the CO2, CO, CH4 and N2O balances of Europe following a dual constraint approach in which (1) a land-based balance derived mainly from ecosystem carbon inventories and (2) a land-based balance derived from flux measurements are compared to (3) the atmospheric data-based balance derived from inversions constrained by measurements of atmospheric GHG (greenhouse gas) concentrations. Good agreement between the GHG balances based on fluxes (1294 ± 545 Tg C in CO2-eq yr−1), inventories (1299 ± 200 Tg C in CO2-eq yr−1) and inversions (1210 ± 405 Tg C in CO2-eq yr−1) increases our confidence that the processes underlying the European GHG budget are well understood and reasonably sampled. However, the uncertainty remains large and largely lacks formal estimates. Given that European net land to atmosphere exchanges are determined by a few dominant fluxes, the uncertainty of these key components needs to be formally estimated before efforts could be made to reduce the overall uncertainty. The net land-to-atmosphere flux is a net source for CO2, CO, CH4 and N2O, because the anthropogenic emissions by far exceed the biogenic sink strength. The dual-constraint approach confirmed that the European biogenic sink removes as much as 205 ± 72 Tg C yr−1 from fossil fuel burning from the atmosphere. However, This C is being sequestered in both terrestrial and inland aquatic ecosystems. If the C-cost for ecosystem management is taken into account, the net uptake of ecosystems is estimated to decrease by 45% but still indicates substantial C-sequestration. However, when the balance is extended from CO2 towards the main GHGs, C-uptake by terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is offset by emissions of non-CO2 GHGs. As such, the European ecosystems are unlikely to contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change.


2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1777-1787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Galina Churkina ◽  
David Schimel ◽  
Bobby H. Braswell ◽  
Xiangming Xiao

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