Soil respiration dynamics in fire affected semi-arid ecosystems: Effects of vegetation type and environmental factors

2016 ◽  
Vol 572 ◽  
pp. 1385-1394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Muñoz-Rojas ◽  
Wolfgang Lewandrowski ◽  
Todd E. Erickson ◽  
Kingsley W. Dixon ◽  
David J. Merritt
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Arid Ecosystems ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Semi Arid

scholarly journals Altered phenology and temperature sensitivity of invasive annual grasses and forbs changes autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration rates in a semi-arid shrub community

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 6335-6375 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mauritz ◽  
D. L. Lipson
Keyword(s):  
Soil Respiration ◽  
High Temperatures ◽  
Temperature Sensitivity ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Arid Ecosystems ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
C Storage ◽  
Annual Grasses ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Invasive Annuals

Abstract. Many invasions, like the wide-spread establishment of annual grasses and forbs in semi-arid shrublands, are associated with climate change. In order to predict ecosystem carbon (C) storage it is critical that we understand how invasion affects soil respiration (Rt). Because plants and microbes have different seasonal dynamics, determining the relative contribution of autotrophic (Ra) and heterotrophic (Rh) respiration provides critical insight into soil C processes. Using automated soil respiration measurements and root exclusion cores we evaluated the moisture and temperature sensitivity of Rt and Rh and calculated the contribution of Ra in native shrub and invaded areas. Invasion increased cumulative Rt by 40% from 695 (±51) g C m−2 under shrubs to 1050 g C m−2 (±44) in invaded areas. Cumulative Rh did not change but invasion altered the seasonal pattern of Rh. Throughout the season Rt and Rh responded positively to temperature increases when soils were wet and negatively when soils were dry. Invasion increased temperature sensitivity of Rt and Rh in wet soils and decreased temperature sensitivity in dry soils. The altered temperature sensitivity of invasives was attributed largely to differences in phenology. Early phenology of invasive grasses caused rapid Ra increases early in the season; late phenology of invasive forbs resulted in the surprising maintenance of diurnal Ra and Rh signals despite high temperatures and low soil moisture. Invasion extended the respiration season of the system. Ability of the invasive community to withstand high temperatures and drought could confer greater resilience if temperature and precipitation patterns in the region change. The high contribution of Ra by invasive annuals means ecosystem C storage will depend heavily on seasonal rainfall dynamics and productivity of invasive annuals. In semi-arid ecosystems even small scale changes in plant community composition alter Rt, Ra and Rh and should be considered when attempting to predict Rt.

Semi-automated mapping of burned areas in semi-arid ecosystems using MODIS time-series imagery

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 25-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo A. Hardtke ◽  
Paula D. Blanco ◽  
Héctor F.del Valle ◽  
Graciela I. Metternicht ◽  
Walter F. Sione
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Arid Ecosystems ◽  
Automated Mapping ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Semi Arid

scholarly journals Spatial-Temporal Patterns and Controls of Evapotranspiration across the Tibetan Plateau (2000–2012)

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Jian Sun ◽  
Junnan Xiong
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Ecological Indicator ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Grassland Ecosystems ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Positive Correlations

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key factor to further our understanding of climate change processes, especially on the Tibetan Plateau, which is sensitive to global change. Herein, the spatial patterns of ET are examined, and the effects of environmental factors on ET at different scales are explored from the years 2000 to 2012. The results indicated that a steady trend in ET was detected over the past decade. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution shows an increase of ET from the northwest to the southeast, and the rate of change in ET is lower in the middle part of the Tibetan Plateau. Besides, the positive effect of radiation on ET existed mainly in the southwest. Based on the environment gradient transects, the ET had positive correlations with temperature (R>0.85, p<0.0001), precipitation (R > 0.89, p < 0.0001), and NDVI (R > 0.75, p < 0.0001), but a negative correlation between ET and radiation (R = 0.76, p < 0.0001) was observed. We also found that the relationships between environmental factors and ET differed in the different grassland ecosystems, which indicated that vegetation type is one factor that can affect ET. Generally, the results indicate that ET can serve as a valuable ecological indicator.

scholarly journals Modelling spatial and temporal dynamics of gross primary production in the Sahel from earth-observation-based photosynthetic capacity and quantum efficiency

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1333-1348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbern Tagesson ◽  
Jonas Ardö ◽  
Bernard Cappelaere ◽  
Laurent Kergoat ◽  
Abdulhakim Abdi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Production ◽  
Quantum Efficiency ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Photosynthetic Capacity ◽  
Gross Primary Production ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Arid Ecosystems ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Equivalent Water Thickness ◽  
Semi Arid

Abstract. It has been shown that vegetation growth in semi-arid regions is important to the global terrestrial CO2 sink, which indicates the strong need for improved understanding and spatially explicit estimates of CO2 uptake (gross primary production; GPP) in semi-arid ecosystems. This study has three aims: (1) to evaluate the MOD17A2H GPP (collection 6) product against GPP based on eddy covariance (EC) for six sites across the Sahel; (2) to characterize relationships between spatial and temporal variability in EC-based photosynthetic capacity (Fopt) and quantum efficiency (α) and vegetation indices based on earth observation (EO) (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), renormalized difference vegetation index (RDVI), enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and shortwave infrared water stress index (SIWSI)); and (3) to study the applicability of EO upscaled Fopt and α for GPP modelling purposes. MOD17A2H GPP (collection 6) drastically underestimated GPP, most likely because maximum light use efficiency is set too low for semi-arid ecosystems in the MODIS algorithm. Intra-annual dynamics in Fopt were closely related to SIWSI being sensitive to equivalent water thickness, whereas α was closely related to RDVI being affected by chlorophyll abundance. Spatial and inter-annual dynamics in Fopt and α were closely coupled to NDVI and RDVI, respectively. Modelled GPP based on Fopt and α upscaled using EO-based indices reproduced in situ GPP well for all except a cropped site that was strongly impacted by anthropogenic land use. Upscaled GPP for the Sahel 2001–2014 was 736 ± 39 g C m−2 yr−1. This study indicates the strong applicability of EO as a tool for spatially explicit estimates of GPP, Fopt and α; incorporating EO-based Fopt and α in dynamic global vegetation models could improve estimates of vegetation production and simulations of ecosystem processes and hydro-biochemical cycles.

scholarly journals Improvement of Soil Respiration Parameterization in a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model and Its Impact on the Simulation of Terrestrial Carbon Fluxes

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongmin Kim ◽  
Myong-In Lee ◽  
Eunkyo Seo
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Carbon Fluxes ◽  
Decomposition Process ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
In Situ Observation ◽  
Terrestrial Carbon ◽  
Soil Temperature And Moisture

Abstract The Q10 value represents the soil respiration sensitivity to temperature often used for the parameterization of the soil decomposition process has been assumed to be a constant in conventional numerical models, whereas it exhibits significant spatial and temporal variation in the observations. This study develops a new parameterization method for determining Q10 by considering the soil respiration dependence on soil temperature and moisture obtained by multiple regression for each vegetation type. This study further investigates the impacts of the new parameterization on the global terrestrial carbon flux. Our results show that a nonuniform spatial distribution of Q10 tends to better represent the dependence of the soil respiration process on heterogeneous surface vegetation type compared with the control simulation using a uniform Q10. Moreover, it tends to improve the simulation of the relationship between soil respiration and soil temperature and moisture, particularly over cold and dry regions. The modification has an impact on the soil respiration and carbon decomposition process, which changes gross primary production (GPP) through controlling nutrient assimilation from soil to vegetation. It leads to a realistic spatial distribution of GPP, particularly over high latitudes where the original model has a significant underestimation bias. Improvement in the spatial distribution of GPP leads to a substantial reduction of global mean GPP bias compared with the in situ observation-based reference data. The results highlight that the enhanced sensitivity of soil respiration to the subsurface soil temperature and moisture introduced by the nonuniform spatial distribution of Q10 has contributed to improving the simulation of the terrestrial carbon fluxes and the global carbon cycle.

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