Nutrient Cycling and Energy Flow in Grasslands

Author(s):  
Brian J. Wilsey

Net primary productivity (NPP) is the amount of C or biomass that accumulates over time and is photosynthesis—autotroph respiration. Annual NPP is estimated by summing positive biomass increments across time periods during the growing season, including offtake to herbivores, which can be high in grasslands. Remote sensing techniques that are used to assess NPP are discussed by the author. Belowground productivity can be high in grasslands, and it is important to carbon storage. Across grasslands on a geographic scale, NPP, N mineralization, and soil organic C all increase with annual precipitation. Within regions, NPP can be strongly affected by the proportion of C4 plant species and animal species composition and diversity. Humans are adding more N to the environment than all the natural forms of addition (fixation and lightning) combined. Animals, especially herbivores, can have strong effects on how plants respond to changes in changes in resource availability.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaochen Zhao ◽  
Victor H. Rivera-Monroy ◽  
Luis M. Farfán ◽  
Henry Briceño ◽  
Edward Castañeda-Moya ◽  
...  

AbstractMangroves are the most blue-carbon rich coastal wetlands contributing to the reduction of atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis (sequestration) and high soil organic carbon (C) storage. Globally, mangroves are increasingly impacted by human and natural disturbances under climate warming, including pervasive pulsing tropical cyclones. However, there is limited information assessing cyclone’s functional role in regulating wetlands carbon cycling from annual to decadal scales. Here we show how cyclones with a wide range of integrated kinetic energy (IKE) impact C fluxes in the Everglades, a neotropical region with high cyclone landing frequency. Using long-term mangrove Net Primary Productivity (Litterfall, NPPL) data (2001–2018), we estimated cyclone-induced litterfall particulate organic C (litter-POC) export from mangroves to estuarine waters. Our analysis revealed that this lateral litter-POC flux (71–205 g C m−2 year−1)—currently unaccounted in global C budgets—is similar to C burial rates (69–157 g C m−2 year−1) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC, 61–229 g C m−2 year−1) export. We proposed a statistical model (PULITER) between IKE-based pulse index and NPPL to determine cyclone’s impact on mangrove role as C sink or source. Including the cyclone’s functional role in regulating mangrove C fluxes is critical to developing local and regional climate change mitigation plans.


2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangyang Hou ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
Schellenberg P. Michael ◽  
Lei Ji ◽  
Xiangjun Yun

Soil respiration is a major process for organic carbon losses from arid ecosystems. A field experiment was conducted in 2010 and 2012 on the responses to continuous grazing, rotational grazing and no grazing on desert steppe vegetation in northern China. The growing season in 2010 was relatively dry and in 2012 was relatively wet. The results showed that mean soil respiration was the highest with no grazing in both growing seasons. Compared with no grazing, the soil respiration was decreased by 23.0% under continuous grazing and 14.1% under seasonal rotational grazing. Soil respiration increased linearly with increasing soil water gravimetric content, aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) and soil carbon and nitrogen contents across the 2 years, whereas a negative correlation was detected between soil respiration and soil temperature. A significant decrease in soil respiration was observed under both continuous grazing and in seasonal rotational grazing in the dry growing season, but no significant difference was detected in the wet growing season. In the wet year, only a non-significant difference in soil respiration was observed between different grazing types. Patterns of seasonal precipitation strongly affected the temporal changes of soil respiration as well as its response to different grazing types. The findings highlight the importance of differences in abiotic (soil temperature, soil water gravimetric content and soil carbon and nitrogen contents) and biotic (ANPP, BNPP and litter mass) factors in mediating the responses of soil respiration to the different grazing regimes.


Beskydy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-42
Author(s):  
Petr Holub ◽  
Ivan Tůma ◽  
Karel Fiala

We assessed below-ground net primary productivity (BNPP) in the wet submontane Cirsium meadow occurred in the highland region of the Czech Republic. Effect of four different fertilization levels on BNPP was estimated in 1992. At the beginning of the growing season (April 29), total dry mass of rhizomes, roots and total below-ground plant parts of unfertilized stand reached 177, 1478 and 1657 g.m-2, respectively. Their living parts formed 42 % of their total dry mass. In comparison with unfertilized stands, however, the greatest accumulation of dry mass of rhizomes (504 g.m-2), roots (1503 g.m-2) and total below-ground dry mass (2008 g.m-2) was reached after application of 90 kgN.ha-1. Similarly, the highest BNPP values for living (435 g.m-2.yr-1) and total below-ground dry mass (351 g.m-2.yr-1) were calculated for the stand affected by the same amount of fertilization. These data show how variable role grasslands can play in accumulation and turn over of root biomass due to different levels of fertilization.


1979 ◽  
Vol 25 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. a0001-z0001
Author(s):  
Lewis F. Ohmann ◽  
David F. Grigal

Abstract Three virgin plant communities dominated by Pinus banksiana, three by Populus-Betula, and one mixed community were studied over five growing seasons after burning in the 1971 Little Sioux Fire. From 1971 through 1975 tree and tall shrub reproduction generally decreased in density and increased in biomass. Low shrub cover and biomass increased for 3 years and then leveled off as tree and tall shrub competition increased. Herb cover and biomass increased most rapidly through 1972 and then slowed substantially. By 1975 total net primary productivity averaged 850 g/m²/yr for all seven stands, and over 1,200 g/m²/yr in the broadleaf-dominated stands. The forest floor 01 horizon increased in mass through 1974, and then apparently stabilized at about 620 g/m². The 02 horizon averaged about 1,000 g/m² and was still increasing in 1975. By the 1975 growing season the total amount of nutrients in aboveground vegetation on burned plots ranged from 33 percent of the N to 65 percent of the K found in nearby unburned forest communities. By 1973 the nutrients in the aboveground vegetation and the 01 horizon of the forest floor were greater than the quantity estimated to have been mobilized by the fire. The vegetation was an effective sink for the released nutrients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1667
Author(s):  
Mai Son Le ◽  
Yuei-An Liou

The relationship between the physic features of the Earth’s surface and its temperature has been significantly investigated for further soil moisture assessment. In this study, the spatiotemporal impacts of surface properties on land surface temperature (LST) were examined by using Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) and meteorological data. The significant distinctions were observed during a crop growing season through the contrast in the correlation between different multi-spectral satellite indices and LST, in which the highest correlation of −0.65 was found when the Normalized Difference Latent heat Index (NDLI) was used. A new index, named as Temperature-soil Moisture Dryness Index (TMDI), is accordingly proposed to assess surface moisture and evapotranspiration (ET) variability. It is based on a triangle space where NDLI is set as a reference basis for examining surface water availability and the variation of LST is an indicator as a consequence of the cooling effect by ET. TMDI was evaluated against ET derived from the commonly-used model, namely Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL), as well as compared to the performance of Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI). This study was conducted over five-time points for the 2014 winter crop growing season in southern Taiwan. Results indicated that TMDI exhibits significant sensitivity to surface moisture fluctuation by showing a strong correlation with SEBAL-derived ET with the highest correlation of −0.89 was found on 19 October. Moreover, TMDI revealed its superiority over TVDI in the response to a rapidly changing surface moisture due to water supply before the investigated time. It is suggested that TMDI is a proper and sensitive indicator to characterize the surface moisture and ET rate. Further exploitation of the usefulness of the TMDI in a variety of applications would be interesting.


2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 466-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hayri Kesikoglu ◽  
U. Haluk Atasever ◽  
Filiz Dadaser-Celik ◽  
Coskun Ozkan

Abstract Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems that provide services ranging from flood control to climate change mitigation. Wetlands are also critical habitats for the survival of numerous plant and animal species. In this study, we used satellite remote sensing techniques for classification and change detection at an internationally important wetland (Ramsar Site) in Turkey. Sultan Marshes is located at the center of semi-arid Develi closed basin. The wetlands have undergone significant changes since the 1980s due to changes in water flow regimes, but changes in recent years have not been sufficiently explored yet. In this study, we focused on the changes from 2005 to 2012. Two multispectral ASTER images with spatial resolution of 15 m, acquired on June 11, 2005 and May 20, 2012, were used in the analyses. After geometric correction, the images were classified into four information classes, namely water, marsh, agriculture, and steppe. The applicability of three classification methods (i.e. maximum likelihood (MLH), multi-layer perceptron type artificial neural networks (ANN) and support vector machines (SVM)) was assessed. The differences in classification accuracies were evaluated by the McNemar's test. The changes in the Sultan Marshes were determined by the post classification comparison method using the most accurate classified images. The results showed that the highest overall accuracy in image classifications was achieved with the SVM method. It was observed that marshes and steppe areas decreased while water and agricultural areas expanded from 2005 to 2012. These changes could be the results of water transfers to the marshes from neighboring watershed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 2360-2369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob H. Dyer ◽  
Stith T. Gower ◽  
Jodi A. Forrester ◽  
Craig G. Lorimer ◽  
David J. Mladenoff ◽  
...  

Restoring structural features of old-growth forests, such as increased canopy gap sizes and coarse woody debris, is a common management goal for second-growth, even-aged stands. We experimentally manipulated forest structure by creating variable-size canopy gaps in a second-growth northern hardwood forest in north-central Wisconsin following two growing seasons of pre-treatment monitoring. The objectives of this study were to quantify the influence of canopy gaps of different sizes (50–380 m2) on aboveground biomass and productivity of each vegetation stratum two growing seasons following treatment. Two years after treatment, ground layer biomass in canopy openings increased significantly relative to surrounding undisturbed transition zones. The response of ground layer biomass was greatest in the large versus the medium and small gaps. Sapling aboveground net primary productivity was significantly greater in undisturbed transition zones than within gaps across gap sizes following the second post-treatment growing season. Annual stem diameter increment was greatest for trees along gap borders and was correlated with crown class, percentage of crown perimeter exposed, gap area, and shade tolerance. Total aboveground net primary productivity was significantly lower in the gap addition plots the first year but by the second post-treatment growing season no longer differed from that in the control plots.


Author(s):  
Y. Qiu ◽  
L. Zhang ◽  
D. Fan

The relationship between net primary productivity (NPP) and phenological changes is of great significance to the study of regional ecosystem processes. In this study, firstly, NPP was estimated with the remote sensing model based on the SPOT-VGT NDVI dataset (2000–2015), meteorological data and the vegetation map in Northeast China. Then, using NDVI time series data which was reconstructed by polynomial fitting, phenology was extracted with the dynamic threshold method. Finally, the relationship between NPP and phenology was analyzed. The results showed that NPP mainly increased in the cropland, grassland, forestland and shrubland; however, vegetation NPP decreased in the ecotone among cropland, grassland and forestland. Correlation analysis suggested that the relationships between NPP and phenological metrics (i.e., the start of the growing season (SOS), the end of the growing season (EOS), the length of the growing season (LOS)) were different due to geographical location. On the whole, there was a positive correlation between NPP and the LOS in the forestland, and negative in the cropland and grassland, indicating that extended LOS can promote the accumulation of forestland NPP. By analyzing the monthly NDVI data during the vigorous growth period, the increase of NPP in the grassland and cropland was mainly due to the better growth from June to August, and shortened LOS did not lead to reduce the NPP. Generally, the response of NPP to phenology in Northeast China were more complex, showing obvious difference of vegetation types and spatial variability, we need to consider topography, community structure and other factors in the further studies.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e10650
Author(s):  
Renping Zhang ◽  
Jing Guo ◽  
Gang Yin

Determining the relationship between net primary productivity (NPP) and grassland phenology is important for an in-depth understanding of the impact of climate change on ecosystems. In this study, the NPP of grassland in Xinjiang, China, was simulated using the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford approach (CASA) model with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) grassland phenological (MCD12Q2) data to study trends in phenological metrics, grassland NPP, and the relations between these factors from 2001–2014. The results revealed advancement of the start of the growing season (SOS) for grassland in most regions (55.2%) in Xinjiang. The percentage of grassland area in which the end of the growing season (EOS) was delayed (50.9%) was generally the same as that in which the EOS was advanced (49.1%). The percentage of grassland area with an increase in the length of the growing season (LOS) for the grassland area (54.6%) was greater than that with a decrease in the LOS (45.4%). The percentage of grassland area with an increase in NPP (61.6%) was greater than that with a decrease in NPP (38.4%). Warmer regions featured an earlier SOS and a later EOS and thus a longer LOS. Regions with higher precipitation exhibited a later SOS and an earlier EOS and thus a shorter LOS. In most regions, the SOS was earlier, and spring NPP was higher. A linear statistical analysis showed that at various humidity (K) levels, grassland NPP in all regions initially increased but then decreased with increasing LOS. At higher levels of K, when NPP gradually increased, the LOS gradually decreased.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhoutao Zheng ◽  
Wenquan Zhu ◽  
Yangjian Zhang ◽  
Ke Huang ◽  
Nan Cong

<p>Vegetation phenology is recognized to exert crucial influences on carbon sequestration and the role of vegetation phenology in mediating carbon cycle varies with ecosystem type. However, the relationship between vegetation phenology and productivity has not been fully understood in the alpine ecosystem due to a lack of field observations, poor model performances and their complex mechanisms. In this study, we examined the spatio-temporal variation in beginning of growing season (BGS) and net primary productivity (NPP) for the alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and the regulation effects of spring phenology on seasonal NPP by integrating field observations, remote sensing monitoring and ecosystem model simulation. The ecosystem model performances were improved by optimizing ecosystem parameters from field observations. The results indicated a significant advance in BGS with a rate of 0.31 days/yr (P < 0.1) in the alpine grassland during 2001-2015 while the annual NPP increased significantly at a rate of 1.25 gC/m<sup>2</sup>/yr (P < 0.01). With regard to the relationship between BGS and NPP, large spatial heterogeneities were identified. Overall, a negative but non-significant correlation (R = -0.34, P > 0.1) was observed between BGS and annual NPP for the entire grassland ecosystem on the TP. But responses of NPP to BGS varied with seasons. Specifically, BGS showed significant negative correlation with spring NPP (R = -0.73, P < 0.01), and advanced spring led to increased spring NPP. The positive effects of advanced BGS on NPP tended to weaken in summer. Moreover, BGS was significantly and positively correlated with autumn NPP in some relatively arid zones of the southwestern TP, suggesting the suppressing effects of earlier spring on carbon assimilation during the later growing season in water limited areas. This study improved our understanding on the impacts of biotic factors on carbon cycles of the alpine ecosystem and implies that the effects of phenology can’t be concluded simply for an annual sum, and their relationships for each separate season are also critical.</p>


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