scholarly journals Graminoids vary in functional traits, carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in a restored peatland: implications for modeling carbon storage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellie M Goud ◽  
Sabrina Touchette ◽  
Ian B Strachan ◽  
Maria Strack
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Functional Groups ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Functional Variation ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
Leaf Physiology ◽  
Gas Fluxes ◽  
Continuous Plant

One metric of peatland restoration success is the re-establishment of a carbon sink, yet considerable uncertainty remains around the timescale of carbon sink trajectories. Conditions post-restoration may promote the establishment of vascular plants such as graminoids, often at greater density than would be found in undisturbed peatlands, with consequences for carbon storage. Although graminoid species are often considered as a single plant functional type (PFT) in land-atmosphere models, our understanding of functional variation among graminoid species is limited, particularly in a restoration context. We used a traits-based approach to evaluate graminoid functional variation and to assess whether different graminoid species should be considered a single PFT or multiple types. We tested hypotheses that greenhouse gas fluxes (CO2, CH4) would vary due to differences in plant traits among five graminoid species in a restored peatland in central Alberta, Canada. We further hypothesized that species would form two functionally distinct groupings based on taxonomy (grass, sedge). Differences in gas fluxes among species were primarily driven by variation in leaf physiology related to photosynthetic efficiency and resource-use, and secondarily by plant size. Multivariate analyses did not reveal distinct functional groupings based on taxonomy or environmental preferences. Rather, we identified functional groups defined by continuous plant traits and carbon fluxes that are consistent with ecological strategies related to differences in growth rate, resource-acquisition, and leaf economics. These functional groups displayed larger carbon storage potential than currently-applied graminoid PFTs. Existing PFT designations in peatland models may be more appropriate for pristine or high-latitude systems than those under restoration. Although replacing PFTs with continuous plant traits remains a challenge in peatlands, traits related to leaf physiology and growth rate strategies offer a promising avenue for future applications.

scholarly journals Environmental change impacts on the C- and N-cycle of European forests: a model comparison study

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1751-1773 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Cameron ◽  
M. Van Oijen ◽  
C. Werner ◽  
K. Butterbach-Bahl ◽  
R. Grote ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
N2o Emission ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
N2o Emissions ◽  
European Forests ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen

Abstract. Forests are important components of the greenhouse gas balance of Europe. There is considerable uncertainty about how predicted changes to climate and nitrogen deposition will perturb the carbon and nitrogen cycles of European forests and thereby alter forest growth, carbon sequestration and N2O emission. The present study aimed to quantify the carbon and nitrogen balance, including the exchange of greenhouse gases, of European forests over the period 2010–2030, with a particular emphasis on the spatial variability of change. The analysis was carried out for two tree species: European beech and Scots pine. For this purpose, four different dynamic models were used: BASFOR, DailyDayCent, INTEGRATOR and Landscape-DNDC. These models span a range from semi-empirical to complex mechanistic. Comparison of these models allowed assessment of the extent to which model predictions depended on differences in model inputs and structure. We found a European average carbon sink of 0.160 ± 0.020 kgC m−2 yr−1 (pine) and 0.138 ± 0.062 kgC m−2 yr−1 (beech) and N2O source of 0.285 ± 0.125 kgN ha−1 yr−1 (pine) and 0.575 ± 0.105 kgN ha−1 yr−1 (beech). The European average greenhouse gas potential of the carbon sink was 18 (pine) and 8 (beech) times that of the N2O source. Carbon sequestration was larger in the trees than in the soil. Carbon sequestration and forest growth were largest in central Europe and lowest in northern Sweden and Finland, N. Poland and S. Spain. No single driver was found to dominate change across Europe. Forests were found to be most sensitive to change in environmental drivers where the drivers were limiting growth, where changes were particularly large or where changes acted in concert. The models disagreed as to which environmental changes were most significant for the geographical variation in forest growth and as to which tree species showed the largest rate of carbon sequestration. Pine and beech forests were found to have differing sensitivities to environmental change, in particular the response to changes in nitrogen and precipitation, with beech forest more vulnerable to drought. There was considerable uncertainty about the geographical location of N2O emissions. Two of the models BASFOR and LandscapeDNDC had largest emissions in central Europe where nitrogen deposition and soil nitrogen were largest, whereas the two other models identified different regions with large N2O emission. N2O emissions were found to be larger from beech than pine forests and were found to be particularly sensitive to forest growth.

scholarly journals Large but decreasing effect of ozone on the European carbon sink

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 4245-4269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Oliver ◽  
Lina M. Mercado ◽  
Stephen Sitch ◽  
David Simpson ◽  
Belinda E. Medlyn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Stomatal Closure ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Background Concentrations ◽  
Tropospheric O3 ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The capacity of the terrestrial biosphere to sequester carbon and mitigate climate change is governed by the ability of vegetation to remove emissions of CO2 through photosynthesis. Tropospheric O3, a globally abundant and potent greenhouse gas, is, however, known to damage plants, causing reductions in primary productivity. Despite emission control policies across Europe, background concentrations of tropospheric O3 have risen significantly over the last decades due to hemispheric-scale increases in O3 and its precursors. Therefore, plants are exposed to increasing background concentrations, at levels currently causing chronic damage. Studying the impact of O3 on European vegetation at the regional scale is important for gaining greater understanding of the impact of O3 on the land carbon sink at large spatial scales. In this work we take a regional approach and update the JULES land surface model using new measurements specifically for European vegetation. Given the importance of stomatal conductance in determining the flux of O3 into plants, we implement an alternative stomatal closure parameterisation and account for diurnal variations in O3 concentration in our simulations. We conduct our analysis specifically for the European region to quantify the impact of the interactive effects of tropospheric O3 and CO2 on gross primary productivity (GPP) and land carbon storage across Europe. A factorial set of model experiments showed that tropospheric O3 can suppress terrestrial carbon uptake across Europe over the period 1901 to 2050. By 2050, simulated GPP was reduced by 4 to 9 % due to plant O3 damage and land carbon storage was reduced by 3 to 7 %. The combined physiological effects of elevated future CO2 (acting to reduce stomatal opening) and reductions in O3 concentrations resulted in reduced O3 damage in the future. This alleviation of O3 damage by CO2-induced stomatal closure was around 1 to 2 % for both land carbon and GPP, depending on plant sensitivity to O3. Reduced land carbon storage resulted from diminished soil carbon stocks consistent with the reduction in GPP. Regional variations are identified with larger impacts shown for temperate Europe (GPP reduced by 10 to 20 %) compared to boreal regions (GPP reduced by 2 to 8 %). These results highlight that O3 damage needs to be considered when predicting GPP and land carbon, and that the effects of O3 on plant physiology need to be considered in regional land carbon cycle assessments.

scholarly journals Baseline and projected future carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes in the Great Plains region of the United States

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Bouchard ◽  
David Butman ◽  
Todd Hawbaker ◽  
Zhengpeng Li ◽  
Jinxun Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gas Fluxes ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Fluxes

scholarly journals Plant Functional Groups Dominate Responses of Plant Adaptive Strategies to Urbanization

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yihua Xiao ◽  
Shirong Liu ◽  
Manyun Zhang ◽  
Fuchun Tong ◽  
Zhihong Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Functional Groups ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
Resource Acquisition ◽  
Shrub Species ◽  
Metal Concentrations ◽  
Heavy Metal Concentrations ◽  
Suburban Areas

Urbanization causes alteration in atmospheric, soil, and hydrological factors and substantially affects a range of morphological and physiological plant traits. Correspondingly, plants might adopt different strategies to adapt to urbanization promotion or pressure. Understanding of plant traits responding to urbanization will reveal the capacity of plant adaptation and optimize the choice of plant species in urbanization green. In this study, four different functional groups (herbs, shrubs, subcanopies, and canopies, eight plant species totally) located in urban, suburban, and rural areas were selected and eight replicated plants were selected for each species at each site. Their physiological and photosynthetic properties and heavy metal concentrations were quantified to reveal plant adaptive strategies to urbanization. The herb and shrub species had significantly higher starch and soluble sugar contents in urban than in suburban areas. Urbanization decreased the maximum photosynthetic rates and total chlorophyll contents of the canopies (Engelhardtia roxburghiana and Schima superba). The herbs (Lophatherum gracile and Alpinia chinensis) and shrubs (Ardisia quinquegona and Psychotria rubra) species in urban areas had significantly lower nitrogen (N) allocated in the cell wall and leaf δ15N values but higher heavy metal concentrations than those in suburban areas. The canopy and subcanopy (Diospyros morrisiana and Cratoxylum cochinchinense) species adapt to the urbanization via reducing resource acquisition but improving defense capacity, while the herb and shrub species improve resource acquisition to adapt to the urbanization. Our current studies indicated that functional groups affected the responses of plant adaptive strategies to the urbanization.

scholarly journals Disentangling the Effects of Disturbance from Those of Dominant Tall Grass Features in Driving the Functional Variation of Restored Grassland in a Sub-Mediterranean Context

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Bricca ◽  
Federico Maria Tardella ◽  
Fabio Tolu ◽  
Irina Goia ◽  
Arianna Ferrara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Functional Variation ◽  
Tall Grass ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Coexisting Species ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Space Occupation

Land abandonment in sub-Mediterranean grasslands causes the spread of tall-grasses, affecting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Mowing allows the recovery of the coenological composition after invasion, but the mechanisms acting at the fine-scale are poorly investigated. Since 2010 in the Central Apennines, we fenced a grassland invaded by Brachypodium rupestre, divided it into two areas, half of each was mowed biyearly and half remained unmown. In 2017 we selected ten 20 × 20 cm experimental units per half-area, collecting data on species occurrences, plant traits, B. rupestre height and phytomass. We used generalized linear mixed-effect modelling to disentangle the role of mowing from the impact of B. rupestre features in driving the community functional variations. Mowing was the main driver in the recovery process, acting as an abiotic filter (enhancement of tolerance-avoidance strategies). Furthermore, the reduction of weaker competitor exclusion processes fostered the increase of functional variation between coexisting species. Both drivers acted on different plant traits (e.g., mowing on life span, vegetative propagation types and plant height, mowing and B. rupestre features on space occupation types, seed mass and leaf anatomy), generally enhancing the extent of functional strategies related to resource acquisition and storage, reproduction, space occupation and temporal niche exploitation.

scholarly journals Effect of the Rearing System on the Establishment of Different Functional Groups of Microorganism in the Rumen of Kid Goats / Uticaj Sistema Uzgoja Na Uspostavljanje Različitih Funkcionalnih Grupa Mikroorganizama U Buragu Jaradi

2015 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastián Paez Lama ◽  
Diego Grilli ◽  
Vanina Egea ◽  
María Cerón Cucchi ◽  
Mercedes Fucili ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Functional Groups ◽  
Goat Milk ◽  
Solid Food ◽  
Cellulolytic Bacteria ◽  
Alfalfa Hay ◽  
Rumen Development ◽  
Ground Corn

Abstract This study was aimed to determine the effect of the rearing system on the establishment and development of different functional groups of microorganisms in the rumen of kid goats. Fifty kids were fed on goat milk until weaning at 45 (TR, traditional rearing system, n = 25) and 30 days of age (alternative rearing system, AR, n = 25). In addition, only AR group was offered with rumen starter from birth. Both groups consumed alfalfa hay and ground corn between 30 and 90 days of age. Five kids from each group were slaughtered at 21, 30, 45, 70 and 90 days old. It was determined the total number of protozoa, anaerobic, amylolytic and cellulolytic bacteria present in the rumen. Kids of AR were lighter in weight than TR kids between 42 and 56 days old. In both rearing systems, anaerobic and amylolytic bacteria were found at 21 days of age, while cellulolytic and protozoa were not found until 45 days of age. Kids of AR had higher quantities of anaerobic and amylolytic bacteria until 30 and 45 days of age, respectively. These results demonstrate the rearing system does not affect the sequence and time in which the functional groups of microorganisms are established in the rumen. However, the alternative rearing system with early intake of solid food allowed the establishment of greater amount of bacteria and protozoa. Nevertheless, the effect of weaning on growth rate was more marked in kids from alternative rearing system, despite its greater microbiological rumen development.

scholarly journals Moisture Modes and the Eastward Propagation of the MJO

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Sobel ◽  
Eric Maloney
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Moisture Gradient ◽  
Moist Static Energy ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Zonal Advection ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Frictional Convergence ◽  
Static Energy

Abstract The authors discuss modifications to a simple linear model of intraseasonal moisture modes. Wind–evaporation feedbacks were shown in an earlier study to induce westward propagation in an eastward mean low-level flow in this model. Here additional processes, which provide effective sources of moist static energy to the disturbances and which also depend on the low-level wind, are considered. Several processes can act as positive sources in perturbation easterlies: zonal advection (if the mean zonal moisture gradient is eastward), modulation of synoptic eddy drying by the MJO-scale wind perturbations, and frictional convergence. If the sum of these is stronger than the wind–evaporation feedback—as observations suggest may be the case, though with considerable uncertainty—the model produces unstable modes that propagate weakly eastward relative to the mean flow. With a small amount of horizontal diffusion or other scale-selective damping, the growth rate is greatest at the largest horizontal scales and decreases monotonically with wavenumber.

scholarly journals Improving estimates of tropical peatland area, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas fluxes

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. T. Lawson ◽  
T. J. Kelly ◽  
P. Aplin ◽  
A. Boom ◽  
G. Dargie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Tropical Peatland ◽  
Gas Fluxes ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Fluxes
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