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Alongshore water off Barrow, Alaska is a useful area for studying the carbon cycle of the Arctic coastal sea, because the different coastal characteristics extant in the area likely represent much larger regions of the coastal water of the western Arctic Ocean. Especially noteworthy is the inflow shelf water transferred northward by the Arctic Coastal Current into the Chukchi Sea from the North Pacific and turbid water in the Elson Lagoon where a significant amount of coastal erosion has been reported along the extensive coastal line and where a part of the water from the lagoon drains into the Beaufort Sea adjacent to the Chukchi Sea. To investigate spatial and temporal variations of air-sea CO2 flux (CO2 flux) of the alongshore water, partial pressure of CO2 of surface seawater (pCO2sw ) was measured in summer, 2007 and 2008, and CO2 flux was directly measured by eddy covariance at a fixed point for the Beaufort Sea in summer 2008. Measured pCO2sw in the Chukchi Sea side was the lowest in the beginning of the measurement season and increased later in the season both in 2007 and 2008. The average CO2 flux estimated based on pCO2sw in the Chukchi Sea side was −0.10 μmol m−2 s−1 (±0.1 s.d.) using the sign convention of positive fluxes into the atmosphere from the ocean. pCO2sw in the Beaufort Sea and the Elson Lagoon was relatively higher in early summer and decreased in the middle of the summer. The overall average CO2 flux was −0.07 μmol m−2 s−1 (±0.1 s.d.) for the Beaufort Sea side and −0.03 μmol m−2 s−1 (±0.07 s.d.) for the Elson Lagoon respectively, indicating a sink of CO2 despite high carbon inflows from the terrestrial margin into the Elson Lagoon. A strong sink of CO2 was often observed from the Beaufort Sea by eddy covariance in the middle of the summer. This sink activity in the middle summer in the Beaufort Sea and Elson Lagoon was likely due to biological carbon uptake as inferred by low apparent oxygen utilization and high chlorophyll concentration that offset a potential source of CO2 due to terrestrial carbon inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional quantification of arctic CO2 and CH4 fluxes remains difficult due to high landscape heterogeneity coupled with a sparse measurement network. Most of the arctic coastal tundra near Barrow, Alaska is part of the thaw lake cycle, which includes current thaw lakes and a 5500-year chronosequence of vegetated thaw lake basins. However, spatial variability in carbon fluxes from these features remains grossly understudied. Here, we present an analysis of whole-ecosystem CO2 and CH4 fluxes from 20 thaw lake cycle features during the 2011 growing season. We found that the thaw lake cycle was largely responsible for spatial variation in CO2 flux, mostly due to its control on gross primary productivity ( GPP). Current lakes were significant CO2 sources that varied little. Vegetated basins showed declining GPP and CO2 sink with age ( R2 = 67% and 57%, respectively). CH4 fluxes measured from a subset of 12 vegetated basins showed no relationship with age or CO2 flux components. Instead, higher CH4 fluxes were related to greater landscape wetness ( R2 = 57%) and thaw depth (additional R2 = 28%). Spatial variation in CO2 and CH4 fluxes had good satellite remote sensing indicators, and we estimated the region to be a small CO2 sink of −4.9 ± 2.4 (SE) g C m−2 between 11 June and 25 August, which was countered by a CH4 source of 2.1 ± 0.2 (SE) g C m−2. Results from our scaling exercise showed that developing or validating regional estimates based on single tower sites can result in significant bias, on average by a factor 4 for CO2 flux and 30% for CH4 flux. Although our results are specific to the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska, the degree of landscape-scale variability, large-scale controls on carbon exchange, and implications for regional estimation seen here likely have wide relevance to other arctic landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural ecosystems are rarely structurally simple or functionally homogeneous. This is true for the complex coastal region of Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, Mexico, where the spatial variability in ecosystem fluxes from the Pacific coastal ocean, eutrophic lagoon, mangroves, and desert were studied. The Sky Arrow 650TCN environmental research aircraft proved to be an effective tool in characterizing land-atmosphere fluxes of energy, CO2, and water vapor across a heterogeneous landscape at the scale of 1 km. The aircraft was capable of discriminating fluxes from all ecosystem types, as well as between nearshore and coastal areas a few kilometers distant. Aircraft-derived average midday CO2 fluxes from the desert showed a slight uptake of −1.32 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1, the coastal ocean also showed an uptake of −3.48 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1, and the lagoon mangroves showed the highest uptake of −8.11 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1. Additional simultaneous measurements of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) allowed simple linear modeling of CO2 flux as a function of NDVI for the mangroves of the Magdalena Bay region. Aircraft approaches can, therefore, be instrumental in determining regional CO2 fluxes and can be pivotal in calculating and verifying ecosystem carbon sequestration regionally when coupled with satellite-derived products and ecosystem models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landscape surface of the Barrow Peninsula of Alaska is a mosaic of small ponds, thaw lakes, different aged vegetated drained thaw-lake basins (VDTLBs), and interstitial tundra which have been dynamically formed by both short- and long-term processes. We used a combination of tower- and aircraft-based eddy covariance measurements to characterize the spatial and temporal patterns of CO2, latent, and sensible heat fluxes along with MODIS NDVI, and were able to scale the aircraft-based CO2 fluxes to the 1802 km2 Barrow Peninsula region. During typical 2006 summer conditions, the midday hourly CO2 flux over the region was −2.04 × 105 kg CO2 h−1. The CO2 fluxes among the interstitial tundra, Ancient, and Old VDTLBs, as well as between the Medium and Young VDTLBs were not significantly different. Combined, the interstitial tundra and Old and Ancient VDTLBs represent∼67% of the Barrow Peninsula surface area, accounting for ∼59% of the regional flux signal. Although the Medium and Young VDTLBs represent ∼11% of the surface area, they account for a large portion, ∼35%, of the total regional flux. The remaining ∼22% of the surface area are lakes and contributed the remaining ∼6% of the total regional flux. Previous studies treated vegetated areas of the region as a single surface type with measurements from a few study sites; doing so could underestimate the regional flux by ∼22%. Here, we demonstrate that aircraft-based systems have the ability to cover large spatial scales while measuring the turbulent fluxes across a number of surfaces and combined with ground- and satellite-based measurements provide a valuable tool for both scaling and validation of regional-scale fluxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Partial pressure of CO2 in equilibrium with sample water (pCO2) for the coastal water in the Chukchi Sea was continuously observed in summer, 2008. Average daily CO2 flux calculated from the pCO2 and gas transfer coefficients ranged from −0.144 to −0.0701gCm−2 day−1 depending on which gas transfer coefficient was used. The pCO2 before the landfast ice sheets melted appeared to be highly biologically controlled based on the following information: (1) the diurnal pattern of pCO2 was strongly correlated with Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD); (2) high chlorophyll density was observed during periods of peak uptake; and (3) the day-to-day variation in the pCO2 strongly correlated with the presence or absence of near-shore ice sheets. The lowest pCO2 of 35ppm together with the highest PPFD of 1362μmolEm−2 s−1 were observed in the afternoon on June 28 in the presence of sea ice. The very low pCO2 observed in late June was likely caused by high photosynthetic rates related to high phytoplankton densities typically observed from spring to early summer near the ice edge, and by water low in salinity and CO2 released by melting sea ice early in the season. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Arctic experiences a high-radiation environment in the summer with 24-hour daylight for more than two months. Damage to plants and ecosystem metabolism can be muted by overcast conditions common in much of the Arctic. However, with climate change, extreme dry years and clearer skies could lead to the risk of increased photoxidation and photoinhibition in Arctic primary producers. Mosses, which often exceed the NPP of vascular plants in Arctic areas, are often understudied. As a result, the effect of specific environmental factors, including light, on these growth forms is poorly understood. Here, we investigated net ecosystem exchange (NEE) at the ecosystem scale, net Sphagnum CO2 exchange (NSE), and photoinhibition to better understand the impact of light on carbon exchange from a moss-dominated coastal tundra ecosystem during the summer season 2006. Sphagnum photosynthesis showed photoinhibition early in the season coupled with low ecosystem NEE. However, later in the season, Sphagnum maintained a significant CO2 uptake, probably for the development of subsurface moss layers protected from strong radiation. We suggest that the compact canopy structure of Sphagnum reduces light penetration to the subsurface layers of the moss mat and thereby protects the active photosynthetic tissues from damage. This stress avoidance mechanism allowed Sphagnum to constitute a significant percentage (up to 60%) of the ecosystem net daytime CO2 uptake at the end of the growing season despite the high levels of radiation experienced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon flux in arid and semiarid area shrublands, especially in old-growth shrub ecosystems, has been rarely studied using eddy covariance techniques. In this study, eddy covariance measurements over a 100-year old-growth chamise-dominated chaparral shrub ecosystem were conducted for 7 years from 1996 to 2003. A carbon sink, from −96 to −155 g C m−2 yr−1, was determined under normal weather conditions, while a weak sink of −18 g C m−2 yr−1 and a strong source of 207 g C m−2 yr−1 were observed as a consequence of a severe drought. The annual sink strength of carbon in the 7-year measurement period was −52 g C m−2 yr−1. The results from our study indicate that, in contrast to previous thought, the old-growth chaparral shrub ecosystem can be a significant sink of carbon under normal weather conditions and, therefore, be an important component of the global carbon budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Owing to the continuously increasing concentration of atmospheric CO2, it has become a priority to understand if soil organic matter (SOM) will behave as a sink or a source of CO2 under future environmental changes. Although many studies have addressed this question, a clear understanding is still missing, particularly with respect to long-term responses. In this study, we quantified soil C stores and dynamics in relationship to soil aggregation and pool composition in a Californian chaparral ecosystem exposed for 6 years to a gradient of atmospheric CO2 concentrations, ranging from pre-industrial levels 250 to 750μll−1 CO2. Fossil fuel-derived CO2 depleted in 13C was used for the fumigation, thus providing a tracer of C input from the vegetation to the soil. Long-term CO2 exposure invariably affected soil aggregation, with a significant decrease in the macroaggregate fraction at highest CO2 levels relative to the other two size fractions (i.e. microaggregates and silt and clay). This soil structural change most likely reduced the stability and protection of SOM, and C content generally decreased in most fractions over the CO2 treatments, and induced faster turnover of recently fixed C at high CO2 levels. The strongest response was found in the C content of the microaggregates, which decreased significantly () with rising levels of CO2. We conclude that increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations will decrease soil C in chaparral ecosystems, and that the microaggregate fraction is the most responsive to increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Estimates of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2 have been measured on a variety of ecosystems world wide including grasslands, savannahs, boreal, pine, deciduous, Mediterranean and tropical rain forests as well as arctic tundra. While there have been numerous comparisons between net primary productivity of arid and semiarid grasslands and shrublands, notably lacking are estimates of NEE with a few exceptions. The objective of this study was to characterize the seasonal and annual carbon flux of a desert shrub ecosystem using the eddy covariance technique to determine the sensitivity of the system to the timing and varying amounts of precipitation. Measurements began in July of 2001, a year with 339 mm of rainfall, considerably above the long-term average of 174 mm and preceded by 2 years of below average rainfall (50–62 mm). Over the 2 complete years of measurements, precipitation was 147 and 197 mm in 2002 and 2003, respectively. In all years, the majority of the precipitation fell between August and September. The site was a sink of−39 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2002 with a relatively strong uptake in the early part of the year and reduced uptake after the suboptimal rainfall in September. This contrasts with 2003 when the ecosystem took up−52 g C m−2 yr−1 concentrated in the fall after significant rain in August and September. Likely, extremely low rainfall years would result in a carbon loss while a strengthening of the typical winter secondary peak in precipitation (notably absent in the 2 years of measurements) may extend uptake into the spring resulting in more carbon accumulation. The system appears to be buffered against variations in annual rainfall attributed to water storage in the stems and roots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Rising air temperatures are believed to be hastening heterotrophic respiration (Rh ) in arctic tundra ecosystems, which could lead to substantial losses of soil carbon (C). In order to improve confidence in predicting the likelihood of such loss, the comprehensive ecosystem model ecosys was first tested with carbon dioxide (CO2 ) fluxes measured over a tundra soil in a growth chamber under various temperatures and soil-water contents (θ). The model was then tested with CO2 and energy fluxes measured over a coastal arctic tundra near Barrow, Alaska, under a range of weather conditions during 1998–1999. A rise in growth chamber temperature from 7 to 15 °C caused large, but commensurate, rises in respiration and CO2 fixation, and so no significant effect on net CO2 exchange was modelled or measured. An increase in growth chamber θ from field capacity to saturation caused substantial reductions in respiration but not in CO2 fixation, and so an increase in net CO2 exchange was modelled and measured. Long daylengths over the coastal tundra at Barrow caused an almost continuous C sink to be modelled and measured during most of July (2–4 g C m-2 d-1 ), but shortening daylengths and declining air temperatures caused a C source to be modelled and measured by early September (∼1 g C m-2 d-1 ). At an annual time scale, the coastal tundra was modelled to be a small C sink (4 g C m-2 y-1 ) during 1998 when average air temperatures were 4 °C above normal, and a larger C sink (16 g C m-2 y-1 ) during 1999 when air temperatures were close to long-term normals. During 100 years under rising atmospheric CO2 concentration (Ca ), air temperature and precipitation driven by the IS92a emissions scenario, modelled Rh rose commensurately with... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes a scaling approach applied for measuring the net carbon dioxide flux to provide an estimate of the net exchange during the 1994-1996 annual cycle for the Kuparuk Basin. Use of carbon flux data as input for the calculation of gross primary production; Indications that were received from basin-wide estimates of net carbon dioxide about the level of different categories of tundra; Comparison between estimates of carbon dioxide exchange received by direct measurement and scaling method.

Presents a study of the acclimation of ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange in the Alaskan Arctic region in response to decadal climate warming. Thoughts on the effect of continued warming of the ecosystem; Methods; Impact that the warming has on such things as the changes in nutrient cycling, physiological acclimation, and population and community reorganization; Results; Conclusions.

Discusses the use of eddy covariance to measure the net carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange and energy balance of a moist-tussock tundra ecosystem at Happy Valley, Alaska, during the 1994-1995 growing seasons. Diel trend in net radiation; Diel pattern of net CO2 exchange; Meteorological and physiological controls on evapotranspiration.

Focuses on the measuring of landscape-scale fluxes of CO2 H2O vapor and energy in moist-wet sedge tundra ecosystems of coastal arctic Alaska, using Eddy covariance. Information on net and interannual variation; Details on the coastal tundra landscapes.

In situ manipulations were conducted in a naturally drained lake on the arctic coastal plain near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (70 °21.98′ N, 148 °33.72′ W) to assess the potential short-term effects of decreased water table and elevated temperature on net ecosystem CO[sub 2] flux. The experiments were conducted over a 2-year period, and during that time, water table depth of drained plots was maintained on average 7 cm lower than the ambient water table, and surface temperatures of plots exposed to elevated temperature were increased on average 0.5 °C. Water table drainage, and to a lesser extent elevated temperature, resulted in significant increases in ecosystem respiration (ER) rates, and only small and variable changes in gross ecosystem productivity (GEP). As a result, drained plots were net sources of approx. 40 gC m[sup –2] season[sup –1] over both years of manipulation, while control plots were net sinks of atmospheric CO[sub 2] of about 10 gC m[sup –2] season[sup –1] (growing season length was an estimated 125 days). Control plots exposed to elevated temperatures accumulated slightly more carbon than control plots exposed to ambient temperatures. The direct effects of elevated temperature on net CO[sub 2] flux, ER, and GEP were small, however, elevated temperature appeared to interact with drainage to exacerbate the amount of net carbon loss. These data suggest that many currently saturated or nearly saturated wet sedge ecosystems of the north slope of Alaska may become significant sources of CO[sub 2] to the atmosphere if climate change predictions of increased evapotranspiration and reduced soil water status are realized. There is ample evidence that this may be already occurring in arctic Alaska, as a change in net carbon balance has been observed for both tussock and wet-sedge tundra ecosystems over the last 2–3 decades, which coincides with a recent increase in surface temperature and a... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the result of a three-year study of the response of a tussock tundra in Toolik Lake, Alaska to elevated carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Debates on the effect of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on plants and ecosystems; Need to consider carbon dioxide fertilization effects in context of genetic limitations and resource availability; Need for longer-term experiments or observations.

Presents data indicating that the tundra on the North Slope of Alaska has become a source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The results suggest that tundra ecosystems may exert a positive feedback on atmospheric carbon dioxide and greenhouse warming. Mean annual summer temperatures from 1921 to 1990 at Barrow Alaska and from 1970 to 1990 at Prudhoe Bay Alaska; Characteristics of research sites and measured CO2 fluxes; Toolik Lake; Arctic Ocean; Details.

Light-saturated CO2-assimilation rates of 19 vascular plant species were measured on a tundra slope in the foothills of the Brooks Range, Alaska, Maximum assimilation capacities on a leaf area basis ranged from 20.3 µmol m-2 s-1 for the forb, Bistorta plumosa, to 6.0 µmol m-2 s-1 for the evergreen, Empetrum hermaphroditicum. Graminoids, deciduous shrubs, and forbs fell within a similar range of maximum photosynthetic rates on a leaf area basis. Evergreens had the lowest rates. On a leaf weight basis, maximum assimilation rates were greatest for forbs, followed by deciduous shrubs, graminoids, and evergreens. Rates of evergreens were less than half those of all other growth forms, Cassiope tetragona had the lowest rates per unit leaf weight of any species tested; mean maximum rates of C. tetragona were only 14 % of those of B. plumosa, the species with the highest rates. When the data were subjected to canonical analysis, only a partial correspondence was found between species growth form and photosynthetic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Response, Resistance, Resilience to, and Recovery from Disturbance in Arctic Ecosystems" (R4D) program initially concentrated on impacts of altered water and nutrient inputs on tussock tundra vegetation. The intensive site is at Imnavait Creek (68°C 37′ N. 149° 17′ E). near Toolik Lake. Alaska in the foothills of ihe Brooks Range, approximately 200 km south of Prudhoe Bay. Tussock tundra was selected for initial study because it has an extensive distribution in the Alaskan Arctic (80% of the arctic region), the majority of the pipeline corridor north of the Brooks Range passes through tussock tundra, and disturbances of arctic tundra are expected to occur in the future. Also important is that 18% of the cirtumpolar arctic primary productivity and 47% of the circumpolar arctic stored carbon are in tussock tundra. Water and nutrient additions were performed because they frequently accompany disturbance and development in the Arctic. Emphasis was placed on determining responses of physical, physiological, and ecosystem processes to environmental change in such a way that extrapolations to other areas would be facilitated. The hills near Imnavait Creek are covered by glacial till of the Sagavanirktok River glaciation. with a deep organic layer on the less exposed hill slopes and valleys. The vegetation is dominated by Eriophorum vaginatum L., Betula nana L., Vaccinium uliginosum L, Vaccinium vitis-idaea L., Ledum palustre L., Salix pulchra L., and Sphagnum spp. Winds were rarely calm but seldom exceed 17 m s-1 generally from the east-southeast to the south-southwest (66%). Precipitation in 1986 was 344 mm, about half of which was snowfall. Mean temperature in 1986 was -8.1°C , with an absolute minimum of -43°C. Mean July temperature was between 9.8 and 13.7°C. Nutrients are more mobile than previously thought, moving an estimated 10 m downslope in the first growing season. It underscores the importance of the winter environment to biological and hydrological processes. Greater water flow results in increased plant growth rates, leaf area, and biomass. Effects of changes in nutrient and water supply on photosynthesis were minimal. Where increases in productivity took place, they occurred more likely as a result of changes in allocation patterns, including an initial redirection of carbohydrate stores to new leaf development, than from increases in photosynthetic rates. The work reported here indicates that the downslope transmission of nutrient and water flow effects caused by altered drainage and nutrient supply may result in a larger area of impact than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bryophyte species distributions were analyzed with respect to microtopography at an alpine tundra site in central Alaska which is dominated by tussocks of Eriophorum vaginatum. Bryophyte distributions were found to be significantly correlated with slope but not with azimuth. Different types of tussocks and hollows and mats between tussocks also supported different bryophyte floras. Waler loss resistances of three species of moss did not account for differences in their distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photosynthetic and respiratory response of four Alaskan tundra species comprising three growth forms were investigated in the laboratory using an infrared gas analysis system. Vaccinium vitis-idaea, a dwarf evergreen shrub, demonstrated a low photosynthetic capacity: Pmax = 1 mg CO2 g dry wt-1 h-1; Topt < 10°C. Betula nana, a deciduous shrub, had a high relatively photosynthetic capacity: Pmax = 14 mg CO2 g dry wt-1 h-1; Topt 17°C. Two graminoid (sedge) species, Carex aquatilis and Eriophorum vaginatum, showed different responses. Carex showed a high photosynthetic capacity: Pmax = 20 mg CO2 g dry wt-1 h-1; Topt 22°C. Eriophorum vaginatum demonstrated an intermediate photosynthetic capacity of 4 mg CO2 g dry wt-1 h-1 at saturated light levels. Leaf dark respiration, up to 20°C, was approximately the same for all species. The patterns of root respiration among species was opposite to the trend in photosynthesis. Vaccinium vitis-idaea had the highest rate of root respiration and B. nana the lowest (C. aquatilis was not measured). Correlation between leaf nitrogen content (%) and photosynthetic capacity was high. Hypothesized growth form relationships explained differences in photosynthetic capacity between the deciduous shrub and evergreen shrub, but did little to account for differences between the two sedges. Differences in rooting patterns between species may affect tissue nutrient content, carbon flux rates, and carbon balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of bryophyte vegetation along a topographic gradient in Alaskan montane rundra reveals definite species distribution patterns. Because the bryophyte species distributions do not always correspond to boundaries between vascular vegetation zones, tundra vegetation types based mainly on vascular plants may be imperfectly suited to description of bryophyte vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of a 1976 nitrogen, phosphorus, and nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilization al Eagle Creek, Alaska, on photosynthetic rates was investigated in 1978 in eight vascular and three nonvascular plant species. While NPK fertilization increased the growth rate of shoots of most vascular plant species, this treatment depressed photosynthetic rates in all vascular species. Therefore, it appears that nutrient limitation of growth is a direct limitation and not mediated through nutrient effect on carbon uptake rates and levels of available photosynthate. The reason for the reduction in photosynthetic rates with fertilization is not known. It is speculated that increases in growth with fertilization causes a dilution of other nutrients or factors, the effect of which is to depress photosynthesis. Moss photosynthesis is stimulated with fertilization. High NPK fertilizer levels stimulate photosynthesis more than low NPK fertilizer levels. This may indicate basic differences in the ecology or physiology of the two growth forms. It is not yet known if the growth of mosses in this area is stimulated by NPK fertilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large carbon dioxide plumes with concentrations up to 45 ppm above ambient levels were measured about 15 km downwind of the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska major oil production facilities, located at 70deg. N Lat. above the Arctic Circle. The measured emissions were 1.3 x 103 metric tons (C) hour-1(11.4x 106 metric tons (C) year-1), six times greater than the combustion emissions assumed by Jaffe and coworkers in J. Atmos. Chem. 20 (1995), 213-227, based on 1989 reported Prudhoe Bay oil facility fuel consumption data, and four times greater than the total C emissions reported by the oil facilities for the same months as the measurement time periods. Variations in the emissions were estimated by extrapolating the observed emissions at a single altitude for all tundra research transectflights conducted downwind of the oil fields. These 30 flights yielded an average emission rate of 1.02 x 103 metric tons (C) hour-1with a standard deviation of 0.33 x 103. These quantity of emissions are roughly equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions of 7-10 million hectares of arctic tussock tundra (Oechel and Vourlitis, Trends in Ecol. Evolution 9 (1994), 324-329). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an introduction to a series of articles about the ecology of an arctic watershed.

Globally, soil microbes preside over vast carbon stores, and both microbial biomass and activity are known to be regulated by bottom-up controls, that is, limitation by nutrients and energy. However, there is evidence that grazing by protozoans exerts top-down controls on biomass. Here, we investigate top-down control by phage on soil microbes using an experimental site near Barrow, Alaska (71°N, 157°W) during the 2007 growing season. Soil measurements were taken from sites that covered a range of microtopographical features within a drained and thawed lake basin including high- and low-centred ice-wedge polygons to estimate the availability of carbon and nitrogen for microbes. Using both field and laboratory experiments, we successfully increased both microbial biomass and respiration by decreasing phage populations. The addition of carbon and nutrients to soils had no significant effects on biomass or respiration, indicating a lack of bottom-up controls. Additionally, we present the first use of tea extracts as a potent anti-phage agent in soils. Our results suggest that top-down controls, such as phage predation, are critical to regulation of microbial activities in Arctic soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports the effects of long-term elevated atmospheric CO2 on root production and microbial activity, biomass, and diversity in a chaparral ecosystem in southern California. The free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) ring was located in a stand dominated by the woody shrub Adenostoma fasciculatum. Between 1995 and 2003, the FACE ring maintained an average daytime atmospheric CO2 concentration of 550 ppm. During the last two years of operation, observations were made on soil cores collected from the FACE ring and adjacent areas of chaparral with ambient CO2 levels. Root biomass roughly doubled in the FACE plot. Microbial biomass and activity were related to soil organic matter (OM) content, and so analysis of covariance was used to detect CO2 effects while controlling for variation across the landscape. Extracellular enzymatic activity (cellulase and amylase) and microbial biomass C (chloroform fumigation-extraction) increased more rapidly with OM in the FACE plot than in controls, but glucose substrate-induced respiration (SIR) rates did not. The metabolic quotient (field respiration over potential respiration) was significantly higher in FACE samples, possibly indicating that microbial respiration was less C limited under high CO2. The treatments also differed in the ratio of SIR to microbial biomass C, indicating a metabolic difference between the microbial communities. Bacterial diversity, described by 16S rRNA clone libraries, was unaffected by the CO2 treatment, but fungal biomass was stimulated. Furthermore, fungal biomass was correlated with cellulase and amylase activities, indicating that fungi were responsible for the stimulation of enzymatic activity in the FACE treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor about the monoterpene emission responses to elevated carbon dioxide in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem is presented.

Abstract The spatial and temporal patterns in CO2 flux for the Kuparuk River Basin, a 9200-km2 watershed located in NE Alaska were estimated using the Regional Arctic CO2 Exchange Simulator (RACES) for the 1994–1995 growing seasons. RACES uses non-linear models and a Geographical Information System database (GIS) consisting of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and dynamic temperature and radiation maps. The spatial and temporal patterns in the NDVI during both growing seasons suggest that ecosystem development occurred 2–4 weeks earlier and was relatively more rapid in the southern portion of the Kuparuk River Basin. Rates of gross primary production (GPP) and whole-ecosystem respiration (R) were 2–4 fold higher in the southern basin than along the arctic coastal plain depending on time of year. The higher rate of GPP estimated for the southern basin was primarily due to higher NDVI values, while the higher R estimated for the southern basin was due in part to higher temperature and the NDVI. While GPP and R showed strong latitudinal trends, spatial and temporal trends in net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) were much more variable. Thus, while spatial trends in carbon gain (GPP) and loss (R) were highly correlated, small spatial and temporal differences in these large fluxes (GPP and/or R) lead to corresponding large spatial variations in the NEE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the foothills of the Philip Smith Mountains, Brooks Range. Alaska, tussock tundra is the most widely distributed vegetation, and it occurs on rolling hills and in valleys that were shaped by a sequence of Pleistocene glaciations. In this study, aboveground standing biomass and production were compared in "intertrack tundra" areas that were relatively homogenous with respect to downslope drainage and adjacent "water tracks" that acted to channel water flow to the valley bottom stream. Comparisons of biomass, leaf area index, and specific leaf weight were also made between upper and lower slope positions. Similarities and differences of vegetation structure are examined with respect to graminoid. deciduous shrub, evergreen shrub, herbaceous, and bryophyte components. Water tracks were found to have 1.5-1.7 times the biomass of intertrack tundra, and production (excluding secondary growth) in water tracks was 40% greater than in intertrack tundra. The aboveground biomass for all areas studied and the annual production values were similar to those found in other studies of tussock tundra. While only slight differences in depth of thaw occurred in water tracks and intertrack tundra during June and early July. water tracks thawed more deeply with the onset of summer rains. Warmer temperatures at 40 cm depth in July and August may have increased nutrient availability, whereas greater rooting depth and movement of water may have increased nutrient capture in water tracks as compared with the intertrack areas. Greater biomass and a deeper thaw depth occurred at upper slope locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold seasons in Arctic ecosystems are increasingly important to the annual carbon balance of these vulnerable ecosystems. Arctic winters are largely harsh and inaccessible leading historic data gaps during that time. Until recently, cold seasons have been assumed to have negligible impacts on the annual carbon balance but as data coverage increases and the Arctic warms, the cold season has been shown to account for over half of annual methane (CH4) emissions and can offset summer photosynthetic carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake. Freeze–thaw cycle dynamics play a critical role in controlling cold season CO2 and CH4 loss, but the relationship has not been extensively studied. Here, we analyze freeze–thaw processes through in situ CO2 and CH4 fluxes in conjunction with soil cores for physical structure and porewater samples for redox biogeochemistry. We find a movement of water toward freezing fronts in soil cores, leaving air spaces in soils, which allows for rapid infiltration of oxygen‐rich snow melt in spring as shown by oxidized iron in porewater. The snow melt period coincides with rising ecosystem respiration and can offset up to 41% of the summer CO2 uptake. Our study highlights this important seasonal process and shows spring greenhouse gas emissions are largely due to production from respiration instead of only bursts of stored gases. Further warming is projected to result in increases of snowpack and deeper thaws, which could increase this ecosystem respiration dominate snow melt period causing larger greenhouse gas losses during spring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial heterogeneities in soil hydrology have been confirmed as a key control on CO2 and CH4 fluxes in the Arctic tundra ecosystem. In this study, we applied a mechanistic ecosystem model, CLM‐Microbe, to examine the microtopographic impacts on CO2 and CH4 fluxes across seven landscape types in Utqiaġvik, Alaska: trough, low‐centered polygon (LCP) center, LCP transition, LCP rim, high‐centered polygon (HCP) center, HCP transition, and HCP rim. We first validated the CLM‐Microbe model against static‐chamber measured CO2 and CH4 fluxes in 2013 for three landscape types: trough, LCP center, and LCP rim. Model application showed that low‐elevation and thus wetter landscape types (i.e., trough, transitions, and LCP center) had larger CH4 emissions rates with greater seasonal variations than high‐elevation and drier landscape types (rims and HCP center). Sensitivity analysis indicated that substrate availability for methanogenesis (acetate, CO2 + H2) is the most important factor determining CH4 emission, and vegetation physiological properties largely affect the net ecosystem carbon exchange and ecosystem respiration in Arctic tundra ecosystems. Modeled CH4 emissions for different microtopographic features were upscaled to the eddy covariance (EC) domain with an area‐weighted approach before validation against EC‐measured CH4 fluxes. The model underestimated the EC‐measured CH4 flux by 20% and 25% at daily and hourly time steps, suggesting the importance of the time step in reporting CH4 flux. The strong microtopographic impacts on CO2 and CH4 fluxes call for a model‐data integration framework for better understanding and predicting carbon flux in the highly heterogeneous Arctic landscape. Key Points: The CLM‐microbe model is able to simulate microtopographical impacts on CO2 and CH4 flux in the ArcticSubstrates availability for methanogenesis is the most important factor determining CH4 emissionThe strong microtopographic impacts call for a model‐data integration framework to better understand and predict C flux in the Arctic [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important feature of the Arctic is large spatial heterogeneity in active layer conditions, which is generally poorly represented by global models and can lead to large uncertainties in predicting regional ecosystem responses and climate feedbacks. In this study, we developed a spatially integrated modeling and analysis framework combining field observations, local-scale (~50m resolution) active layer thickness (ALT) and soil moisture maps derived from low-frequency (LCP-band) airborne radar measurements, and global satellite environmental observations to investigate the ALT sensitivity to recent climate trends and landscape heterogeneity in Alaska. Modeled ALT results show good correspondence with in situ measurements in higher-permafrost-probability (PP≥70 %) areas (n = 33; R = 0:60; mean bias = 1.58 cm; RMSE = 20.32 cm), but with larger uncertainty in sporadic and discontinuous permafrost areas. The model results also reveal widespread ALT deepening since 2001, with smaller ALT increases in northern Alaska (mean trend = 0:32±1:18 cm yr-1) and much larger increases (>3 cm yr-1) across interior and southern Alaska. The positive ALT trend coincides with regional warming and a longer snow-free season (R = 0.60±0.32). A spatially integrated analysis of the radar retrievals and model sensitivity simulations demonstrated that uncertainty in the spatial and vertical distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) was the largest factor affecting modeled ALT accuracy, while soil moisture played a secondary role. Potential improvements in characterizing SOC heterogeneity, including better spatial sampling of soil conditions and advances in remote sensing of SOC and soil moisture, will enable more accurate predictions of active layer conditions and refinement of the modeling framework across a larger domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctic tundra ecosystems are a major source of methane (CH4), the variability of which is affected by local environmental and climatic factors, such as water table depth, microtopography, and the spatial heterogeneity of the vegetation communities present. There is a disconnect between the measurement scales for CH4 fluxes, which can be measured with chambers at one-meter resolution and eddy covariance towers at 100-1000 m, whereas model estimates are typically made at the ∼100 km scale. Therefore, it is critical to upscale site level measurements to the larger scale for model comparison. As vegetation has a critical role in explaining the variability of CH4 fluxes across the tundra landscape, we tested whether remotely-sensed maps of vegetation could be used to upscale fluxes to larger scales. The objectives of this study are to compare four different methods for mapping and two methods for upscaling plot-level CH4 emissions to the measurements from EC towers. We show that linear discriminant analysis (LDA) provides the most accurate representation of the tundra vegetation within the EC tower footprints (classification accuracies of between 65% and 88%). The upscaled CH4 emissions using the areal fraction of the vegetation communities showed a positive correlation (between 0.57 and 0.81) with EC tower measurements, irrespective of the mapping method. The area-weighted footprint model outperformed the simple area-weighted method, achieving a correlation of 0.88 when using the vegetation map produced with the LDA classifier. These results suggest that the high spatial heterogeneity of the tundra vegetation has a strong impact on the flux, and variation indicates the potential impact of environmental or climatic parameters on the fluxes. Nonetheless, assimilating remotely-sensed vegetation maps of tundra in a footprint model was successful in upscaling fluxes across scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global-scale studies suggest that dryland ecosystems dominate an increasing trend in the magnitude and interannual variability of the land CO2 sink. However, such analyses are poorly constrained by measured CO2 exchange in drylands. Here we address this observation gap with eddy covariance data from 25 sites in the water-limited Southwest region of North America with observed ranges in annual precipitation of 100-1000 mm, annual temperatures of 2-25°C, and records of 3-10 years (150 site-years in total). Annual fluxes were integrated using site-specific ecohydrologic years to group precipitation with resulting ecosystem exchanges. We found a wide range of carbon sink/source function, with mean annual net ecosystem production ( NEP) varying from -350 to +330 gCm−2 across sites with diverse vegetation types, contrasting with the more constant sink typically measured in mesic ecosystems. In this region, only forest-dominated sites were consistent carbon sinks. Interannual variability of NEP, gross ecosystem production ( GEP), and ecosystem respiration (Reco) was larger than for mesic regions, and half the sites switched between functioning as C sinks/C sources in wet/dry years. The sites demonstrated coherent responses of GEP and NEP to anomalies in annual evapotranspiration ( ET), used here as a proxy for annually available water after hydrologic losses. Notably, GEP and Reco were negatively related to temperature, both interannually within site and spatially across sites, in contrast to positive temperature effects commonly reported for mesic ecosystems. Models based on MODIS satellite observations matched the cross-site spatial pattern in mean annual GEP but consistently underestimated mean annual ET by ~50%. Importantly, the MODIS-based models captured only 20-30% of interannual variation magnitude. These results suggest the contribution of this dryland region to variability of regional to global CO2 exchange may be up to 3-5 times larger than current estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic is currently undergoing intense changes in climate; vegetation composition and productivity are expected to respond to such changes. To understand the impacts of climate change on the function of Arctic tundra ecosystems within the global carbon cycle, it is crucial to improve the understanding of vegetation distribution and heterogeneity at multiple scales. Information detailing the fine-scale spatial distribution of tundra communities provided by high resolution vegetation mapping, is needed to understand the relative contributions of and relationships between single vegetation community measurements of greenhouse gas fluxes (e.g., ∼1 m chamber flux) and those encompassing multiple vegetation communities (e.g., ∼300 m eddy covariance measurements). The objectives of this study were: (1) to determine whether dominant Arctic tundra vegetation communities found in different locations are spectrally distinct and distinguishable using field spectroscopy methods; and (2) to test which combination of raw reflectance and vegetation indices retrieved from field and satellite data resulted in accurate vegetation maps and whether these were transferable across locations to develop a systematic method to map dominant vegetation communities within larger eddy covariance tower footprints distributed along a 300 km transect in northern Alaska. We showed vegetation community separability primarily in the 450-510 nm, 630-690 nm and 705-745 nm regions of the spectrum with the field spectroscopy data. This is line with the different traits of these arctic tundra communities, with the drier, often non-vascular plant dominated communities having much higher reflectance in the 450-510 nm and 630-690 nm regions due to the lack of photosynthetic material, whereas the low reflectance values of the vascular plant dominated communities highlight the strong light absorption found here. High classification accuracies of 92% to 96% were achieved using linear discriminant analysis with raw and rescaled spectroscopy reflectance data and derived vegetation indices. However, lower classification accuracies (∼70%) resulted when using the coarser 2.0 m WorldView-2 data inputs. The results from this study suggest that tundra vegetation communities are separable using plot-level spectroscopy with hand-held sensors. These results also show that tundra vegetation mapping can be scaled from the plot level (<1 m) to patch level (<500 m) using spectroscopy data rescaled to match the wavebands of the multispectral satellite remote sensing. We find that developing a consistent method for classification of vegetation communities across the flux tower sites is a challenging process, given the spatial variability in vegetation communities and the need for detailed vegetation survey data for training and validating classification algorithms. This study highlights the benefits of using fine-scale field spectroscopy measurements to obtain tundra vegetation classifications for landscape analyses and use in carbon flux scaling studies. Improved understanding of tundra vegetation distributions will also provide necessary insight into the ecological processes driving plant community assemblages in Arctic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global modeling efforts indicate semiarid regions dominate the increasing trend and interannual variation of net CO2 exchange with the atmosphere, mainly driven by water availability. Many semiarid regions are expected to undergo climatic drying, but the impacts on net CO2 exchange are poorly understood due to limited semiarid flux observations. Here we evaluated 121 site-years of annual eddy covariance measurements of net and gross CO2 exchange (photosynthesis and respiration), precipitation, and evapotranspiration ( ET) in 21 semiarid North American ecosystems with an observed range of 100 - 1000 mm in annual precipitation and records of 4-9 years each. In addition to evaluating spatial relationships among CO2 and water fluxes across sites, we separately quantified site-level temporal relationships, representing sensitivity to interannual variation. Across the climatic and ecological gradient, photosynthesis showed a saturating spatial relationship to precipitation, whereas the photosynthesis- ET relationship was linear, suggesting ET was a better proxy for water available to drive CO2 exchanges after hydrologic losses. Both photosynthesis and respiration showed similar site-level sensitivity to interannual changes in ET among the 21 ecosystems. Furthermore, these temporal relationships were not different from the spatial relationships of long-term mean CO2 exchanges with climatic ET. Consequently, a hypothetical 100-mm change in ET, whether short term or long term, was predicted to alter net ecosystem production ( NEP) by 64 gCm−2 yr−1. Most of the unexplained NEP variability was related to persistent, site-specific function, suggesting prioritization of research on slow-changing controls. Common temporal and spatial sensitivity to water availability increases our confidence that site-level responses to interannual weather can be extrapolated for prediction of CO2 exchanges over decadal and longer timescales relevant to societal response to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latitudinal gradient of the start of the growing season (SOS) and the end of the growing season (EOS) were quantified in Alaska (61°N to 71°N) using satellite-based and ground-based datasets. The Alaskan evergreen needleleaf forests are sparse and the understory vegetation has a substantial impact on the satellite signal. We evaluated SOS and EOS of understory and tundra vegetation using time-lapse camera images. From the comparison of three SOS algorithms for determining SOS from two satellite datasets (SPOT-VEGETATION and Terra-MODIS), we found that the satellite-based SOS timing was consistent with the leaf emergence of the forest understory and tundra vegetation. The ensemble average of SOS over all satellite algorithms can be used as a measure of spring leaf emergence for understory and tundra vegetation. In contrast, the relationship between the ground-based and satellite-based EOSs was not as strong as that of SOS both for boreal forest and tundra sites because of the large biases between those two EOSs (19 to 26 days). The satellite-based EOS was more relevant to snowfall events than the senescence of understory or tundra. The plant canopy radiative transfer simulation suggested that 84–86% of the NDVI seasonal amplitude could be a reasonable threshold for the EOS determination. The latitudinal gradients of SOS and EOS evaluated by the satellite and ground data were consistent and the satellite-derived SOS and EOS were 3.5 to 5.7 days degree − 1 and − 2.3 to − 2.7 days degree − 1 , which corresponded to the spring (May) temperature sensitivity of − 2.5 to − 3.9 days °C − 1 in SOS and the autumn (August and September) temperature sensitivity of 3.0 to 4.6 days °C − 1 in EOS. This demonstrates the possible impact of phenology in spruce forest understory and tundra ecosystems in response to climate change in the warming Artic and sub-Arctic regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctic terrestrial ecosystems are major global sources of methane (CH4); hence, it is important to understand the seasonal and climatic controls on CH4 emissions from these systems. Here, we report year-round CH4 emissions from Alaskan Arctic tundra eddy flux sites and regional fluxes derived from aircraft data. We find that emissions during the cold season (September to May) account for ≥50% of the annual CH4 flux, with the highest emissions from noninundated upland tundra. A major fraction of cold season emissions occur during the "zero curtain" period, when subsurface soil temperatures are poised near 0 °C. The zero curtain may persist longer than the growing season, and CH4 emissions are enhanced when the duration is extended by a deep thawed layer as can occur with thick snow cover. Regional scale fluxes of CH4 derived from aircraft data demonstrate the large spatial extent of late season CH4 emissions. Scaled to the circumpolar Arctic, cold season fluxes from tundra total 12 ± 5 (95% confidence interval) Tg CH4 y-1, ~25% of global emissions from extratropical wetlands, or ~6% of total global wetland methane emissions. The dominance of late-season emissions, sensitivity to soil environmental conditions, and importance of dry tundra are not currently simulated in most global climate models. Because Arctic warming disproportionally impacts the cold season, our results suggest that higher cold-season CH4 emissions will result from observed and predicted increases in snow thickness, active layer depth, and soil temperature, representing important positive feedbacks on climate warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interannual variability (IAV, represented by standard deviation) in net ecosystem exchange of CO 2 (NEE) is mainly driven by climatic drivers and biotic variations (i.e., the changes in photosynthetic and respiratory responses to climate), the effects of which are referred to as climatic (CE) and biotic effects (BE), respectively. Evaluating the relative contributions of CE and BE to the IAV in carbon (C) fluxes and understanding their controlling mechanisms are critical in projecting ecosystem changes in the future climate. In this study, we applied statistical methods with flux data from 65 sites located in the Northern Hemisphere to address this issue. Our results showed that the relative contribution of BE (CnBE) and CE (CnCE) to the IAV in NEE was 57% ± 14% and 43% ± 14%, respectively. The discrepancy in the CnBE among sites could be largely explained by water balance index (WBI). Across water-stressed ecosystems, the CnBE decreased with increasing aridity (slope = 0.18% mm −1 ). In addition, the CnBE tended to increase and the uncertainty reduced as timespan of available data increased from 5 to 15 years . Inter-site variation of the IAV in NEE mainly resulted from the IAV in BE (72%) compared to that in CE (37%). Interestingly, positive correlations between BE and CE occurred in grasslands and dry ecosystems ( r > 0.45, P < 0.05) but not in other ecosystems. These results highlighted the importance of BE in determining the IAV in NEE and the ability of ecosystems to regulate C fluxes under climate change might decline when the ecosystems experience more severe water stress in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant climate risks are associated with a positive carbon-temperature feedback in northern latitude carbon-rich ecosystems,making an accurate analysis of human impacts on the net greenhouse gas balance of wetlands a priority. Here, we provide a coherent assessment of the climate footprint of a network of wetland sites based on simultaneous and quasi-continuous ecosystem observations of CO2 and CH4 fluxes. Experimental areas are located both in natural and in managed wetlands and cover a wide range of climatic regions, ecosystem types, and management practices. Based on direct observations we predict that sustained CH4 emissions in natural ecosystems are in the long term (i.e., several centuries) typically offset by CO2 uptake, although with large spatiotemporal variability. Using a space-for-time analogy across ecological and climatic gradients, we represent the chronosequence from natural to managed conditions to quantify the "cost" of CH4 emissions for the benefit of net carbon sequestration. With a sustained pulse- response radiative forcing model, we found a significant increase in atmospheric forcing due to land management, in particular for wetland converted to cropland. Our results quantify the role of human activities on the climate footprint of northern wetlands and call for development of active mitigation strategies for managed wetlands and new guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) accounting for both sustained CH4 emissions and cumulative CO2 exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil fungal communities are likely to be central in mediating microbial feedbacks to climate change through their effects on soil carbon (C) storage, nutrient cycling, and plant health. Plants often produce increased fine root biomass in response to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), but the responses of soil microbial communities are variable and uncertain, particularly in terms of species diversity. In this study, we describe the responses of the soil fungal community to free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) in a semiarid chaparral shrubland in Southern California (dominated by Adenomstoma fasciculatum) using large subunit rRNA gene sequencing. Community composition varied greatly over the landscape and responses to FACE were subtle, involving a few specific groups. Increased frequency of Sordariomycetes and Leotiomycetes, the latter including the Helotiales, a group that includes many dark septate endophytes known to associate positively with roots, was observed in the FACE plots. Fungal diversity, both in terms of richness and evenness, increased consistently in the FACE treatment, and was relatively high compared to other studies that used similar methods. Increases in diversity were observed across multiple phylogenetic levels, from genus to class, and were distributed broadly across fungal lineages. Diversity was also higher in samples collected close to (5 cm) plants compared to samples in canopy gaps (30 cm away from plants). Fungal biomass correlated well with soil organic matter (SOM) content, but patterns of diversity were correlated with fine root production rather than SOM. We conclude that the fungal community in this ecosystem is tightly linked to plant fine root production, and that future changes in the fungal community in response to elevated CO2 and other climatic changes will be primarily driven by changes in plant belowground allocation. Potential feedbacks mediated by soil fungi, such as soil C sequestration, nutrient cycling, and pathogenesis, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Question Do variations in fire intensity within a stand determine changes in fire intensity and plant demographics in a subsequent fire? Location San Diego ( CA, USA); chaparral dominated by Adenostoma fasciculatum (resprouter) and Ceanothus greggii (seeder). Methods In 2003, a wildfire burned a young (16-yr-old) stand containing a set of experimental plots burned in 1987 with various levels of fire intensity. In 2004, all the 1987 plots were sampled for Adenostoma survival and the recruitment of both species. Similar measures were carried out in the adjacent old (75-yr) stand. Fire intensity in 2003 was estimated by a surrogate fire severity measure [minimum diameter of burned branches (branch diameter)]. Results In the young stand, branch diameter in 2003 was similar to the control plots in 1987, but lower than in the old stand. Fire intensity in 1987 did not significantly affect branch diameter in 2003. Survival of Adenostoma in the young stand was very low, much lower than after the 1987 burn and that in the old stand. Fire intensity in 1987 did not affect Adenostoma survival. Recruitment in Adenostoma increased, and in Ceanothus decreased, with increased fire intensity in 1987. Conclusions We demonstrate that there is a carry-over effect of fire intensity across a whole fire cycle on plant recruitment of the two dominant species. The 2003 fire partially reversed the relative effects on recruitment caused by elevated fire intensity in 1987. Arguably, this effect was driven by the contrasted relationships of the two species to fire intensity. Adenostoma survival in the young stand was much lower in 2003 than in 1987, despite similar branch diameter, and was also lower than in the old stand, despite higher branch diameter in this case. The causes of such mortality are unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arid environments represent 30% of the global terrestrial surface, but are largely under-represented in studies of ecosystem carbon flux. Less than 2% of all FLUXNET eddy covariance sites exist in a hot desert climate. Long-term datasets of these regions are vital for capturing the seasonal and interannual variability that occur due to episodic precipitation events and climate change, which drive fluctuations in soil moisture and temperature patterns. The objectives of this study were to determine the meteorological variables that drive carbon flux on diel, seasonal, and annual scales and to determine how precipitation events control annual net ecosystem exchange ( NEE). Patterns of NEE from 2002 to 2008 were investigated, providing a record with multiple replicates of seasons and conditions. Precipitation was extremely variable (55-339 mm) during the study period, and reduced precipitation in later years (2004-2008) appears to have resulted in annual moderate to large carbon sources (62-258 g C m−2 yr−1) in contrast to the previously reported sink (2002-2003). Variations in photosynthetically active radiation were found to principally drive variations in carbon uptake during the wet growing season while increased soil temperatures at a 5 cm depth stimulated carbon loss during the dry dormant season. Monthly NEE was primarily driven by soil moisture at a 5 cm depth, and years with a higher magnitude of precipitation events showed a longer growing season with annual net carbon uptake, whereas years with lower magnitude had drier soils and displayed short growing seasons with annual net carbon loss. Increased precipitation frequency was associated with increased annual NEE, which may be a function of increased microbial respiration to more small precipitation events. Annual precipitation frequency and magnitude were found to have effects on the interannual variability of NEE for up to 2 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ecosystem fluxes of mass and energy were quantified for a riparian cottonwood (Populus fremontii S. Watson) stand, and the daily and seasonal courses of evapotranspiration, CO2 flux, and canopy conductance were described, using eddy covariance. The ecosystem-level evapotranspiration results are consistent with those of other riparian studies; high vapor pressure deficit and increased groundwater depth resulted in reduced canopy conductance, and the annual cumulative evapotranspiration of 1095mm was more than double the magnitude of precipitation. In addition, the cottonwood forest was a strong sink of CO2, absorbing 310gCm−2 from the atmosphere in the first 365 days of the study. On weekly to annual time scales, hydrology was strongly linked with the net atmosphere–ecosystem exchange of CO2, with ecosystem productivity greatest when groundwater depth was ∼2m below the ground surface. Increases in groundwater depth beyond the depth of 2m corresponded with decreased CO2 uptake and evapotranspiration. Saturated soils caused by flooding and shallow groundwater depths also resulted in reduced ecosystem fluxes of CO2 and water. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many wetland ecosystems such as peatlands and wet tundra hold large amounts of organic carbon (C) in their soils, and are thus important in the terrestrial C cycle. We have synthesized data on the carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange obtained from eddy covariance measurements from 12 wetland sites, covering 1–7 years at each site, across Europe and North America, ranging from ombrotrophic and minerotrophic peatlands to wet tundra ecosystems, spanning temperate to arctic climate zones. The average summertime net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE) was highly variable between sites. However, all sites with complete annual datasets, seven in total, acted as annual net sinks for atmospheric CO2. To evaluate the influence of gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration ( Reco) on NEE, we first removed the artificial correlation emanating from the method of partitioning NEE into GPP and Reco. After this correction neither Reco ( P= 0.162) nor GPP ( P= 0.110) correlated significantly with NEE on an annual basis. Spatial variation in annual and summertime Reco was associated with growing season period, air temperature, growing degree days, normalized difference vegetation index and vapour pressure deficit. GPP showed weaker correlations with environmental variables as compared with Reco, the exception being leaf area index (LAI), which correlated with both GPP and NEE, but not with Reco. Length of growing season period was found to be the most important variable describing the spatial variation in summertime GPP and Reco; global warming will thus cause these components to increase. Annual GPP and NEE correlated significantly with LAI and pH, thus, in order to predict wetland C exchange, differences in ecosystem structure such as leaf area and biomass as well as nutritional status must be taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Between 1996 and 2001 an experimental set up in a chaparral community near San Diego, CA, examined various plant and ecosystem responses to CO2 concentrations ranging from 250 to 750 μl l−1. These experiments indicated a significant increase in soil C sequestration as CO2 rose above the ambient levels. In 2003, two years after the cessation of the CO2 treatments, we returned to this site to examine soil C dynamics with a particular emphasis on stability of specific pools of C. We found that in as little as two years, C content in the surface soils (0–15 cm) of previously CO2 enriched plots had dropped to levels below those of the ambient and pretreatment soils. In contrast, C retained in response to CO2 enrichment was more durable in the deeper soil layers (>25 cm deep) where both organic and inorganic C were on average 26% and 55% greater, respectively, than C content of ambient plots. Using stable isotope tracers, we found that treatment C represented 25% of total soil C and contributed to 55% of soil CO2 efflux, suggesting that most of treatment C is readily accessible to decomposers. We also found that, C present before CO2 fumigation was decomposed at a faster rate in the plots that were exposed to elevated CO2 than in those exposed to ambient CO2 levels. To our knowledge, this is the first report that allows for a detail accounting of soil C after ceasing CO2 treatments. Our study provides a unique insight to how stable the accrued soil C is as CO2 increases in the atmosphere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many current models of ecosystem carbon exchange based on remote sensing, such as the MODIS product termed MOD17, still require considerable input from ground based meteorological measurements and look up tables based on vegetation type. Since these data are often not available at the same spatial scale as the remote sensing imagery, they can introduce substantial errors into the carbon exchange estimates. Here we present further development of a gross primary production (GPP) model based entirely on remote sensing data. In contrast to an earlier model based only on the enhanced vegetation index (EVI), this model, termed the Temperature and Greenness (TG) model, also includes the land surface temperature (LST) product from MODIS. In addition to its obvious relationship to vegetation temperature, LST was correlated with vapor pressure deficit and photosynthetically active radiation. Combination of EVI and LST in the model substantially improved the correlation between predicted and measured GPP at 11 eddy correlation flux towers in a wide range of vegetation types across North America. In many cases, the TG model provided substantially better predictions of GPP than did the MODIS GPP product. However, both models resulted in poor predictions for sparse shrub habitats where solar angle effects on remote sensing indices were large. Although it may be possible to improve the MODIS GPP product through improved parameterization, our results suggest that simpler models based entirely on remote sensing can provide equally good predictions of GPP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Methods are developed and evaluated to retrieve surface soil temperature information for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on Earth Observing System for seven boreal forest and Arctic tundra biophysical monitoring sites across Alaska and Northern Canada. A multiple-band iterative radiative transfer process-based method producing dynamic vegetation and snow cover correction quantities and an empirical multiple regression method using several frequencies are employed. The seasonal pattern of microwave emission and relative accuracy of the soil temperature retrievals are influenced strongly by landscape properties, including the presence of open water, vegetation type and seasonal phenology, snow cover, and freeze-thaw transitions. The retrieval of soil temperature is similar for the two methods with an overall root-mean-square error of 3.1-3.9 K during summer thawed conditions, with a larger error occurring in winter during periods of dynamic snow cover and freeze-thaw state. These results indicate that at high latitudes, the influence of the atmosphere may be less important than that of surface conditions in determining the relative accuracy of the estimated soil temperature. Impacts of surface conditions on surface emissivity, observed brightness temperature, and estimated soil temperature are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Some form of the light use efficiency (LUE) model is used in most models of ecosystem carbon exchange based on remote sensing. The strong relationship between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and light absorbed by green vegetation make models based on LUE attractive in the remote sensing context. However, estimation of LUE has proven problematic since it varies with vegetation type and environmental conditions. Here we propose that LUE may in fact be correlated with vegetation greenness (measured either as NDVI at constant solar elevation angle, or a red edge chlorophyll index), making separate estimates of LUE unnecessary, at least for some vegetation types. To test this, we installed an automated tram system for measurement of spectral reflectance in the footprint of an eddy covariance flux system in the Southern California chaparral. This allowed us to match the spatial and temporal scales of the reflectance and flux measurements and thus to make direct comparisons over time scales ranging from minutes to years. The 3-year period of this study included both “normal” precipitation years and an extreme drought in 2002. In this sparse chaparral vegetation, diurnal and seasonal changes in solar angle resulted in large variation in NDVI independent of the actual quantity of green vegetation. In fact, one would come to entirely different conclusions about seasonal changes in vegetation greenness depending on whether NDVI at noon or NDVI at constant solar elevation angle were used. Although chaparral vegetation is generally considered “evergreen”, we found that the majority of the shrubs were actually semi-deciduous, leading to large seasonal changes in NDVI at constant solar elevation angle. LUE was correlated with both greenness indices at the seasonal timescale across all years. In contrast, the relationship between LUE and PRI was inconsistent. PRI was well correlated with LUE during the “normal” years but this relationship changed dramatically during the extreme drought. Contrary to expectations, none of the spectral reflectance indices showed consistent relationships with CO2 flux or LUE over the diurnal time-course, possibly because of confounding effects of sun angle and stand structure on reflectance. These results suggest that greenness indices can be used to directly estimate CO2 exchange at weekly timescales in this chaparral ecosystem, even in the face of changes in LUE. Greenness indices are unlikely to be as good predictors of CO2 exchange in dense evergreen vegetation as they were in the sparse, semi-deciduous chaparral. However, since relatively few ecosystems are entirely evergreen at large spatial scales or over long time spans due to disturbance, these relationships need to be examined across a wider range of vegetation types. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]