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Earth system processes exhibit complex patterns across time, as do the models that seek to replicate these processes. Model output may or may not be significantly related to observations at different times and on different frequencies. Conventional model diagnostics provide an aggregate view of model-data agreement, but usually do not identify the time and frequency patterns of model misfit, leaving unclear the steps required to improve model response to environmental drivers that vary on characteristic frequencies. Wavelet coherence can quantify the times and frequencies at which models and measurements are significantly different. We applied wavelet coherence to interpret the predictions of twenty ecosystem models from the North American Carbon Program (NACP) Site-Level Interim Synthesis when confronted with eddy covariance-measured net ecosystem exchange (NEE) from ten ecosystems with multiple years of available data. Models were grouped into classes with similar approaches for incorporating phenology, the calculation of NEE, and the inclusion of foliar nitrogen (N). Models with prescribed, rather than prognostic, phenology often fit NEE observations better on annual to interannual time scales in grassland, wetland and agricultural ecosystems. Models that calculate NEE as net primary productivity (NPP) minus heterotrophic respiration (HR) rather than gross ecosystem productivity (GPP) minus ecosystem respiration (ER) fit better on annual time scales in grassland and wetland ecosystems, but models that calculate NEE as GPP-ER were superior on monthly to seasonal time scales in two coniferous forests. Models that incorporated foliar nitrogen (N) data were successful at capturing NEE variability on interannual (multiple year) time scales at Howland Forest, Maine. Combined with previous findings, our results suggest that the mechanisms driving daily and annual NEE variability tend to be correctly simulated, but the magnitude of these fluxes is often erroneous, suggesting that model parameterization must be improved. Few NACP models correctly predicted fluxes on seasonal and interannual time scales where spectral energy in NEE observations tends to be low, but where phenological events, multi-year oscillations in climatological drivers, and ecosystem succession are known to be important for determining ecosystem function. Mechanistic improvements to models must be made to replicate observed NEE variability on seasonal and interannual time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of nitrogen represents a key constraint on carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, and it is largely in this capacity that the role of N in the Earth's climate system has been considered. Despite this, few studies have included continuous variation in plant N status as a driver of broad-scale carbon cycle analyses. This is partly because of uncertainties in how leaf-level physiological relationships scale to whole ecosystems and because methods for regional to continental detection of plant N concentrations have yet to be developed. Here, we show that ecosystem CO[sub2] uptake capacity in temperate and boreal forests scales directly with whole-canopy N concentrations, mirroring a leaf-level trend that has been observed for woody plants worldwide. We further show that both CO[sub2] uptake capacity and canopy N concentration are strongly and positively correlated with shortwave surface albedo. These results suggest that N plays an additional, and overlooked, role in the climate system via its influence on vegetation reflectivity and shortwave surface energy exchange. We also demonstrate that much of the spatial variation in canopy N can be detected by using broad-band satellite sensors, offering a means through which these findings can be applied toward improved application of coupled carbon cycle-climate models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nocturnal eddy-covariance carbon dioxide fluxes have uncertainties arising from non-stationary atmospheric processes. Low-level jets (LLJ) are one of the prominent nocturnal boundary-layer phenomena observed over non-mountainous terrain, and are capable of generating shear and turbulence close to the ground. The influence of intermittent LLJ activity on nocturnal carbon dioxide exchange measurements is investigated using wind profile observations and eddy-covariance flux measurements over a tall forest canopy. Results suggest that the buildup and venting of CO2 are closely associated with LLJ activity during the night. Of significance in quantifying nocturnal fluxes, this paper demonstrates how low-level jet activity introduces sporadic coupling between the canopy and the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annual budgets and fitted temperature response curves for soil respiration and ecosystem respiration provide useful information for partitioning annual carbon budgets of ecosystems, but they may not adequately reveal seasonal variation in the ratios of these two fluxes. Soil respiration ( Rs) typically contributes 30–80% of annual total ecosystem respiration ( Reco) in forests, but the temporal variation of these ratios across seasons has not been investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate seasonal variation in the Rs/ Reco ratio in a mature forest dominated by conifers at Howland, ME, USA. We used chamber measurements of Rs and tower-based eddy covariance measurements of Reco. The Rs/ Reco ratio reached a minimum of about 0.45 in the early spring, gradually increased through the late spring and early summer, leveled off at about 0.65 for the summer, and then increased again to about 0.8 in the autumn. A spring pulse of aboveground respiration presumably causes the springtime minimum in this ratio. Soil respiration ‘catches up’ as the soils warm and as root growth presumably accelerates in the late spring, causing the Rs/ Reco ratios to increase. The summertime plateau of Rs/ Reco ratios is consistent with summer drought suppressing Rs that would otherwise be increasing, based on increasing soil temperature alone, thus causing the Rs/ Reco ratios to not increase as soils continue to warm. Declining air temperatures and litter fall apparently contribute to increased Rs/ Reco ratios in the autumn. Differences in phenology of growth of aboveground and belowground plant tissues, mobilization and use of stored substrates within woody plants, seasonal variation in photosynthate and litter substrates, and lags between temperature changes of air and soil contribute to a distinct seasonal pattern of Rs/ Reco ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theδ13 Cvalues of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) can be used to partition global patterns of CO2 source/sink relationships among terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems using the inversion technique. This approach is very sensitive to estimates of photosynthetic13 Cdiscrimination by terrestrial vegetation (ΔA), and depends onδ13 Cvalues of respired CO2 fluxes (δ13 CR). Here we show that by combining two independent data streams– the stable isotope ratios of atmospheric CO2 and eddy-covariance CO2 flux measurements– canopy scale estimates ofΔA can be successfully derived in terrestrial ecosystems. We also present the first weekly dataset of seasonal variations inδ13 CR from dominant forest ecosystems in the United States between 2001 and 2003. Our observations indicate considerable summer-time variation in the weekly value ofδ13 CR within coniferous forests (4.0‰ and 5.4‰ at Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility and Howland Forest, respectively, between May and September). The monthly mean values ofδ13 CR showed a smaller range (2–3‰), which appeared to significantly correlate with soil water availability. Values ofδ13 CR were less variable during the growing season at the deciduous forest (Harvard Forest). We suggest that the negative correlation betweenδ13 CR and soil moisture content observed in the two coniferous forests should represent a general ecosystem response to the changes in the distribution of water resources because of climate change. Shifts inδ13 CR andΔA could be of sufficient magnitude globally to impact partitioning calculations of CO2 sinks between oceanic and terrestrial compartments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven years of carbon dioxide flux measurements indicate that a∼90-year-old spruce dominated forest in Maine, USA, has been sequestering 174±46 g C m−2 yr−1 (mean±1 standard deviation, nocturnal friction velocity (u*) threshold>0.25 m s−1). An analysis of monthly flux anomalies showed that above-average spring and fall temperatures were significantly correlated with greater monthly C uptake while above-average summer temperatures were correlated with decreased net C uptake. Summer months with significantly drier or wetter soils than normal were also characterized by lower rates of C uptake. Years with above-average C storage were thus typically characterized by warmer than average spring and fall temperatures and adequate summer soil moisture.Environmental and forest–atmosphere flux data recorded from a second tower surrounded by similar forest, but sufficiently distant that flux source regions (‘footprints’), did not overlap significantly showed almost identical temperature and solar radiation conditions, but some differences in energy partitioning could be seen. Half-hourly as well as integrated (annual) C exchange values recorded at the separate towers were very similar, with average annual net C uptake differing between the two towers by<6%. Interannual variability in net C exchange was found to be much greater than between tower variability. Simultaneous measurements from two towers were used to estimate flux data uncertainty from a single tower. Carbon-flux model parameters derived independently from each flux tower data set were not significantly different, demonstrating that flux towers can provide a robust method for establishing C exchange model parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organismic and Evolutionary Biology