Monitoring tropical forests under a functional perspective with satellite‐based vegetation optical depth

Monitoring ecosystem functions in forests is a priority in a climate change scenario, as climate‐induced events may initially alter the functions more than slow‐changing attributes, such as biomass. The ecosystem functional properties (EFPs) are quantities that characterize key ecosystem processes. They can be derived by point observations of gas and energy exchanges between the ecosystems and the atmosphere that are collected globally at FLUXNET flux tower sites and upscaled at ecosystem level. The properties here considered describe the ability of ecosystems to optimize the use of resources for carbon uptake. They represent functional forest information, are dependent on environmental drivers, linked to leaf traits and forest structure, and influenced by climate change effects. The ability of vegetation optical depth (VOD) to provide forest functional information is investigated using 2011–2014 satellite data collected by the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission and using the EFPs as reference dataset. Tropical forests in Africa and South America were analyzed, also according to ecological homogeneous units. VOD jointly with water deficit information explained 93% and 87% of the yearly variability in both flux upscaled maximum gross primary productivity and light use efficiency functional properties, in Africa and South America forests respectively. Maps of the retrieved properties evidenced changes in forest functional responses linked to anomalous climate‐induced events during the study period. The findings indicate that VOD can support the flux upscaling process in the tropical range, affected by high uncertainty, and the detection of forest anomalous functional responses. Preliminary temporal analysis of VOD and EFP signals showed fine‐grained variability in periodicity, in signal dephasing, and in the strength of the relationships. In selected drier forest types, these satellite data could also support the monitoring of functional dynamics.     

碳排放影响下的中国省域土地利用效率差异动态变化与影响因素

土地利用效率是衡量区域经济社会系统运行质量的重要参数。在构建了考虑非期望产出的土地利用效率评价指标体系基础之上,综合运用Super SBM-undesirable DEA和多元统计等研究方法,分析了2003—2016年碳排放影响下的中国省域土地利用效率的时空特征及其影响因素。研究结果表明:中国区域土地利用效率处于中低水平,碳排放非期望产出降低了15%的土地利用效率水平;与全国发展水平空间格局一致,土地利用效率省际差异在空间上呈现出自东向西逐渐递减的分异特征;2003—2016年,土地利用效率演化呈现出"U"型演进特征,区域差异呈现收敛态势;不考虑非期望产出的土地利用效率水平呈现下降态势;非期望产出和能源消费投入过大成为土地利用效率提升的主要限制因素。经济发展水平、对外开放程度以及固定资产投资对土地利用效率的提升起到了显著的正向作用;现阶段城镇化水平的增加对土地利用效率的提升具有微弱促进作用,且仅在东部地区具有显著性。基于松弛变量冗余度和影响因素分析,针对不同区域土地利用效率低效的差异性因素,提出了相应的对策措施。     

Relationship between photochemical reflectance index and leaf ecophysiological and biochemical parameters under two different water statuses: towards a rapid and efficient correction method using real‐time measurements

The use of the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) as a promising proxy of light use efficiency (LUE) has been extensively studied, and some issues have been identified, notably the sensitivity of PRI to leaf pigment composition and the variability in PRI response to LUE because of stress. In this study, we introduce a method that enables us to track the short‐term PRI response to LUE changes because of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) changes. The analysis of these short‐term relationships between PRI and LUE throughout the growing season in two species (Quercus robur L. and Fagus sylvatica L.) under two different soil water statuses showed a clear change in PRI response to LUE, which is related to leaf pigment content. The use of an estimated or approximated PRI0, defined as the PRI of perfectly dark‐adapted leaves, allowed us to separate the PRI variability due to leaf pigment content changes and the physiologically related PRI variability over both daily (PAR‐related) and seasonal (soil water content‐related) scales. The corrected PRI obtained by subtracting PRI0 from the PRI measurements showed a good correlation with the LUE over both of the species, soil water statuses and over the entire growing season.     

Remote sensing of sun-induced fluorescence to improve modeling of diurnal courses of gross primary production (GPP)

Terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) is an important parameter to explore and quantify carbon fixation by plant ecosystems at various scales. Remote sensing (RS) offers a unique possibility to investigate GPP in a spatially explicit fashion; however, budgeting of terrestrial carbon cycles based on this approach still remains uncertain. To improve calculations, spatio-temporal variability of GPP must be investigated in more detail on local and regional scales. The overarching goal of this study is to enhance our knowledge on how environmentally induced changes of photosynthetic light-use efficiency (LUE) are linked with optical RS parameters. Diurnal courses of sun-induced fluorescence yield ( F _Syield) and the photochemical reflectance index of corn were derived from high-resolution spectrometric measurements and their potential as proxies for LUE was investigated. GPP was modeled using Monteith's LUE-concept and optical-based GPP and LUE values were compared with synoptically acquired eddy covariance data. It is shown that the diurnal response of complex physiological regulation of photosynthesis can be tracked reliably with the sun-induced fluorescence. Considering structural and physiological effects, this research shows for the first time that including sun-induced fluorescence into modeling approaches improves their results in predicting diurnal courses of GPP. Our results support the hypothesis that air- or spaceborne quantification of sun-induced fluorescence yield may become a powerful tool to better understand spatio-temporal variations of fluorescence yield, photosynthetic efficiency and plant stress on a global scale.     

新疆古尔班通古特沙漠南缘多枝柽柳光合作用及水分利用的生态适应性

光合作用和水分利用是陆地生态系统中限制植物光合同化和个体生长发育的重要因素。为了从根本上认识到荒漠绿洲过渡带植物对特殊生境和气候变化的响应和适应机制,有必要深入的了解植被对不同环境因子适应过程的协调性。本文以新疆古尔班通古特沙漠南缘荒漠绿洲过渡带的建群种多枝柽柳（Tamarix ramosissima）为研究对象,分别在自然状态,模拟降水、遮光处理以及降水和遮光双因子处理下,利用LI-6400光合作用系统和Model 3500植物水分压力室分别测定光合作用和枝条水势,研究多枝柽柳枝条水势对浅层土壤水分和光照变化的响应,以及在不同条件下的水分利用效率（WUE）和光能利用效率（LUE）的日进程。结果表明：这四种处理方式下,枝条水势随土壤水分的变化没有明显的差异,趋势表现为黎明前枝条水势最高（-1.2 MPa）,正午枝条水势最低（-3.2 MPa）,太阳落山后枝条水势逐渐升高的趋势;WUE和LUE日变化呈现出近似双峰型抛物线,WUE日变化曲线在11:00和16:00有两个不明显的波峰,LUE日变化曲线在10:00和16:00出现两个明显波峰。当光照发生变化时,遮光处理下的WUE和LUE日变化都较自然状态下的日变化低,分别降低了1.5 ?mol CO2?mmol-1 H2O的WUE和0.20*10-2 ?mol CO2??mol-1APAR的LUE。研究表明,作为深根系植物的多枝柽柳,生存主要依靠地下水来补给水分,所以浅层土壤水分条件变化没有明显引起光合和蒸腾的响应。而午间光强、高温是构成多枝柽柳光抑制现象的主要原因,这是多枝柽柳长期在荒漠绿洲过渡带形成的对抗环境胁迫的一种表现。     

光化学植被指数估算植物光能利用率的研究进展

 应用遥感技术可以建立光化学植被指数（Photochemical reflectance index, PRI）和光能利用效率（Light use efficiency, LUE）的关系,LUE可用来估算净初级生产力（Net primary productivity, NPP）。因而,用PRI估算植物的LUE,为估算NPP提供了新的方法,弥补了以往以经验模式通过温度和水分对最大LUE的胁迫来获取实际LUE的不足,进而可提高NPP的估算精度。研究表明：PRI和LUE在叶片、冠层和景观尺度上都有着很好的相关性,但是随着尺度的变化,很多因素会对这一关系产生干扰,如水分、氮元素含量、叶面积指数和太阳高度角等,从而削弱了PRI和LUE的关系。该文对建立PRI和LUE的关系过程中的影响因素进行了分析,并指出今后这一研究领域中可能改进的方面,主要包括526 nm 和545 nm 处的反射率对531 nm 处的反射率的作用机制、PRI随LUE的饱和现象、PRI和LUE关系的时间效应以及利用PRI估算LUE的尺度效应。     

Deconvolution of pigment and physiologically related photochemical reflectance index variability at the canopy scale over an entire growing season

The sensitivity of the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) to leaf pigmentation and its impacts on its potential as a proxy for light‐use efficiency (LUE) have recently been shown to be problematic at the leaf scale. Most leaf‐to‐leaf and seasonal variability can be explained by such a confounding effect. This study relies on the analysis of PRI light curves that were generated at the canopy scale under natural conditions to derive a precise deconvolution of pigment‐related and physiologically related variability in the PRI. These sources of variability were explained by measured or estimated physiologically relevant variables, such as soil water content, that can be used as indicators of water availability and canopy chlorophyll content. The PRI mainly reflected the variability in the pigment content of the canopy. However, the corrected PRI, which was obtained by subtracting the pigment‐related seasonal variability from the PRI measurement, was highly correlated with the upscaled LUE measurements. Moreover, the sensitivity of the PRI to the leaf pigment content may mask the PRI versus LUE relationship or result in an artificial relationship that reflects the relationship of chlorophyll versus LUE, depending on the species phenology.