Carbohydrate dynamics and mortality in a piñon‐juniper woodland under three future precipitation scenarios

Drought‐induced forest mortality is an increasing global problem with wide‐ranging consequences, yet mortality mechanisms remain poorly understood. Depletion of non‐structural carbohydrate (NSC) stores has been implicated as an important mechanism in drought‐induced mortality, but experimental field tests are rare. We used an ecosystem‐scale precipitation manipulation experiment to evaluate leaf and twig NSC dynamics of two co‐occurring conifers that differ in patterns of stomatal regulation of water loss and recent mortality: the relatively desiccation‐avoiding piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and the relatively desiccation‐tolerant one‐seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma). Piñon pine experienced 72% mortality after 13–25 months of experimental drought and juniper experienced 20% mortality after 32–47 months. Juniper maintained three times more NSC in the foliage than twigs, and converted NSC to glucose and fructose under drought, consistent with osmoregulation requirements to maintain higher stomatal conductance during drought than piñon. Despite these species differences, experimental drought caused decreased leaf starch content in dying trees of both species (P < 0.001). Average dry‐season leaf starch content was also a good predictor of drought‐survival time for both species (R² = 0.93). These results, along with observations of drought‐induced reductions to photosynthesis and growth, support carbon limitation as an important process during mortality of these two conifer species.     

Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand‐replacing fire

Carbon uptake by forests is a major sink in the global carbon cycle, helping buffer the rising concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere, yet the potential for future carbon uptake by forests is uncertain. Climate warming and drought can reduce forest carbon uptake by reducing photosynthesis, increasing respiration, and by increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires, leading to large releases of stored carbon. Five years of eddy covariance measurements in a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)‐dominated ecosystem in northern Arizona showed that an intense wildfire that converted forest into sparse grassland shifted site carbon balance from sink to source for at least 15 years after burning. In contrast, recovery of carbon sink strength after thinning, a management practice used to reduce the likelihood of intense wildfires, was rapid. Comparisons between an undisturbed‐control site and an experimentally thinned site showed that thinning reduced carbon sink strength only for the first two posttreatment years. In the third and fourth posttreatment years, annual carbon sink strength of the thinned site was higher than the undisturbed site because thinning reduced aridity and drought limitation to carbon uptake. As a result, annual maximum gross primary production occurred when temperature was 3 °C higher at the thinned site compared with the undisturbed site. The severe fire consistently reduced annual evapotranspiration (range of 12–30%), whereas effects of thinning were smaller and transient, and could not be detected in the fourth year after thinning. Our results show large and persistent effects of intense fire and minor and short‐lived effects of thinning on southwestern ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water exchanges.     

Changes in carbon storage and fluxes in a chronosequence of ponderosa pine

Forest development following stand‐replacing disturbance influences a variety of ecosystem processes including carbon exchange with the atmosphere. On a series of ponderosa pine (Pinius ponderosa var. Laws.) stands ranging from 9 to> 300 years in central Oregon, USA, we used biological measurements to estimate carbon storage in vegetation and soil pools, net primary productivity (NPP) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) to examine variation with stand age. Measurements were made on plots representing four age classes with three replications: initiation (I, 9–23 years), young (Y, 56–89 years), mature (M, 95–106 years), and old (O, 190–316 years) stands typical of the forest type in the region. Net ecosystem productivity was lowest in the I stands (?124 g C m^?2 yr^?1), moderate in Y stands (118 g C m^?2 yr^?1), highest in M stands (170 g C m^?2 yr^?1), and low in the O stands (35 g C m^?2 yr^?1). Net primary productivity followed similar trends, but did not decline as much in the O stands. The ratio of fine root to foliage carbon was highest in the I stands, which is likely necessary for establishment in the semiarid environment, where forests are subject to drought during the growing season (300–800 mm precipitation per year). Carbon storage in live mass was the highest in the O stands (mean 17.6 kg C m^?2). Total ecosystem carbon storage and the fraction of ecosystem carbon in aboveground wood mass increased rapidly until 150–200 years, and did not decline in older stands. Forest inventory data on 950 ponderosa pine plots in Oregon show that the greatest proportion of plots exist in stands ～ 100 years old, indicating that a majority of stands are approaching maximum carbon storage and net carbon uptake. Our data suggests that NEP averages ～ 70 g C m^?2 year^?1 for ponderosa pine forests in Oregon. About 85% of the total carbon storage in biomass on the survey plots exists in stands greater than 100 years, which has implications for managing forests for carbon sequestration. To investigate variation in carbon storage and fluxes with disturbance, simulation with process models requires a dynamic parameterization for biomass allocation that depends on stand age, and should include a representation of competition between multiple plant functional types for space, water, and nutrients.     

千烟洲马尾松人工林生态系统的碳循环模拟及模型参数的敏感性分析

应用改进后的碳水循环过程模型——景观尺度生态系统生产力过程模型(ecosystem productivity process model for landscape,EPPML)模拟了2003和2004年千烟洲马尾松人工林生态系统的碳循环过程,并对模型参数的敏感性进行了分析.结果表明:EPPML可用于模拟千烟洲马尾松人工林的碳循环过程,不仅总初级生产力(GPP)、生态系统净生产力(NEP)和生态系统总呼吸(Re)的年总值和季节变化与实测值十分吻合,而且也能反映极端天气对碳流的重要影响;千烟洲马尾松人工林生态系统具有较强的净碳吸收能力,但2003年生长最旺季的高温和重旱天气的耦合作用使其碳吸收能力明显低于2004年,2003和2004年平均NEP分别为481.8和516.6gC.m-2.a-1;马尾松生长初期的光照、生长旺期的干旱、生长末期的降水量是改变碳循环季节变化的关键气象条件;自养呼吸(Ra)与净初级生产力(NPP)的季节进程一致;异养呼吸(Rh)在年尺度上受土壤温度控制,而在月尺度上则受土壤含水量波动的影响;在生长季的丰水期,土壤含水量越大,Rh越小;而在生长季的枯水期,前两个月的降雨量越大,Rh也越大.EPPML参数中,25℃时的最大RuBP羧化速率(Vm25)、比叶面积(SLA)、最大叶N含量(LNm)、平均叶含N量(LN)、生物量与碳的转换率(C/B)对年NEP的影响最大;不同碳循环过程变量对敏感参数变化的响应也不尽相同,其中,Vm25和LN的增加能有效促进植物的碳吸收和呼吸;LN/LNm越小,对碳吸收和呼吸的抑制作用越强;C/B和SLA的增大会促进碳吸收,抑制呼吸.将全年区分为生长季与非生长季时得到的最敏感参数的结论与全年不尽相同.     

基于模型数据融合的长白山阔叶红松林碳循环模拟

 充分、有效地利用各种陆地生态系统碳观测数据改善陆地生态系统模型, 是当前我国陆地生态系统碳循环研究领域亟待解决的重要问题之一。该研究以2003~2005年长白山阔叶红松林的6组生物计量观测数据和涡度相关技术测定的碳通量数据为基础, 利用马尔可夫链-蒙特卡罗方法对陆地生态系统模型的关键参数(即碳滞留时间)进行了反演, 进而预测了长白山阔叶红松林生态系统碳库、碳通量及其不确定性。反演结果表明, 长白山阔叶红松林叶凋落物和微生物碳的平均滞留时间最短, 为2~6个月; 其次是叶和细根生物量碳, 二者的平均滞留时间为1~2 a; 慢性土壤有机碳的平均滞留时间为8~16 a; 碳在木质生物量和惰性土壤有机质库中的滞留时间最长, 平均滞留时间分别为77~109 a和409~1 879 a。模拟结果显示, 碳库和累积碳通量模拟值的不确定性将随着模拟时间的延长而增大。当气温升高10%和20%时, 长白山阔叶红松林总初级生产力年总量将分别增加6.5%和9.9%, 净生态系统生产力(NEP)年总量的变化取决于土壤温度的变化。若土壤温度保持不变, NEP年总量将分别增加11.4%~21.9%和17.6%~33.1%; 若土壤温度也相应升高10%和20%, NEP年总量的增幅反而下降甚至低于原来的水平。假设气候和植被保持在2003~2005年的状态, 2020年长白山阔叶红松林NEP年总量为(163±12) g C·m^–2·a^–1, 土壤呼吸年总量为(721±14) g C·m^–2·a^–1。马尔可夫链-蒙特卡罗方法是反演模型参数、优化模拟结果和评估模拟结果不确定性的有效方法, 但今后仍需在惰性土壤碳滞留时间的估计、驱动数据和模型结构的不确定性分析、模型数据融合方法方面进行深入研究, 以进一步提高碳循环模拟的准确性。     

Increased temperature and precipitation interact to affect root production,mortality, and turnover in a temperate steppe: implications for ecosystem C cycling

Fine root production and turnover play important roles in regulating carbon (C) cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. In order to examine effects of climate change on root production and turnover, a field experiment with increased temperature and precipitation had been conducted in a semiarid temperate steppe in northern China since April 2005. Experimental warming decreased annual root production, mortality, and mean standing crop by 10.3%, 12.1%, 7.0%, respectively, while root turnover was not affected in 2006 and 2007 by the warming. Annual root production and turnover was 5.9% and 10.3% greater in the elevated than ambient precipitation plots. Changes in root production and mortality in response to increased temperature and precipitation could be largely attributed to the changes in gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) and belowground/aboveground C allocation. There were significant interactive effects of warming and increased precipitation on root productivity, mortality, and standing crop. Experimental warming had positive and negative effects on the three root variables (root production, mortality, standing crop) under ambient and increased precipitation, respectively. Increased precipitation stimulated and suppressed the three root variables in the unwarmed and warmed subplots, respectively. The positive dependence of soil respiration and ecosystem respiration upon root productivity and mortality highlights the important role of root dynamics in ecosystem C cycling. The nonadditive effects of increased temperature and precipitation on root productivity, mortality, and standing crop observed in this study are critical for model projections of climate–ecosystem feedbacks. These findings indicate that carbon allocation is a focal point for future research and that results from single factor experiments should be treated with caution because of factor interactions.     

北京山区3种暖温带森林生态系统未来碳平衡的模拟与分析

使用LPJ-GUESS植被动态模型, 在北京山区研究了未来100a以辽东栎 (Quercus liaotungensis) 为优势种的落叶阔叶林、以白桦 (Betula platyphylla) 为主的阔叶林和油松 (Pinus tabulaeformis) 为优势种的针阔混交林的碳变化, 定量分析了生态系统净初级生产力 (NPP) 、土壤异养呼吸 (Rh) 、净生态系统碳交换 (NEE) 和碳生物量 (Carbon bio-mass) 对两种未来气候情景 (SRES A2和B2) 以及相应大气CO2浓度变化情景的响应特征。结果表明:1) 未来100a两种气候情景下3种森林生态系统的NPP和Rh均增加, 并且A2情景下增加的程度更大;2) 由于3种生态系统树种组成的不同, 未来气候情景下各自NPP和Rh增加的比例不同, 导致三者NEE的变化也相异:100a后辽东栎林由碳汇转变为弱碳源, 白桦林仍保持为碳汇但功能减弱, 油松林成为一个更大的碳汇;3) 3种森林生态系统的碳生物量在未来气候情景下均增大, 21世纪末与20世纪末相比:辽东栎林在A2情景下碳生物量增加的比例为27.6%, 大于B2情景下的19.3%;白桦林和油松林在B2情景下碳生物量增加的比例分别为34.2%和52.2%, 大于A2情景下的30.8%和28.4%。     

Forest Fire Impacts on Carbon Uptake, Storage, and Emission: The Role of Burn Severity in the Eastern Cascades, Oregon

This study quantifies the short-term effects of low-, moderate-, and high-severity fire on carbon pools and fluxes in the Eastern Cascades of Oregon. We surveyed 64 forest stands across four fires that burned 41,000 ha (35%) of the Metolius Watershed in 2002 and 2003, stratifying the landscape by burn severity (overstory tree mortality), forest type (ponderosa pine [PP] and mixed-conifer [MC]), and prefire biomass. Stand-scale C combustion ranged from 13 to 35% of prefire aboveground C pools (area ? weighted mean = 22%). Across the sampled landscape, total estimated pyrogenic C emissions were equivalent to 2.5% of statewide anthropogenic CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes for the same 2-year period. From low- to moderate- to high-severity ponderosa pine stands, average tree basal area mortality was 14, 49, and 100%, with parallel patterns in mixed-conifer stands (29, 58, 96%). Despite this decline in live aboveground C, total net primary productivity (NPP) was only 40% lower in high- versus low-severity stands, suggesting strong compensatory effects of non-tree vegetation on C uptake. Dead wood respiratory losses were small relative to total NPP (range: 10–35%), reflecting decomposition lags in this seasonally arid system. Although soil C, soil respiration, and fine root NPP were conserved across severity classes, net ecosystem production (NEP) declined with increasing severity, driven by trends in aboveground NPP. The high variability of C responses across this study underscores the need to account for landscape patterns of burn severity, particularly in regions such as the Pacific Northwest, where non-stand-replacement fire represents a large proportion of annual burned area.     

Drought responses of conifers in ecotone forests of northern Arizona: tree ring growth and leaf δ<Superscript>13</Superscript>C

We sought to understand differences in tree response to meteorological drought among species and soil types at two ecotone forests in northern Arizona, the pinyon-juniper woodland/ponderosa pine ecotone, and the higher elevation, wetter, ponderosa pine/mixed conifer ecotone. We used two approaches that provide different information about drought response: the ratio of standardized radial growth in wet years to dry years (W:D) for the period between years 1950 and 2000 as a measure of growth response to drought, and ¹³C in leaves formed in non-drought (2001) and drought (2002) years as a measure of change in water use efficiency (WUE) in response to drought. W:D and leaf ¹³C response to drought for Pinus edulis and P. ponderosa did not differ for trees growing on coarse-texture soils derived from cinders compared with finer textured soils derived from flow basalts or sedimentary rocks. P. ponderosa growing near its low elevation range limit at the pinyon-juniper woodland/ponderosa pine ecotone had a greater growth response to drought (higher W:D) and a larger increase in WUE in response to drought than co-occurring P. edulis growing near its high elevation range limit. P. flexilis and Pseudotsuga menziesii growing near their low elevation range limit at the ponderosa pine/mixed conifer ecotone had a larger growth response to drought than co-occurring P. ponderosa growing near its high elevation range limit. Increases in WUE in response to drought were similar for all species at the ponderosa pine/mixed conifer ecotone. Low elevation populations of P. ponderosa had greater growth response to drought than high-elevation populations, whereas populations had a similar increase in WUE in response to drought. Our findings of different responses to drought among co-occurring tree species and between low- and high-elevation populations are interpreted in the context of drought impacts on montane coniferous forests of the southwestern USA.     

Forest productivity recovery or collapse? Model-data integration insights on drought-induced tipping points

More frequent and severe droughts are driving increased forest mortality around the globe. We urgently need to describe and predict how drought affects forest carbon cycling and identify thresholds of environmental stress that trigger ecosystem collapse. Quantifying the effects of drought at an ecosystem level is complex because dynamic climate–plant relationships can cause rapid and/or prolonged shifts in carbon balance. We employ the CARbon DAta MOdel fraMework (CARDAMOM) to investigate legacy effects of drought on forest carbon pools and fluxes. Our Bayesian model-data fusion approach uses tower observed meteorological forcing and carbon fluxes to determine the response and sensitivity of aboveground and belowground ecological processes associated with the 2012–2015 California drought. Our study area is a mid-montane mixed conifer forest in the Southern Sierras. CARDAMOM constrained with gross primary productivity (GPP) estimates covering 2011–2017 show a ~75% reduction in GPP, compared to negligible GPP change when constrained with 2011 only. Precipitation across 2012–2015 was 45% (474 mm) lower than the historical average and drove a cascading depletion in soil moisture and carbon pools (foliar, labile, roots, and litter). Adding 157 mm during an especially stressful year (2014, annual rainfall = 293 mm) led to a smaller depletion of water and carbon pools, steering the ecosystem away from a state of GPP tipping-point collapse to recovery. We present novel process-driven insights that demonstrate the sensitivity of GPP collapse to ecosystem foliar carbon and soil moisture states—showing that the full extent of GPP response takes several years to arise. Thus, long-term changes in soil moisture and carbon pools can provide a mechanistic link between drought and forest mortality. Our study provides an example for how key precipitation threshold ranges can influence forest productivity, making them useful for monitoring and predicting forest mortality events.     

Effects of the time of drought occurrence within the growing season on growth and survival of Pinus ponderosa seedlings

Key message

A drought event during spring produces a stronger and long lasting decrease in growth of ponderosa pine seedlings than a summer drought event. However, survival is not differentially affected.

Abstract

Although there is certainty about the increasing frequency of extreme climatic events, the consequences of changing patterns of drought events within the growing season on the growth and survival of different species are much less certain. In particular, little knowledge is available on the differential effect on tree seedlings of a drought event at different times within the growing season. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of a drought event imposed at different times over the growing season on the growth, survival and some related morphological and physiological variables of Pinus ponderosa seedlings from two seed sources. Four treatments were applied: control conditions; spring drought; summer drought and spring plus summer drought (SpSuD). A drought event in spring reduced stem growth and biomass accumulation in ponderosa pine seedlings during the occurrence of the drought and afterwards, even when plant water status had recovered. The lack of growth recovery could not be associated with loss of stem hydraulic conductivity or reduction in stomatal conductance after drought. However, the spring drought did not differentially affect plant survival, as was the case with prolonged drought in the SpSuD treatment. The summer drought event had a significant but much smaller impact on plant growth. Our results suggest different consequences of a drought event in spring or in summer in ponderosa pine seedlings. This knowledge may be relevant to understand and predict tree seedlings responses to changing patterns of drought events within the growing season in the framework of climatic change.     

Importance of resin ducts in reducing ponderosa pine mortality from bark beetle attack

The relative importance of growth and defense to tree mortality during drought and bark beetle attacks is poorly understood. We addressed this issue by comparing growth and defense characteristics between 25 pairs of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) trees that survived and trees that died from drought-associated bark beetle attacks in forests of northern Arizona, USA. The three major findings of our research were: (1) xylem resin ducts in live trees were >10% larger (diameter), >25% denser (no. of resin ducts mm⁻²), and composed >50% more area per unit ring growth than dead trees; (2) measures of defense, such as resin duct production (no. of resin ducts year⁻¹) and the proportion of xylem ring area to resin ducts, not growth, were the best model parameters of ponderosa pine mortality; and (3) most correlations between annual variation in growth and resin duct characteristics were positive suggesting that conditions conducive to growth also increase resin duct production. Our results suggest that trees that survive drought and subsequent bark beetle attacks invest more carbon in resin defense than trees that die, and that carbon allocation to resin ducts is a more important determinant of tree mortality than allocation to radial growth.     

Sources or sinks? The responses of tropical forests to current and future climate and atmospheric composition.

How tropical rainforests are responding to the ongoing global changes in atmospheric composition and climate is little studied and poorly understood. Although rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) could enhance forest productivity, increased temperatures and drought are likely to diminish it. The limited field data have produced conflicting views of the net impacts of these changes so far. One set of studies has seemed to point to enhanced carbon uptake; however, questions have arisen about these findings, and recent experiments with tropical forest trees indicate carbon saturation of canopy leaves and no biomass increase under enhanced CO2. Other field observations indicate decreased forest productivity and increased tree mortality in recent years of peak temperatures and drought (strong El Niño episodes). To determine current climatic responses of forests around the world tropics will require careful annual monitoring of ecosystem performance in representative forests. To develop the necessary process-level understanding of these responses will require intensified experimentation at the whole-tree and stand levels. Finally, a more complete understanding of tropical rainforest carbon cycling is needed for determining whether these ecosystems are carbon sinks or sources now, and how this status might change during the next century.     

Tree growth response to drought and temperature in a mountain landscape in northern Arizona, USA

Aim To understand how tree growth response to regional drought and temperature varies between tree species, elevations and forest types in a mountain landscape. Location Twenty‐one sites on an elevation gradient of 1500 m on the San Francisco Peaks, northern Arizona, USA. Methods Tree‐ring data for the years 1950–2000 for eight tree species (Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica (Merriam) Lemm., Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm., Pinus aristata Engelm., Pinus edulis Engelm., Pinus flexilis James, Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws., Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco and Quercus gambelii Nutt.) were used to compare sensitivity of radial growth to regional drought and temperature among co‐occurring species at the same site, and between sites that differed in elevation and species composition. Results For Picea engelmannii, Pinus flexilis, Pinus ponderosa and Pseudotsuga menziesii, trees in drier, low‐elevation stands generally had greater sensitivity of radial growth to regional drought than trees of the same species in wetter, high‐elevation stands. Species low in their elevational range had greater drought sensitivity than co‐occurring species high in their elevational range at the pinyon‐juniper/ponderosa pine forest ecotone, ponderosa pine/mixed conifer forest ecotone and high‐elevation invaded meadows, but not at the mixed conifer/subalpine forest ecotone. Sensitivity of radial growth to regional drought was greater at drier, low‐elevation compared with wetter, high‐elevation forests. Yearly growth was positively correlated with measures of regional water availability at all sites, except high‐elevation invaded meadows where growth was weakly correlated with all climatic factors. Yearly growth in high‐elevation forests up to 3300 m a.s.l. was more strongly correlated with water availability than temperature. Main conclusions Severe regional drought reduced growth of all dominant tree species over a gradient of precipitation and temperature represented by a 1500‐m change in elevation, but response to drought varied between species and stands. Growth was reduced the most in drier, low‐elevation forests and in species growing low in their elevational range in ecotones, and the least for trees that had recently invaded high‐elevation meadows. Constraints on tree growth from drought and high temperature are important for high‐elevation subalpine forests located near the southern‐most range of the dominant species.     

Growth, carbon-isotope discrimination, and drought-associated mortality across a Pinus ponderosa elevational transect

Drought‐ and insect‐associated tree mortality at low‐elevation ecotones is a widespread phenomenon but the underlying mechanisms are uncertain. Enhanced growth sensitivity to climate is widely observed among trees that die, indicating that a predisposing physiological mechanism(s) underlies tree mortality. We tested three, linked hypotheses regarding mortality using a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) elevation transect that experienced low‐elevation mortality following prolonged drought. The hypotheses were: (1) mortality was associated with greater growth sensitivity to climate, (2) mortality was associated with greater sensitivity of gas exchange to climate, and (3) growth and gas exchange were correlated. Support for all three hypotheses would indicate that mortality results at least in part from gas exchange constraints. We assessed growth using basal area increment normalized by tree basal area [basal area increment (BAI)/basal area (BA)] to account for differences in tree size. Whole‐crown gas exchange was indexed via estimates of the CO₂ partial pressure difference between leaf and atmosphere (p_a?p_c) derived from tree ring carbon isotope ratios (δ¹³C), corrected for temporal trends in atmospheric CO₂ and δ¹³C and elevation trends in pressure. Trees that survived the drought exhibited strong correlations among and between BAI, BAI/BA, p_a?p_c, and climate. In contrast, trees that died exhibited greater growth sensitivity to climate than trees that survived, no sensitivity of p_a?p_c to climate, and a steep relationship between p_a?p_c and BAI/BA. The p_a?p_c results are consistent with predictions from a theoretical hydraulic model, suggesting trees that died had a limited buffer between mean water availability during their lifespan and water availability during drought – i.e., chronic water stress. It appears that chronic water stress predisposed low‐elevation trees to mortality during drought via constrained gas exchange. Continued intensification of drought in mid‐latitude regions may drive increased mortality and ecotone shifts in temperate forests and woodlands.     

异质景观年平均蒸发量空间格局模拟

理解景观格局如何影响生态过程是景观生态学的核心问题。建立了一个多尺度的空间显式景观过程模型 EPPML(Ecosystem Productivity Process- based Model at L andscape Scale) ,对中国东北长白山自然保护区生态系统碳 -水循环变量和生产力的时空格局进行了模拟 ,其中年平均蒸发量和蒸散量的空间格局是模型的主要输出结果之一。模拟值与实测值的数量级一致 ,这表明 EPPML 可以比较合理而准确地模拟该保护区主要生态系统的年平均蒸发量和蒸散量 ,但仍需进一步的模型验证和不确定性分析。年平均蒸发量的模拟值平均为 0 .198± 0 .0 93m / a,空间格局随海拔变化的趋势不明显 ,其中最高为云冷杉林(0 .2 76± 0 .0 81m/ a) ,最低为阔叶林 (0 .0 94± 0 .0 30 m / a)。环境因子 (气象因子和土壤含水量 )和植被因子 (植被类型和叶面积指数 L AI)等景观要素在空间格局上的变化会直接或间接地影响蒸发过程 ,进而调控整个景观的水平衡。环境因子对蒸发的影响比对蒸腾的影响要复杂得多。相对湿度对蒸发的影响最大 (R=0 .4 0 ) ,其它依次为气温、总辐射、降水量、风速和土壤含水量。年平均蒸发量与 L AI负相关 (R=- 0 .39) ,但两者并不呈简单的反比关系 :当 L AI较小时 ,蒸发量随 L AI的增加迅速地降低 ;当L AI进一步     

Effects of Climate Variability and Accelerated Forest Thinning on Watershed-Scale Runoff in Southwestern USA Ponderosa Pine Forests

The recent mortality of up to 20% of forests and woodlands in the southwestern United States, along with declining stream flows and projected future water shortages, heightens the need to understand how management practices can enhance forest resilience and functioning under unprecedented scales of drought and wildfire. To address this challenge, a combination of mechanical thinning and fire treatments are planned for 238,000 hectares (588,000 acres) of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests across central Arizona, USA. Mechanical thinning can increase runoff at fine scales, as well as reduce fire risk and tree water stress during drought, but the effects of this practice have not been studied at scales commensurate with recent forest disturbances or under a highly variable climate. Modifying a historical runoff model, we constructed scenarios to estimate increases in runoff from thinning ponderosa pine at the landscape and watershed scales based on driving variables: pace, extent and intensity of forest treatments and variability in winter precipitation. We found that runoff on thinned forests was about 20% greater than unthinned forests, regardless of whether treatments occurred in a drought or pluvial period. The magnitude of this increase is similar to observed declines in snowpack for the region, suggesting that accelerated thinning may lessen runoff losses due to warming effects. Gains in runoff were temporary (six years after treatment) and modest when compared to mean annual runoff from the study watersheds (0–3%). Nonetheless gains observed during drought periods could play a role in augmenting river flows on a seasonal basis, improving conditions for water-dependent natural resources, as well as benefit water supplies for downstream communities. Results of this study and others suggest that accelerated forest thinning at large scales could improve the water balance and resilience of forests and sustain the ecosystem services they provide.     

干旱-高钙对麻栎幼苗非结构性碳水化合物含量和分配的影响

土壤高钙胁迫是干旱-半干旱区影响树木生长的重要环境因子,为阐明干旱-高钙对树木非结构性碳水化合物(Non-structural carbohydrate,NSC)的含量和分配的影响,以麻栎幼苗为研究对象,阐明干旱和干旱-高钙条件对其生长、光合特征及非结构碳水化合物含量与分配的影响。结果表明:干旱显著降低麻栎幼苗生物量,而干旱-高钙处理较干旱进一步降低了麻栎生物量;干旱-高钙在处理初期就能显著抑制麻栎幼苗净光合速率,处理3个月后干旱和干旱-高钙处理的麻栎幼苗光合速率均显著低于对照;干旱处理麻栎幼苗平均非结构性碳水化合物含量增加19.90%,干旱-高钙处理麻栎幼苗整株的平均NSC含量则显著降低25.62%;干旱和干旱-高钙对麻栎幼苗NSC在不同器官间分配也产生不同影响,干旱条件下麻栎幼苗茎中NSC含量增加最多,较对照增加了52.34%,且淀粉的增高幅度(61.94%)高于可溶性糖(25.53%),干旱、高钙共同作用下麻栎幼苗全株平均NSC含量显著减少的同时,NSC积累在叶中,叶NSC含量显著提高32.31%,根、茎中NSC含量则分别显著降低了49.38%和35.31%。干旱-高钙胁迫降低麻栎幼苗NSC含量,且会减少NSC向枝干和根系分配。     

Dynamics of carbon stocks in soils and detritus across chronosequences of different forest types in the Pacific Northwest, USA

We investigated variation in carbon stock in soils and detritus (forest floor and woody debris) in chronosequences that represent the range of forest types in the US Pacific Northwest. Stands range in age from <13 to >600 years. Soil carbon, to a depth of 100 cm, was highest in coastal Sitka spruce/western hemlock forests (36±10 kg C m^?2) and lowest in semiarid ponderosa pine forests (7±10 kg C m^?2). Forests distributed across the Cascade Mountains had intermediate values between 10 and 25 kg C m^?2. Soil carbon stocks were best described as a linear function of net primary productivity (r²=0.52), annual precipitation (r²=0.51), and a power function of forest floor mean residence time (r²=0.67). The highest rates of soil and detritus carbon turnover were recorded on mesic sites of Douglas‐fir/western hemlock forests in the Cascade Mountains with lower rates in wetter and drier habitats, similar to the pattern of site productivity. The relative contribution of soil and detritus carbon to total ecosystem carbon decreased as a negative exponential function of stand age to a value of ～35% between 150 and 200 years across the forest types. These age‐dependent trends in the portioning of carbon between biomass and necromass were not different among forest types. Model estimates of soil carbon storage based on decomposition of legacy carbon and carbon accumulation following stand‐replacing disturbance showed that soil carbon storage reached an asymptote between 150 and 200 years, which has significant implications to modeling carbon dynamics of the temperate coniferous forests following a stand‐replacing disturbance.     

No evidence for depletion of carbohydrate pools in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) under drought stress

The physiological mechanisms leading to Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) decline in the dry inner alpine valleys are still unknown. Testing the carbon starvation hypothesis, we analysed the seasonal course of mobile carbohydrate pools (NSC) of Scots pine growing at a xeric and a dry-mesic site within an inner alpine dry valley (750 m a.s.l., Tyrol, Austria) during 2009, which was characterised by exceptional soil dryness. Although, soil moisture content dropped to ca. 10% at both sites during the growing season, NSC concentrations rose in all tissues (branch, stem, root) until the end of July, except in needles, where maxima were reached around bud break. NSC concentrations were not significantly different in the analysed tissues at the xeric and the dry-mesic site. At the dry-mesic site, NSC concentrations in the aboveground tree biomass were significantly higher during the period of radial growth. An accumulation of NSC in roots at the end of July indicates a change in carbon allocation after an early cessation in aboveground growth, possibly due to elevated belowground carbon demand. In conclusion, our results revealed that extensive soil dryness during the growing season did not lead to carbon depletion. However, even though carbon reserves were not exhausted, sequestration of carbohydrate pools during drought periods might lead to deficits in carbon supply that weaken tree vigour and drive tree mortality.