Carbon dioxide exchange and canopy conductance of two coniferous forests under various sky conditions

Sky conditions play an important role in the Earth’s climate system and CO₂ uptake by plants. We used eddy covariance and meteorological data, including global and diffuse photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), recorded over the 2008 and 2009 growing season at two Sitka spruce [Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.] forest sites in northern Britain, in order to establish relationships between physiological properties under diverse sky conditions, i.e. (1) sunny, (2) cloudy, and (3) overcast, and several canopy activity-related properties. These properties are: (1) response to PPFD, (2) photosynthetic light use efficiency, and (3) canopy stomatal conductance. We found that Sitka spruce forests utilise PPFD in a more efficient way when solar radiation is dominated by diffuse radiation. Furthermore, our results show that diffuse radiation enhances canopy stomatal conductance, an effect which may be the result of both blue light enrichment within the canopy and the reduction in vapour pressure deficit during cloudy and overcast weather. Diffuse radiation does not only influence short-term (hourly, daily, monthly) canopy activity but also long-term forest growth.