CO2 fluxes of alpine shrubland ecosystem on the north-eastern Tibetan plateau

We measured ecosystem CO2 fluxes for an alpine shrubland on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai, China. The study is to understand (1) the seasonal variation of CO2 flux and (2) how environmental factors affect the seasonality of CO2 exchange in the alpine ecosystem. Daytime ecosystem respiration was extrapolated from the relationship between temperature and nighttime CO2 fluxes under high turbulent conditions.Seasonal patterns of gross ecosystem production, ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem CO2 exchange followed highly the seasonal change of aboveground biomass in the alpine shrubland. The net ecosystem CO2 exchange was mainly controlled by the variation of photosynthetic photon flux density, while the ecosystem respiration was closely correlated to the soil temperature at 5-cm depth. Integrated values of gross ecosystem production, ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem CO2 exchange for the period from November 1, 2002 to October 31 2003 were estimated to be 1418, 1155 and 222 g CO2 m(-2) yr(-1), respectively.

Diurnal, seasonal and annual variation in net ecosystem CO2 exchange of an alpine shrubland on Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

Thus far, grassland ecosystem research has mainly been focused on low-lying grassland areas, whereas research on high-altitude grassland areas, especially on the carbon budget of remote areas like the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau is insufficient. To address this issue, flux of CO2 were measured over an alpine shrubland ecosystem (37 degrees 36'N, 101 degrees 18'E; 325 above sea level [a. s. l.]) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, for 2 years (2003 and 2004) with the eddy covariance method. The vegetation is dominated by formation Potentilla fruticosa L. The soil is Mol-Cryic Cambisols. To interpret the biotic and abiotic factors that modulate CO2 flux over the course of a year we decomposed net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) into its constituent components, and ecosystem respiration (R-eco). Results showed that seasonal trends of annual total biomass and NEE followed closely the change in leaf area index. Integrated NEE were -58.5 and -75.5 g C m(-2), respectively, for the 2003 and 2004 years. Carbon uptake was mainly attributed from June, July, August, and September of the growing season. In July, NEE reached seasonal peaks of similar magnitude (4-5 g C m(-2) day(-1)) each of the 2 years. Also, the integrated night-time NEE reached comparable peak values (1.5-2 g C m(-2) day(-1)) in the 2 years of study. Despite the large difference in time between carbon uptake and release (carbon uptake time < release time), the alpine shrubland was carbon sink. This is probably because the ecosystem respiration at our site was confined significantly by low temperature and small biomass and large day/night temperature difference and usually soil moisture was not limiting factor for carbon uptake. In general, R-eco was an exponential function of soil temperature, but with season-dependent values of Q(10). The temperature-dependent respiration model failed immediately after rain events, when large pulses of R-eco were observed. Thus, for this alpine shrubland in Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, the timing of rain events had more impact than the total amount of precipitation on ecosystem R-eco and NEE.

温带灌木生态系统的动态特征--生物量和元素循环

本文通过对北京郊区的一个经皆伐以后，自然发育二十多年的次生灌木生态系统的定量研究，结果如下： 1）该生态系统年中最高生物量可达20.30 t/ha，但没有明显的年净增加，从而推出该系统可能进入一种比较稳定的平衡状态，生物量最高出现于秋季（生长季末）;最低为春季（生长季始），这主要是由于从秋季到春季经历了凋落和休眠的过程。另外，灌木的地下部分生物量与地上之比接近1，这也是对灌木生长发育特征的反映。 2）植物各个部位--侧根，主根，主枝，侧枝，叶---有不同的烧失量，但三种植物几乎有相似的顺序，即：主枝>侧枝><主根>侧根>叶（荆条的叶与侧根有相反的顺序）。烧失量反映了有机物质在植物各个部位的含量。 3）十种元素（N，K，Ca，Mg，Na，Cu，Zn，Fe，Al，Mn）在同一种植物，同种元素在不同植物，植物的不同部位，都有不同的含量，并且随着季节的变化而变化。 4）降水中所含的元素是生态系统营养的重要来源，尤其是一些大量元素如K, Na, Ca, Mg等。一般地冠流中的元素含量要高于降水中的，冠流中元素浓度与降水中的比值，不同的元素是不相同的，其中K为2-7倍，Na为1-3倍，Ca, Mg为1-2倍，对同一元素，比值的大小降水的时间有一定的关系，也即有时间性的变化。 5）土壤的水分含量不仅由于雨季和旱季而发生变化，还随土壤的不同的而异，而这种变化又随着季节性而不同。 6）营养元素输入--输出预算表明，各个元素基本上没有明显的存留，甚至有微量的亏损，但仍可以判断，该生态系统基本上处于一种较稳定的平衡状态。

Carbon Dioxide Exchange Between the Atmosphere and an Alpine Shrubland Meadow During the Growing Season on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

In the present study, we used the eddy covariance method to measure CO2 exchange between the atmosphere and an alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem (37°36'N, 101°18'E; 3 250 m a.s.l.) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, during the growing season in 2003, from 20 April to 30 September. This meadow is dominated by formations of Potentilla fruticosa L. The soil is Mol-Cryic Cambisols. During the study period, the meadow was not grazed. The maximum rates of CO2 uptake and release derived from the diurnal course of CO2 flux were -9.38 and 5.02 μmol•m-2•s-1, respectively. The largest daily CO2 uptake was 1.7 g C•m-2•d-1 on 14 July, which is less than half that of an alpine Kobresia meadow ecosystem at similar latitudes. Daily CO2 uptake during the measurement period indicated that the alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem may behave as a sink of atmospheric CO2 during the growing season. The daytime CO2 uptake was correlated exponentially or linearly with the daily photo synthetic photon flux density each month. The daytime average water use efficiency of the ecosystem was 6.47 mg CO2/g H2O. The efficiency of the ecosystem increased with a decrease in vapor pressure deficit.