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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2020

Estimating canopy gross primary production by combining phloem stable isotopes with canopy and mesophyll conductances

Vernay, Antoine; Tian, Xianglin; Chi, Jinshu; Linder, Sune; Makela, Annikki; Oren, Ram; Peichl, Matthias; Stangl, Zsofia R.; Tor-Ngern, Pantana; Marshall, John D.

Abstract

Gross primary production (GPP) is a key component of the forest carbon cycle. However, our knowledge of GPP at the stand scale remains uncertain, because estimates derived from eddy covariance (EC) rely on semi-empirical modelling and the assumptions of the EC technique are sometimes not fully met. We propose using the sap flux/isotope method as an alternative way to estimate canopy GPP, termed GPP(iso/SF), at the stand scale and at daily resolution. It is based on canopy conductance inferred from sap flux and intrinsic water-use efficiency estimated from the stable carbon isotope composition of phloem contents. The GPP(iso/SF)estimate was further corrected for seasonal variations in photosynthetic capacity and mesophyll conductance. We compared our estimate of GPP(iso/SF)to the GPP derived from PRELES, a model parameterized with EC data. The comparisons were performed in a highly instrumented, boreal Scots pine forest in northern Sweden, including a nitrogen fertilized and a reference plot. The resulting annual and daily GPP(iso/SF)estimates agreed well with PRELES, in the fertilized plot and the reference plot. We discuss the GPP(iso/SF)method as an alternative which can be widely applied without terrain restrictions, where the assumptions of EC are not met.

Keywords

boreal forest; intrinsic water-use efficiency; mesophyll conductance; nitrogen fertilization; phloem delta C-13; PRELES; sap flux; stand transpiration

Published in

Plant, Cell and Environment
2020, Volume: 43, number: 9, pages: 2124-2142