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Effect of inter-annual climate variability on evapotranspiration and canopy CO2 exchange of a tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia

  • Special Feature: Original article
  • CO2 flux observation in various forests of Monsoon-Asia
  • Published:
Journal of Forest Research

Abstract

We investigated inter-annual variation of canopy CO2 exchange (NEE) and evapotranspiration during a 7-year period over a lowland Dipterocarp forest in Pasoh, Peninsular Malaysia, using the eddy covariance method. Annual rainfall fluctuated between 1,451 and 2,235 mm during this period. Annual evapotranspiration estimated by energy budget correction and gap filling using the relationship between latent heat and available energy was 1,287 ± 52 mm. Despite inter-annual variation in rainfall, annual evapotranspiration was stable, except for a slight decrease in the driest year (2009). Evapotranspiration was roughly related to the amount of available energy, but was regulated by stomatal closure to prevent excessive water loss at high vapour pressure deficit. Even during dry periods, no significant decrease in evapotranspiration occurred, as water was supplied from soil layers deeper than 0.5 m. Ecosystem respiration (RE) increased with soil water content. Daytime NEE was also stable during the 7 years, despite climate variability. Afternoon inhibition of canopy photosynthesis was seen every month. Daytime NEE did not become more negative with increasing solar radiation, or with increasing soil water content. During dry periods, gross primary production (GPP) and thus canopy gross photosynthesis decreased slightly, coupled with decreased daytime RE. In this forest, variability in rainfall pattern resulted in seasonal and inter-annual variability in micrometeorology; evapotranspiration, photosynthesis, and RE responded to these changes, and compensated for each other and/or other components of micrometeorology, resulting in rather stable annual evapotranspiration and NEE, even during a very dry year associated with an El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Forestry Department of Negeri Sembilan and the director general of FRIM for granting us permission to work in the Pasoh Forest Reserve. We gratefully acknowledge the staff of the Hydrology Unit and the Pasoh Station of FRIM for collecting field data. We also thank Dr Toshinori Okuda and a joint research project between FRIM, Putra University, Malaysia, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan. This work was supported by the Global Environment Research Fund of the Japan Environment Agency, and by grants for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Forest Hydrology, Division of Environmental Science and Technology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Yoshiko Kosugi & Makoto Tani

  2. Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

    Satoru Takanashi

  3. National Agricultural Research Center for Hokkaido Region, Sapporo, 062-8555, Japan

    Shinjiro Ohkubo

  4. Faculty of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Naoko Matsuo

  5. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan

    Masayuki Itoh

  6. Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute Tohoku Research Center, Morioka, Iwate, 020-0123, Japan

    Shoji Noguchi

  7. Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, 52109, Malaysia

    Abdul Rahim Nik

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  1. Yoshiko Kosugi
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  2. Satoru Takanashi
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Correspondence to Yoshiko Kosugi.

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Kosugi, Y., Takanashi, S., Tani, M. et al. Effect of inter-annual climate variability on evapotranspiration and canopy CO2 exchange of a tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia. J For Res 17, 227–240 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-010-0235-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-010-0235-4

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