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Climatic influences on net ecosystem CO2 exchange during the transition from wintertime carbon source to springtime carbon sink in a high-elevation, subalpine forest

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Abstract

The transition between wintertime net carbon loss and springtime net carbon assimilation has an important role in controlling the annual rate of carbon uptake in coniferous forest ecosystems. We studied the contributions of springtime carbon assimilation to the total annual rate of carbon uptake and the processes involved in the winter-to-spring transition across a range of scales from ecosystem CO2 fluxes to chloroplast photochemistry in a coniferous, subalpine forest. We observed numerous initiations and reversals in the recovery of photosynthetic CO2 uptake during the initial phase of springtime recovery in response to the passage of alternating warm- and cold-weather systems. Full recovery of ecosystem carbon uptake, whereby the 24-h cumulative sum of NEE (NEEdaily) was consistently negative, did not occur until 3–4 weeks after the first signs of photosynthetic recovery. A key event that preceded full recovery was the occurrence of isothermality in the vertical profile of snow temperature across the snow pack; thus, providing consistent daytime percolation of melted snow water through the snow pack. Interannual variation in the cumulative annual NEE (NEEannual) was mostly explained by variation in NEE during the snow-melt period (NEEsnow-melt), not variation in NEE during the snow-free part of the growing season (NEEsnow-free). NEEsnow-melt was highest in those years when the snow melt occurred later in the spring, leading us to conclude that in this ecosystem, years with earlier springs are characterized by lower rates of NEEannual, a conclusion that contrasts with those from past studies in deciduous forest ecosystems. Using studies on isolated branches we showed that the recovery of photosynthesis occurred through a series of coordinated physiological and biochemical events. Increasing air temperatures initiated recovery through the upregulation of PSII electron transport caused in part by disengagement of thermal energy dissipation by the carotenoid, zeaxanthin. The availability of liquid water permitted a slightly slower recovery phase involving increased stomatal conductance. The most rate-limiting step in the recovery process was an increase in the capacity for the needles to use intercellular CO2, presumably due to slow recovery of Rubisco activity. Interspecific differences were observed in the timing of photosynthetic recovery for the dominant tree species. The results of our study provide (1) a context for springtime CO2 uptake within the broader perspective of the annual carbon budget in this subalpine forest, and (2) a mechanistic explanation across a range of scales for the coupling between springtime climate and the carbon cycle of high-elevation coniferous forest ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the research contributions of many students and colleagues, including Kimberley Sparks, Bill Baugh, Dr. Chuixiang Yi, Sarah Schliemann, Andy McNown, Nathan Monson, Greg Monson, John Munch, Thomas Zukowski, and Wumesh Khatri. We are grateful to Mark Williams, Mark Loesleben and Andy O’Reilly who provided valuable guidance to making the snow temperature measurements. We thank Dr. Bill Bowman (University of Colorado Mountain Research Station) for providing valued logistical support in establishing and maintaining the Niwot Ridge AmeriFlux site and access to an additional gas exchange system. We thank Gordon Maclean and Tony Delany (National Center for Atmospheric Research) for their long-standing commitment to help with all types of technical issues surrounding the instrumentation at the Niwot Ridge AmeriFlux tower. We thank Dr. William Adams and Barbara Demmig-Adams for providing valuable access to the HPLC system used in the pigment analysis and to the chlorophyll fluorescence system used in the first recovery experiment. This work was financially supported by a grant from the South Central Section of the National Institute for Global Environmental Change (NIGEC) through the US Department of Energy (BER Program) (Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC03-90ER61010). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the DOE.

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Author notes

  1. Jed P. Sparks

    Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

  2. Travis E. Huxman

    Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0088, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309-0334, USA

    Russell K. Monson, Jed P. Sparks, Todd N. Rosenstiel, Laura E. Scott-Denton, Travis E. Huxman, Peter C. Harley, Andrew A. Turnipseed, Sean P. Burns, Brant Backlund & Jia Hu

  2. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Russell K. Monson

  3. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, 80301, USA

    Peter C. Harley, Andrew A. Turnipseed & Sean P. Burns

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  1. Russell K. Monson
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Correspondence to Russell K. Monson.

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Communicated by Jim Ehleringer

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Monson, R.K., Sparks, J.P., Rosenstiel, T.N. et al. Climatic influences on net ecosystem CO2 exchange during the transition from wintertime carbon source to springtime carbon sink in a high-elevation, subalpine forest. Oecologia 146, 130–147 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0169-2

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