Abstract
Total stem, branch, twig, and coarse root respiration (R t) of an adult Pinus cembra tree at the alpine timberline was measured continuously at ten positions from 7 October 2001 to 21 January 2003 with an automated multiplexing gas exchange system. There was a significant spatial variability in woody tissue respiration when expressed per unit surface area or per unit sapwood volume. Surface area related maintenance (R m) respiration at 0°C ranged between 0.109 and 0.643 μmol m−2 s−1 and there was no clear trend with respect to tissue type and diameter. Sapwood volume based R m at 0°C by contrast, varied between 2.5 μmol m−3 s−1 in the stem and 193.2 μmol m−3 s−1 in thin twigs in the upper crown. Estimated Q 10 values ranged from 1.7 to 3.1. These Q 10 values were used along with Rm at 0°C and annual woody tissue temperature records to predict annual total R m. Annual total R m accounted for 73±6% of annual R t in 2002.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Ing. T Gigele, for his excellent assistance in the field and M. Schmitt for assisting the N analyses.
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Wieser, G., Bahn, M. Seasonal and spatial variation of woody tissue respiration in a Pinus cembra tree at the alpine timberline in the central Austrian Alps. Trees 18, 576–580 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-004-0341-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-004-0341-z