Abstract
Ecosystem photosynthetic characteristics are of utmost importance for the estimation of regional carbon budget, but such characteristics are not well understood in alpine regions. We collected CO2 flux data measured by eddy covariance technique over an alpine dwarf shrubland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during years 2003–2010; and we quantified the temporal patterns of ecosystem apparent quantum yield (a), saturated photosynthetic rate (P max), and ecosystem dark respiration (R De). Results showed that the strong seasonality of a and R De was driven mainly by air temperature (T a), whereas that of P max was much more determined by leaf area index rather than abiotic factors. Diurnal thermal fluctuation inhibited significantly the daytime photosynthetic capacity. Stepwise regression revealed that the seasonal deviations of a, P max, and R De were significantly controlled by T a. The annual a was regulated mainly by annual growing season T a, which indicated that the response of ecosystem a was instant. The annual variations of P max correlated positively with soil temperature 5 cm below ground (T s) of the annual nongrowing season and those of R De related negatively with the annual nongrowing season precipitation. We suggested that a lagged response regulated the annual P max and the annual R De. Annual deviations of a and R De were both significantly controlled by annual T s, and those of P max were marginally determined by annual PPFD. Thus, the future warming scenario, especially significant for nongrowing seasonal warming in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, would favor ecosystem photosynthetic capacity in the alpine dwarf shrubland.
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Abbreviations
- a :
-
ecosystem apparent quantum yield
- ADT:
-
amplitude of diurnal temperature
- EVI:
-
enhanced vegetation index
- LAI:
-
leaf area index
- NEE:
-
net ecosystem CO2 exchange
- P max :
-
saturated photosynthesis rate
- Q 10 :
-
the magnitude of respiration rate change for a change in temperature of 10°C
- R De :
-
ecosystem dark respiration
- SWC:
-
volumetric water content of the soil 10 cm below ground
- T a :
-
air temperature
- T c :
-
shrub canopy temperature
- T s :
-
temperature 5 cm below ground
- VPD:
-
vapour pressure deficit
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Acknowledgements: We thank the anonymous reviewers for valuable comments. This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41030105, 31270520, 31270576, and 31070437), “Strategic Priority Research Program — Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Related Issues” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA05050601, and XDA05050404), and the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program) (2010CB833501).
These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Li, H.Q., Zhang, F.W., LI, Y.N. et al. Seasonal and interannual variations of ecosystem photosynthetic features in an alpine dwarf shrubland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Photosynthetica 52, 321–331 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-014-0035-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-014-0035-8