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Seasonal variation in leaf properties and ecosystem carbon budget in a cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest: simulation analysis at Takayama site, Japan

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Seasonal changes in gross primary production (GPP) and net ecosystem production (NEP) in temperate deciduous forests are mostly driven by environmental conditions and the phenology of leaf demography. This study addresses another factor, temporal changes in leaf properties, i.e., leaf aging from emergence to senescence. A process-based model was used to link the ecosystem-scale carbon budget with leaf-level properties on the basis of field observation and scaling procedures; temporal variations in leaf thickness (leaf mass per area, LMA), photosynthetic rubisco (Vcmax) and electron-transport (Jmax) capacity, and dark respiration (Rd) were empirically parameterized. The model was applied to a cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest at Takayama, in central Japan, and validated with data of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE=−NEP) measured using the eddy-covariance method. NEP of the Takayama site varied seasonally from 3 g C m−2 day−1 net source in late winter to 5 g C m−2 day−1 net sink in early to mid-summer. A sensitivity experiment showed that removing the leaf-aging effect changed the seasonal CO2 exchange pattern, and led to overestimation of annual GPP by 6% and annual NEP by 38%. We found that seasonal variation in Vcmax affected the seasonal pattern and annual budget of CO2 exchange most strongly; LMA and Rd had moderate influences. The rapid change in Vcmax and Rd during leaf emergence and senescence was important in evaluating GPP and NEP of the temperate deciduous forest.

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Acknowledgements

Observational data from the Takayama site were provided by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, and by the Institute for Basin Ecosystem Studies, Gifu University, Japan. This study was partly supported by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, no. 16510016 to A. Ito), and the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (Global Environment Research Fund S-1: Integrated Study for Terrestrial Carbon Management of Asia in the 21st Century Based on Scientific Advancements).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Frontier Research Center for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3173-25 Showa-machi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, 236-0001, Japan

    Akihiko Ito

  2. Institute for Basin Ecosystem Studies, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu, 501-1193, Japan

    Hiroyuki Muraoka & Hiroshi Koizumi

  3. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, 305-8569, Japan

    Nobuko Saigusa, Shohei Murayama & Susumu Yamamoto

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  1. Akihiko Ito
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  2. Hiroyuki Muraoka
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  3. Hiroshi Koizumi
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  4. Nobuko Saigusa
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  5. Shohei Murayama
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  6. Susumu Yamamoto
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Correspondence to Akihiko Ito.

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Ito, A., Muraoka, H., Koizumi, H. et al. Seasonal variation in leaf properties and ecosystem carbon budget in a cool-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest: simulation analysis at Takayama site, Japan. Ecol Res 21, 137–149 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-005-0100-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-005-0100-7

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