Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2015

Title: Phenological patterns and temperature sensitivity of daytime carbon cycling: Linking leaf-level physiology, canopy imagery, and net ecosystem exchange
Primary Author: Mary Heskel (Marine Biological Laboratory)
Additional Authors: Jim Tang (Marine Biological Laboratory)
Abstract:
Measurements of total ecosystem respiration (ER) and the partitioning of ER into separate component fluxes are necessary for accurate estimates of gross primary productivity (GPP). A critical knowledge gap exists when considering daytime ER, as leaf respiration (R) is inhibited by light, and the degree of this inhibition may vary with seasonal progression. Further, the short-term temperature (T)-sensitivity of R in the light (RLight) remains unknown, despite its impact on the amount of carbon (C) stored in vegetation.

This summer, I hope to inform and improve representations of daytime ER through the quantitative characterization of RLight, leaf fluorescence and their respective T-responses across the growing season at two canopy levels in Acer rubrum and Quercus rubra. These fluxes, aggregated together with soil and stem R and linked to canopy greenness indices, will be scaled to the ecosystem level to correct for daytime fluxes of R.
Research Category: Forest-Atmosphere Exchange
Large Experiments and Permanent Plot Studies
Physiological Ecology, Population Dynamics, and Species Interactions

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