Simulating the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor and heat over Changbai Mountains temperate broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest ecosystem

A process-based ecosystem productivity model BEPS (Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator) was updated to simulate half-hourly exchanges of carbon, water and energy between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystem at a temperate broad-leaved Korean pine forest in the Changbai Mountains, China. The BEPSh model is able to capture the diurnal and seasonal variability in carbon dioxide, water vapor and heat fluxes at this site in the growing season of 2003. The model validation showed that the simulated net ecosystem productivity (NEP), latent heat flux (LE), sensible heat flux (Hs) are in good agreement with eddy covariance measurements with an R2 value of 0.68, 0.86 and 0.72 for NEP, LE and Hs, respectively. The simulated annual NEP of this forest in 2003 was 300.5 gC/m2, and was very close to the observed value. Driving this model with different climate scenarios, we found that the NEP in the Changbai Mountains temperate broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest ecosystem was sensitive to climate variability, and the current carbon sink will be weakened under the condition of global warming. Furthermore, as a process-based model, BEPSh was also sensitive to physiological parameters of plant, such as maximum Rubisco activity (Vcmax) and the maximum stomatal conductance (gmax), and needs to be carefully calibrated for other applications.     

Recent progress and future directions of ChinaFLUX

The eddy covariance technique has emerged as an important tool to directly measure carbon dioxide, water vapor and heat fluxes between the terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere after a long history of fundamental research and technological developments. With the realization of regional networks of flux measurements in North American, European, Asia, Brazil, Australia and Africa, a global-scale network of micrometeorological flux measurement (FLUXNET) was established in 1998. FLUXNET has made great progresses in investigating the environmental mechanisms controlling carbon and water cycles, quantifying spatial-temporal patterns of carbon budget and seeking the "missing carbon sink" in global terrestrial ecosystems in the past ten years. The global-scale flux measurement also built a platform for international communication in the fields of resource, ecology and environment sciences. With the continuous development of flux research, FLUXNET will introduce and explore new techniques to extend the application fields of flux measurement and to answer questions in the fields of bio-geography, eco-hydrology, meteorology, climate change, remote sensing and modeling with eddy covariance flux data. As an important part of FLUXNET, ChinaFLUX has made significant progresses in the past three years on the methodology and technique of eddy covariance flux measurement, on the responses of CO2 and H2O exchange between the terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere to environmental change, and on flux modeling development. Results showed that the major forests on the North-South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC) were all carbon sinks during 2003 to 2005, and the alpine meadows on the Tibet Plateau were also small carbon sinks. However, the reserved natural grassland, Leymus chinensis steppe in Inner Mongolia, was a carbon source. On a regional scale, temperature and precipitation are the primary climatic factors that determined the carbon balance in major terrestrial ecosystems in China. Finally, the current research emphasis and future directions of ChinaFLUX were presented. By combining flux network and terrestrial transect, ChinaFLUX will develop integrated research with multi-scale, multi-process, multi-subject observations, placing emphasis on the mechanism and coupling relationships between water, carbon and nitrogen cycles in terrestrial ecosystems.     

The impacts of climate extremes on the terrestrial carbon cycle:A review

The increased frequency of climate extremes in recent years has profoundly affected terrestrial ecosystem functions and the welfare of human society. The carbon cycle is a key process of terrestrial ecosystem changes. Therefore, a better understanding and assessment of the impacts of climate extremes on the terrestrial carbon cycle could provide an important scientific basis to facilitate the mitigation and adaption of our society to climate change. In this paper, we systematically review the impacts of climate extremes(e.g. drought, extreme precipitation, extreme hot and extreme cold) on terrestrial ecosystems and their mechanisms. Existing studies have suggested that drought is one of the most important stressors on the terrestrial carbon sink, and that it can inhibit both ecosystem productivity and respiration. Because ecosystem productivity is usually more sensitive to drought than respiration, drought can significantly reduce the strength of terrestrial ecosystem carbon sinks and even turn them into carbon sources. Large inter-model variations have been found in the simulations of drought-induced changes in the carbon cycle, suggesting the existence of a large gap in current understanding of the mechanisms behind the responses of ecosystem carbon balance to drought, especially for tropical vegetation. The effects of extreme precipitation on the carbon cycle vary across different regions. In general, extreme precipitation enhances carbon accumulation in arid ecosystems, but restrains carbon sequestration in moist ecosystems. However, current knowledge on the indirect effects of extreme precipitation on the carbon cycle through regulating processes such as soil carbon lateral transportation and nutrient loss is still limited. This knowledge gap has caused large uncertainties in assessing the total carbon cycle impact of extreme precipitation. Extreme hot and extreme cold can affect the terrestrial carbon cycle through various ecosystem processes. Note that the severity of such climate extremes depends greatly on their timing, which needs to be investigated thoroughly in future studies. In light of current knowledge and gaps in the understanding of how extreme climates affect the terrestrial carbon cycle, we strongly recommend that future studies should place more attention on the long-term impacts and on the driving mechanisms at different time scales.Studies based on multi-source data, methods and across multiple spatial-temporal scales, are also necessary to better characterize the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate extremes.     

Recent progress and future directions of ChinaFLUX

The eddy covariance technique has emerged as an important tool to directly measure carbon dioxide, water vapor and heat fluxes between the terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere after a long history of fundamental research and technological developments. With the realization of regional networks of flux measurements in North American, European, Asia, Brazil, Australia and Africa, a global-scale network of micrometeorological flux measurement (FLUXNET) was established in 1998. FLUXNET has made great progresses in investigating the environmental mechanisms controlling carbon and water cycles, quantifying spatial-temporal patterns of carbon budget and seeking the “missing carbon sink” in global terrestrial ecosystems in the past ten years. The global-scale flux measurement also built a platform for international communication in the fields of resource, ecology and environment sciences. With the continuous development of flux research, FLUXNET will introduce and explore new techniques to extend the application fields of flux measurement and to answer questions in the fields of bio-geography, eco-hydrology, meteorology, climate change, remote sensing and modeling with eddy covariance flux data. As an important part of FLUXNET, ChinaFLUX has made significant progresses in the past three years on the methodology and technique of eddy covariance flux measurement, on the responses of CO₂ and H₂O exchange between the terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere to environmental change, and on flux modeling development. Results showed that the major forests on the North-South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC) were all carbon sinks during 2003 to 2005, and the alpine meadows on the Tibet Plateau were also small carbon sinks. However, the reserved natural grassland, Leymus chinensis steppe in Inner Mongolia, was a carbon source. On a regional scale, temperature and precipitation are the primary climatic factors that determined the carbon balance in major terrestrial ecosystems in China. Finally, the current research emphasis and future directions of ChinaFLUX were presented. By combining flux network and terrestrial transect, ChinaFLUX will develop integrated research with multi-scale, multi-process, multi-subject observations, placing emphasis on the mechanism and coupling relationships between water, carbon and nitrogen cycles in terrestrial ecosystems.     

Advances in carbon flux observation and research in Asia

As an important component of FLUXNET, Asia is increasingly becoming the hotspot in global carbon research for its vast territory, complex climate type and vegetation diversity. The present three regional flux observation networks in Asia (i.e. AsiaFlux, KoFlux and ChinaFLUX)have 54 flux observation sites altogether, covering tropic rainforest, evergreen broad-leaved forest, broad-leaved and coniferous mixed forest, shrubland, grassland, alpine meadow and cropland ecosystems with a latitudinal distribution from 2°N to 63°N. Long-term and continuous fluxes of carbon dioxide, water vapor and energy between the biosphere and atmosphere are mainly measured with eddy covariance technique to (1) quantify and compare the carbon, water and energy budgets across diverse ecosystems; (2) quantify the environmental and biotic controlling mechanism on ecosystem carbon, water and energy fluxes; (3) validate the soil-vegetation-atmosphere model; and (4) serve the integrated study of terrestrial ecosystem carbon and water cycle. Over the last decades, great advancements have been made in the theory and technology of flux measurement, ecosystem flux patterns, simulation and scale conversion by Asian flux community. The establishment of ChinaFLUX has greatly filled the gap of flux observation and research in Eurasia. To further promote the flux measurement and research,accelerate data sharing and improve the data quality, it is necessary to present a methodological system of flux estimation and evaluation over complex terrain and to develop the integrated research that combines the flux measurement, stable isotope measurement, remote sensing observation and GIS technique. It also requires the establishment of the Joint Committee of Asian Flux Network in the Asia-Pacific region in order to promote the cooperation and communication of ideas and data by supporting project scientists, workshops and visiting scientists.     

Multi-scale observation and cross-scale mechanistic modeling on terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle

To predict global climate change and to implement the Kyoto Protocol for stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases concentrations require quantifying spatio-temporal variations in the terrestrial carbon sink accurately. During the past decade multi-scale ecological experiment and observation networks have been established using various new technologies (e.g. controlled environmental facilities, eddy covariance techniques and quantitative remote sensing), and have obtained a large amount of data about terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle. However, uncertainties in the magnitude and spatio-temporal variations of the terrestrial carbon sink and in understanding the underlying mechanisms have not been reduced significantly. One of the major reasons is that the observations and experiments were conducted at individual scales independently, but it is the interactions of factors and processes at different scales that determine the dynamics of the terrestrial carbon sink. Since experiments and observations are always conducted at specific scales, to understand cross-scale interactions requires mechanistic analysis that is best to be achieved by mechanistic modeling. However, mechanistic ecosystem models are mainly based on data from single-scale experiments and observations and hence have no capacity to simulate mechanistic cross-scale interconnection and interactions of ecosystem processes. New-generation mechanistic ecosystem models based on new ecological theoretical framework are needed to quantify the mechanisms from micro-level fast eco-physiological responses to macro-level slow acclimation in the pattern and structure in disturbed ecosystems. Multi-scale data-model fusion is a recently emerging approach to assimilate multi-scale observational data into mechanistic, dynamic modeling, in which the structure and parameters of mechanistic models for simulating cross-scale interactions are optimized using multi-scale observational data. The models are validated and evaluated at different spatial and temporal scales and real-time observational data are assimilated continuously into dynamic modeling for predicting and forecasting ecosystem changes realistically. in summary, a breakthrough in terrestrial carbon sink research requires using approaches of multi-scale observations and cross-scale modeling to understand and quantify interconnections and interactions among ecosystem processes at different scales and their controls over ecosystem carbon cycle.     

Projected risks to groundwater‐dependent terrestrial vegetation caused by changing climate and groundwater abstraction in the Central Perth Basin,Western Australia

The effect of potential climate change on groundwater‐dependent vegetation largely depends on the nature of the climate change (drying or wetting) and the level of current ecosystem dependence on groundwater resources. In south‐western Australia, climate projections suggest a high likelihood of a warmer and drier climate. The paper examines the potential environmental impacts by 2030 at the regional scale on groundwater‐dependent terrestrial vegetation (GDTV) adapted to various watertable depths, on the basis of the combined consideration of groundwater modelling results and the framework for GDTV risk assessment. The methodology was tested for the historical period from 1984 to 2007, allowing validation of the groundwater model results' applicability to such an assessment. Climate change effects on GDTV were evaluated using nine global climate models under three greenhouse gas emission scenarios by applying the climate projections to groundwater models. It was estimated that under dry climate scenarios, GDTV is likely to be under high and severe risk over more than 20% of its current habitat area. The risk is also likely to be higher under an increase in groundwater abstraction above current volumes. The significance of climate change risk varied across the region, depending on both the intensity of the change in water regime and the sensitivity of the GDTV to such change. Greater effects were projected for terrestrial vegetation dependent on deeper groundwater (6–10 m). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of vertical resolution on predictions of transpiration in water-limited ecosystems

Water-limited ecosystems are characterized by precipitation with low annual totals and significant temporal variability, transpiration that is limited by soil-moisture availability, and infiltration events that may only partially rewet the vegetation root zone. Average transpiration in such environments is controlled by precipitation, and accurate predictions of vegetation health require adequate representation of temporal variation in the timing and intensity of plant uptake. Complexities introduced by variability in depth of infiltration, distribution of roots, and a plant's ability to compensate for spatially heterogeneous soil moisture suggest a minimum vertical resolution required for satisfactory representation of plant behavior.To explore the effect of vertical resolution on predictions of transpiration, we conduct a series of numerical experiments, comparing the results from models of varying resolution for a range of plant and climate conditions. From temporal and spatial scales of the underlying processes and desired output, we develop dimensionless parameters that indicate the adequacy of a finite-resolution model with respect to reproducing characteristics of plant transpiration over multiple growing seasons. These parameters may be used to determine the spatial resolution required to predict vegetation health in water-limited ecosystems.     

Impacts of land-use and climate changes on ecosystem productivity and carbon cycle in the cropping-grazing transitional zone in China

Terrestrial ecosystems are both a carbon source and sink, therefore play an important role in the global carbon cycle that act as a link of interactions between human activities and climate changes[1,2]. Climate change impacts ecosystem carbon cycle through af- fecting biological processes, e.g. plant photosynthesis, respiration, and soil carbon decomposition. Land-use change directly modifies the distribution and structure of terrestrial ecosystems and hence the carbon storage and fluxes. Usi…     

The soil Microbial Carbon Pump as a new concept for terrestrial carbon sequestration

Soil is a huge terrestrial carbon pool, which has higher carbon storage than the sum of atmospheric and terrestrial vegetation carbon. Small fluctuations in soil carbon pool can affect regional carbon flux and global climate change. As soil organic carbon plays key roles in soil carbon storage and sequestration, studying its composition, sources and stability mechanism is a key to deeply understand the functions of terrestrial ecosystem and how it will respond to climate changes. The recently-proposed concept of soil Microbial Carbon Pump(MCP) emphasizes the importance of soil microbial anabolism and its contributions to soil carbon formation and stabilization, which can be applied for elucidating the source, formation and sequestration of soil organic carbon. This article elaborates MCP-mediated soil carbon sequestration mechanism and its influencing factors, as well as representative scientific questions we may explore with the soil MCP conceptual framework.     

Climate change and global cycling of persistent organic pollutants: A critical review

Climate warming, one of the main features of global change, has exerted indelible impacts on the environment, among which the impact on the transport and fate of pollutants has aroused widespread concern. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a class of pollutants that are transported worldwide. Determining the impact of climate warming on the global cycling of POPs is important for understanding POP cycling processes and formulating relevant environmental policies. In this review, the main research findings in this field over the past ten years are summarized and the effects of climate warming on emissions, transport, storage, degradation and toxicity of POPs are reviewed. This review also summarizes the primary POP fate models and their application. Additionally, research gaps and future research directions are identified and suggested. Under the influence of climate change, global cycling of POPs mainly shows the following responses. (1) Global warming directly promotes the secondary emission of POPs; for example, temperature rise will cause POPs to be re-released from soils and oceans, and melting glaciers and permafrost can re-release POPs into freshwater ecosystems. (2) Global extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, result in the redistribution of POPs through intense soil erosion. (3) The changes in atmospheric circulation and ocean currents have significantly influenced the global transport of POPs. (4) Climate warming has altered marine biological productivity, which has changed the POP storage capacity of the ocean. (5) Aquatic and terrestrial food-chain structures have undergone significant changes, which could lead to amplification of POP toxicity in ecosystems. (6) Overall, warming accelerates the POP volatilization process and increases the amount of POPs in the environment, although global warming facilitates their degradation at the same time. (7) Various models have predicted the future environmental behaviors of POPs. These models are used to assist governments in comprehensively considering the impact of global warming on the environmental fate of POPs and therefore controlling POPs effectively. Future studies should focus on the synergistic effects of global changes on the cycling of POPs. Additionally, the interactions among global carbon cycling, water cycling and POP cycling will be a new research direction for better understanding the adaptation of ecosystems to climate change.     

Simulation of crop growth and energy and carbon dioxide fluxes at different time steps from hourly to daily

Understanding the exchange processes of energy and carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the soil–vegetation–atmosphere system is important for assessing the role of the terrestrial ecosystem in the global water and carbon cycle and in climate change. We present a soil–vegetation–atmosphere integrated model (ChinaAgrosys) for simulating energy, water and CO₂ fluxes, crop growth and development, with ample supply of nutrients and in the absence of pests, diseases and weed damage. Furthermore, we test the hypotheses of whether there is any significant difference between simulations over different time steps. CO₂, water and heat fluxes were estimated by the improving parameterization method of the coupled photosynthesis–stomatal conductance–transpiration model. Soil water evaporation and plant transpiration were calculated using a multilayer water and heat‐transfer model. Field experiments were conducted in the Yucheng Integrated Agricultural Experimental Station on the North China Plain. Daily weather and crop growth variables were observed during 1998–2001, and hourly weather variables and water and heat fluxes were measured using the eddy covariance method during 2002–2003. The results showed that the model could effectively simulate diurnal and seasonal changes of net radiation, sensible and latent heat flux, soil heat flux and CO₂ fluxes. The processes of evapotranspiration, soil temperature and leaf area index agree well with the measured values. Midday depression of canopy photosynthesis could be simulated by assessing the diurnal change in canopy water potential. Moreover, the comparisons of simulated daily evapotranspiration and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) under different time steps indicated that time steps used by a model affect the simulated results. There is no significant difference between simulated evapotranspiration using the model under different time steps. However, simulated NEE produces large differences in the response to different time steps. Therefore, the accurate calculation of average absorbed photosynthetic active radiation is important for the scaling of the model from hourly steps to daily steps in simulating energy and CO₂ flux exchanges between winter wheat and the atmosphere. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SENSITIVITY OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS TO CLIMATIC AND ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGES: THE BASIN AND RANGE,AMERICAN SOUTHWEST AND MEXICO

Variability and unpredictability are characteristics of the aquatic ecosystems, hydrological patterns and climate of the largely dryland region that encompasses the Basin and Range, American Southwest and western Mexico. Neither hydrological nor climatological models for the region are sufficiently developed to describe the magnitude or direction of change in response to increased carbon dioxide; thus, an attempt to predict specific responses of aquatic ecosystems is premature. Instead, we focus on the sensitivity of rivers, streams, springs, wetlands, reservoirs, and lakes of the region to potential changes in climate, especially those inducing a change in hydrological patterns such as amount, timing and predictability of stream flow. The major sensitivities of aquatic ecosystems are their permanence and even existence in the face of potential reduced net basin supply of water, stability of geomorphological structure and riparian ecotones with alterations in disturbance regimes, and water quality changes resulting from a modified water balance. In all of these respects, aquatic ecosystems of the region are also sensitive to the extensive modifications imposed by human use of water resources, which underscores the difficulty of separating this type of anthropogenic change from climate change. We advocate a focus in future research on reconstruction and analysis of past climates and associated ecosystem characteristics, long-term studies to discriminate directional change vs. year to year variability (including evidence of aquatic ecosystem responses or sensitivity to extremes), and studies of ecosystems affected by human activity. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental water quantity projections under market-driven and sustainability-driven future scenarios in the Narew basin,Poland

Abstract

The aim of this article is to assess the impact of four scenarios combining possible changes in climate, atmospheric carbon dioxide, land use and water use by 2050, on the specific set of ecologically relevant flow regime indicators that define environmental flow requirements in a semi-natural river basin in Poland. This aim is presented through a modelling case study using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Indicators show both positive and negative responses to future changes. Warm projections from the IPSL-CM4 global climate model combined with sustainable land- and water-use projections (SuE) produce the most negative changes, while warm and wet projections from the MIROC3.2 model combined with market-driven projections (EcF) gave the most positive changes. Climate change overshadows land- and water-use change in terms of the magnitude of projected flow alterations. The future of environmental water quantity is brighter under the market-driven rather than the sustainability-driven scenario, which shows that sustainability for terrestrial ecosystems (e.g. more forests and grasslands) can be at variance with sustainability for riverine and riparian ecosystems (requiring sufficient amount and proper timing of river flows).

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis

Citation Piniewski, M., Okruszko, T., and Acreman, M.C., 2014. Environmental water quantity projections under market-driven and sustainability-driven future scenarios in the Narew basin, Poland. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59 (3–4), 916–934.     

Integrating climate and local factors for geomorphological distribution models

Earth surface processes (ESPs) drive landscape development and ecosystem processes in high‐latitude regions by creating spatially heterogeneous abiotic and biotic conditions. Ongoing global change may potentially alter the activity of ESPs through feedback on ground conditions, vegetation and the carbon cycle. Consequently, accurate modeling of ESPs is important for improving understanding of the current and future distributions of these processes. The aims of this study were to: (1) integrate climate and multiple local predictors to develop realistic ensemble models for the four key ESPs occurring at high latitudes (slope processes, cryoturbation, nivation and palsa mires) based on the outputs of 10 modern statistical techniques; (2) test whether models of ESPs are improved by incorporating topography, soil and vegetation predictors to climate‐only models; (3) examine the relative importance of these variables in a multivariate setting. Overall, the models showed high transferability with the mean area under curve of a receiver operating characteristics (AUC) ranging from 0.83 to 0.96 and true skill statistics (TSS) from 0.52 to 0.87 for the most complex models. Even though the analyses highlighted the importance of the climate variables as the most influential predictors, three out of four models benefitted from the inclusion of local predictors. We conclude that disregarding local topography and soil conditions in spatial models of ESPs may cause a significant source of error in geomorphological distribution models. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Globally synchronous climate change 2800 years ago: Proxy data from peat in South America

Initial findings from high-latitude ice-cores implied a relatively unvarying Holocene climate, in contrast to the major climate swings in the preceding late-Pleistocene. However, several climate archives from low latitudes imply a less than equable Holocene climate, as do recent studies on peat bogs in mainland north-west Europe, which indicate an abrupt climate cooling 2800 years ago, with parallels claimed in a range of climate archives elsewhere. A hypothesis that this claimed climate shift was global, and caused by reduced solar activity, has recently been disputed. Until now, no directly comparable data were available from the southern hemisphere to help resolve the dispute. Building on investigations of the vegetation history of an extensive mire in the Valle de Andorra, Tierra del Fuego, we took a further peat core from the bog to generate a high-resolution climate history through the use of determination of peat humification and quantitative leaf-count plant macrofossil analysis. Here, we present the new proxy-climate data from the bog in South America. The data are directly comparable with those in Europe, as they were produced using identical laboratory methods. They show that there was a major climate perturbation at the same time as in northwest European bogs. Its timing, nature and apparent global synchronicity lend support to the notion of solar forcing of past climate change, amplified by oceanic circulation. This finding of a similar response simultaneously in both hemispheres may help validate and improve global climate models. That reduced solar activity might cause a global climatic change suggests that attention be paid also to consideration of any global climate response to increases in solar activity. This has implications for interpreting the relative contribution of climate drivers of recent ‘global warming’.     

Quantifying and modelling the carbon sequestration capacity of seagrass meadows – A critical assessment

Seagrasses are among the planet’s most effective natural ecosystems for sequestering (capturing and storing) carbon (C); but if degraded, they could leak stored C into the atmosphere and accelerate global warming. Quantifying and modelling the C sequestration capacity is therefore critical for successfully managing seagrass ecosystems to maintain their substantial abatement potential. At present, there is no mechanism to support carbon financing linked to seagrass. For seagrasses to be recognised by the IPCC and the voluntary C market, standard stock assessment methodologies and inventories of seagrass C stocks are required. Developing accurate C budgets for seagrass meadows is indeed complex; we discuss these complexities, and, in addition, we review techniques and methodologies that will aid development of C budgets. We also consider a simple process-based data assimilation model for predicting how seagrasses will respond to future change, accompanied by a practical list of research priorities.     

The Kwakshua Watersheds Observatory,central coast of British Columbia,Canada

The Kwakshua Watersheds Observatory (KWO) is an integrative watersheds observatory on the coastal margin of a rain-dominated bog-forest landscape in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Established in 2013, the goal of the KWO is to understand and model the flux of terrestrial materials from land to sea – the origins, pathways, processes and ecosystem consequences – in the context of long-term environmental change. The KWO consists of seven gauged watersheds and a network of observation sites spanning from land to sea and along drainage gradients within catchments. Time-series datasets include year-round measurements of weather, soil hydrology, streamflow, aquatic biogeochemistry, microbial ecology and nearshore oceanographic conditions. Sensor measurements are recorded every 5 min and water samples are collected approximately monthly. Additional observations are made during high-flow conditions. We used remote sensing to map watershed terrain, drainage networks, soils and terrestrial ecosystems. The watersheds range in size from 3.2 to 12.8 km², with varying catchment characteristics that influence hydrological and biogeochemical responses. Despite local variation, the overall study area is a global hotspot for yields of dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved iron at the coastal margin. This observatory helps fill an important gap in the global network of observatories, in terms of spatial location (central coast of BC), climate (temperate oceanic), hydrology (very high runoff, pluvial regime), geology (igneous intrusive, glacially scoured), vegetation (bog rainforest) and soils (large stores of organic carbon).     

Spatial patterns of terrestrial net ecosystem productivity in China during 1981-2000

As the third largest country in the world, China has highly variable environmental condition and eco logical pattern in both space and time. Quantification of the spatial-temporal pattern and dynamic of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle in China is of great significance to regional and global carbon budget. In this study, we used a high-resolution climate database and an improved ecosystem process-based model to quantify spatio-temporal pattern and dynamic of net ecosystem productivity (NEP) in China and its responses to climate change during 1981 to 2000. The results showed that NEP increased from north to south and from northeast to southwest. Positive NEP (carbon sinks) occurred in the west of Southwest China, southeastern Tibet, Sanjiang Plain, Da Hinggan Mountains and the mid-west of North China. Negative NEP (carbon sources) were mainly found in Central China, the south of Southwest China, the north of Xinjiang, west and north of Inner Mongolia, and parts of North China.From the 1980s to 1990s, the increasing trend of NEP occurred in the middle of Northeast China Plain and the Loess Plateau and decreasing trends mainly occurred in a greater part of Central China. In the study period, natural forests had minimal carbon uptake, while grassland and shrublands accounted for nearly three fourths of the total carbon terrestrial uptakes in China during 1981 -2000.     

Water and carbon fluxes of European ecosystems: an evaluation of the ecohydrological model RHESSys

This study investigated whether the regional hydro-ecological simulation system RHESSys is a suitable tool for long-term global change impact studies under selected climatic conditions of Europe, taking advantage of the strongly varying climate along elevational gradients in mountain regions. We performed a validation of RHESSys using daily, monthly and yearly data on (1) streamflow and snow cover in five Alpine catchments and (2) water and carbon fluxes at 15 EUROFLUX sites. The simulation results generally agreed well with observations. RHESSys reasonably reproduced daily and monthly streamflow, as well as the seasonal cycle and amplitude of typical Alpine discharge regimes. Furthermore, RHESSys was capable of capturing the key features of the carbon cycle of various forested ecosystems, including significant differences between managed and close-to-natural forests, and more subtle distinctions between coniferous and deciduous systems. Our analyses confirmed that RHESSys is a suitable tool for studying global change impacts on mountain hydrology. Regarding the simulation of the carbon cycle, this investigation detected some data and model limitations that are discussed in detail. Finally, suggestions for model improvements are made, mainly concerning the formulations of decomposition and respiration rates in biogeochemical models. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.