Canopy conductance in a two‐storey Siberian boreal larch forest,Russia

A larch forest in eastern Siberia was characterized by the presence of two distinct storeys, the overstorey with a small leaf area index (LAI) and a dense understorey with a relatively large LAI. To understand the roles of the overstorey and understorey in forest–atmosphere water exchange, canopy conductance (G_c), a critical parameter used in determining the energy and mass exchange, was calculated on the basis of latent heat flux above the overstorey and understorey, measured separately. Results showed that G_c for the overstorey (G_co) and understorey (G_cu) experienced different seasonal fluctuations. G_co was smaller than G_cu during periods of leaf expansion and leaf fall and showed an increasing trend until 1 month after the onset of leaf expansion. In contrast, a sharp decrease in G_co was observed immediately before onset of leaf fall. Furthermore, G_co was slightly larger than G_cu during the fully foliated period. A simple model using solar radiation and vapour pressure deficit (D) as inputs successfully reproduced the G_c in fully foliated periods with acceptable accuracy. Furthermore, both the understorey and overstorey in this study have a large reference G_c (G_c at D = 1 KPa) than their counterparts of other boreal forests and would not be able to sustain a constant leaf–soil water potential difference as D increases. We speculated that this confers the forest with an advantage allowing it to be able to sustain carbon assimilation during large D days and thus provides for the survival of the ecosystem during the short growing season at this site. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

灌丛对流动沙地土壤特性和草本植物的影响

通过对流动沙地灌丛内外土壤特性、土壤养分含量、土壤种子库和草本植物群落特征的差异性调查,分析了灌丛对沙地土壤特性和林下草本植被的影响。结果表明,在流动沙地0—20 cm土壤中细沙、极细沙、粘粉粒、有机质、总氮和总磷、有效磷和土壤水分含量,小叶锦鸡儿灌丛下分别较灌丛外高17.3%、4.4%、 49.5%、43.8%、40.0%、23.1%、16.3%和10.8%,黄柳灌丛下较灌丛外分别高3.5%、21.3%、0.0%、20.0%、16.7%、8.3%、10.6%和28.1%。小叶锦鸡儿、差不嘎蒿和黄柳灌丛下凋落物蓄积量要比灌丛外分别高18.3倍、365.2倍和15.5倍。差不嘎蒿灌丛下土壤种子库密度较灌丛外高10.9倍。原为半固定、半流动沙地优势种的多年生草本植物白草,不仅能在流动沙地灌丛下存活,而且具有较高的密度、高度、盖度和地上生物量。结果还表明,从灌丛中心到灌丛边缘,凋落物产量、土壤种子库密度、草本植物密度、盖度、生物量均存在明显的递减梯度,在灌丛外不远处消失。这些结果说明,在流动沙地,灌丛具有明显的“肥岛”效应和“保种”作用。