Articles | Volume 16, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
25 Jan 2019
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 25 Jan 2019
| 25 Jan 2019
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of leaves, litter, and soils of various ecosystems along an elevational and land-use gradient at Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Friederike Gerschlauer
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Department of Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences,
Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción,
Concepción, Chile
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
David Schellenberger Costa
Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of
Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
Michael Kleyer
Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of
Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
Michael Dannenmann
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Ralf Kiese
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Related authors
No articles found.
Carolin Boos, Sophie Reinermann, Raul Wood, Ralf Ludwig, Anne Schucknecht, David Kraus, and Ralf Kiese
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2864, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2864, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We applied a biogeochemical model on grasslands in the pre-Alpine Ammer region in Germany and analyzed the influence of soil and climate on annual yields. In drought affected years, total yields were decreased by 4 %. Overall, yields decrease with rising elevation, but less so in drier and hotter years, whereas soil organic carbon has a positive impact on yields, especially in drier years. Our findings imply, that adapted management in the region allows to mitigate yield losses from drought.
Roxanne Daelman, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Emmanuel Bulonza, Lodewijk Lefevre, José Mbifo, Johan Six, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Benjamin Wolf, Ralf Kiese, and Pascal Boeckx
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2346, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2346, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The increase in atmospheric concentrations of several greenhouse gasses (GHG) since 1750 is attributed to human activity, however natural ecosystems, such as tropical forests, also contribute to GHG budgets. The Congo basin hosts the second largest tropical forest and is understudied. In this study, measurements of soil GHG exchange were carried out during 16 months in a tropical forest in the Congo Basin. Overall, the soil acted as a major source for CO2 and N2O and a minor sink for CH4.
Elizabeth Gachibu Wangari, Ricky Mwangada Mwanake, Tobias Houska, David Kraus, Gretchen Maria Gettel, Ralf Kiese, Lutz Breuer, and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 20, 5029–5067, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5029-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5029-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Agricultural landscapes act as sinks or sources of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) CO2, CH4, or N2O. Various physicochemical and biological processes control the fluxes of these GHGs between ecosystems and the atmosphere. Therefore, fluxes depend on environmental conditions such as soil moisture, soil temperature, or soil parameters, which result in large spatial and temporal variations of GHG fluxes. Here, we describe an example of how this variation may be studied and analyzed.
Ricky Mwangada Mwanake, Gretchen Maria Gettel, Elizabeth Gachibu Wangari, Clarissa Glaser, Tobias Houska, Lutz Breuer, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, and Ralf Kiese
Biogeosciences, 20, 3395–3422, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3395-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3395-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Despite occupying <1 %; of the globe, streams are significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, we determined anthropogenic effects on GHG emissions from streams. We found that anthropogenic-influenced streams had up to 20 times more annual GHG emissions than natural ones and were also responsible for seasonal peaks. Anthropogenic influences also altered declining GHG flux trends with stream size, with potential impacts on stream-size-based spatial upscaling techniques.
Joseph Okello, Marijn Bauters, Hans Verbeeck, Samuel Bodé, John Kasenene, Astrid Françoys, Till Engelhardt, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Ralf Kiese, and Pascal Boeckx
Biogeosciences, 20, 719–735, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-719-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-719-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The increase in global and regional temperatures has the potential to drive accelerated soil organic carbon losses in tropical forests. We simulated climate warming by translocating intact soil cores from higher to lower elevations. The results revealed increasing temperature sensitivity and decreasing losses of soil organic carbon with increasing elevation. Our results suggest that climate warming may trigger enhanced losses of soil organic carbon from tropical montane forests.
Friedrich Boeing, Oldrich Rakovec, Rohini Kumar, Luis Samaniego, Martin Schrön, Anke Hildebrandt, Corinna Rebmann, Stephan Thober, Sebastian Müller, Steffen Zacharias, Heye Bogena, Katrin Schneider, Ralf Kiese, Sabine Attinger, and Andreas Marx
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5137–5161, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5137-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5137-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we deliver an evaluation of the second generation operational German drought monitor (https://www.ufz.de/duerremonitor) with a state-of-the-art compilation of observed soil moisture data from 40 locations and four different measurement methods in Germany. We show that the expressed stakeholder needs for higher resolution drought information at the one-kilometer scale can be met and that the agreement of simulated and observed soil moisture dynamics can be moderately improved.
Anne Schucknecht, Bumsuk Seo, Alexander Krämer, Sarah Asam, Clement Atzberger, and Ralf Kiese
Biogeosciences, 19, 2699–2727, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2699-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2699-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Actual maps of grassland traits could improve local farm management and support environmental assessments. We developed, assessed, and applied models to estimate dry biomass and plant nitrogen (N) concentration in pre-Alpine grasslands with drone-based multispectral data and canopy height information. Our results indicate that machine learning algorithms are able to estimate both parameters but reach a better level of performance for biomass.
Rahayu Adzhar, Douglas I. Kelley, Ning Dong, Charles George, Mireia Torello Raventos, Elmar Veenendaal, Ted R. Feldpausch, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Bonaventure Sonké, Herman Taedoumg, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Tomas Domingues, Luzmila Arroyo, Gloria Djagbletey, Gustavo Saiz, and France Gerard
Biogeosciences, 19, 1377–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product underestimates tree cover compared to field data and could be underestimating tree cover significantly across the tropics. VCF is used to represent land cover or validate model performance in many land surface and global vegetation models and to train finer-scaled Earth observation products. Because underestimation in VCF may render it unsuitable for training data and bias model predictions, it should be calibrated before use in the tropics.
Matthias Mauder, Andreas Ibrom, Luise Wanner, Frederik De Roo, Peter Brugger, Ralf Kiese, and Kim Pilegaard
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7835–7850, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7835-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7835-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Turbulent flux measurements suffer from a general systematic underestimation. One reason for this bias is non-local transport by large-scale circulations. A recently developed model for this additional transport of sensible and latent energy is evaluated for three different test sites. Different options on how to apply this correction are presented, and the results are evaluated against independent measurements.
Benjamin Fersch, Till Francke, Maik Heistermann, Martin Schrön, Veronika Döpper, Jannis Jakobi, Gabriele Baroni, Theresa Blume, Heye Bogena, Christian Budach, Tobias Gränzig, Michael Förster, Andreas Güntner, Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen, Mandy Kasner, Markus Köhli, Birgit Kleinschmit, Harald Kunstmann, Amol Patil, Daniel Rasche, Lena Scheiffele, Ulrich Schmidt, Sandra Szulc-Seyfried, Jannis Weimar, Steffen Zacharias, Marek Zreda, Bernd Heber, Ralf Kiese, Vladimir Mares, Hannes Mollenhauer, Ingo Völksch, and Sascha Oswald
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2289–2309, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2289-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2289-2020, 2020
Isabel Prater, Sebastian Zubrzycki, Franz Buegger, Lena C. Zoor-Füllgraff, Gerrit Angst, Michael Dannenmann, and Carsten W. Mueller
Biogeosciences, 17, 3367–3383, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3367-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3367-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Large amounts of soil organic matter stored in permafrost-affected soils from Arctic Russia are present as undecomposed plant residues. This large fibrous organic matter might be highly vulnerable to microbial decay, while small mineral-associated organic matter can most probably attenuate carbon mineralization in a warmer future. Labile soil fractions also store large amounts of nitrogen, which might be lost during permafrost collapse while fostering the decomposition of soil organic matter.
Chris R. Flechard, Andreas Ibrom, Ute M. Skiba, Wim de Vries, Marcel van Oijen, David R. Cameron, Nancy B. Dise, Janne F. J. Korhonen, Nina Buchmann, Arnaud Legout, David Simpson, Maria J. Sanz, Marc Aubinet, Denis Loustau, Leonardo Montagnani, Johan Neirynck, Ivan A. Janssens, Mari Pihlatie, Ralf Kiese, Jan Siemens, André-Jean Francez, Jürgen Augustin, Andrej Varlagin, Janusz Olejnik, Radosław Juszczak, Mika Aurela, Daniel Berveiller, Bogdan H. Chojnicki, Ulrich Dämmgen, Nicolas Delpierre, Vesna Djuricic, Julia Drewer, Eric Dufrêne, Werner Eugster, Yannick Fauvel, David Fowler, Arnoud Frumau, André Granier, Patrick Gross, Yannick Hamon, Carole Helfter, Arjan Hensen, László Horváth, Barbara Kitzler, Bart Kruijt, Werner L. Kutsch, Raquel Lobo-do-Vale, Annalea Lohila, Bernard Longdoz, Michal V. Marek, Giorgio Matteucci, Marta Mitosinkova, Virginie Moreaux, Albrecht Neftel, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Kim Pilegaard, Gabriel Pita, Francisco Sanz, Jan K. Schjoerring, Maria-Teresa Sebastià, Y. Sim Tang, Hilde Uggerud, Marek Urbaniak, Netty van Dijk, Timo Vesala, Sonja Vidic, Caroline Vincke, Tamás Weidinger, Sophie Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Eiko Nemitz, and Mark A. Sutton
Biogeosciences, 17, 1583–1620, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1583-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1583-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Experimental evidence from a network of 40 monitoring sites in Europe suggests that atmospheric nitrogen deposition to forests and other semi-natural vegetation impacts the carbon sequestration rates in ecosystems, as well as the net greenhouse gas balance including other greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and methane. Excess nitrogen deposition in polluted areas also leads to other environmental impacts such as nitrogen leaching to groundwater and other pollutant gaseous emissions.
Carlos Alberto Quesada, Claudia Paz, Erick Oblitas Mendoza, Oliver Lawrence Phillips, Gustavo Saiz, and Jon Lloyd
SOIL, 6, 53–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-53-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Amazon soils hold as much carbon (C) as is contained in the vegetation. In this work we sampled soils across 8 different Amazonian countries to try to understand which soil properties control current Amazonian soil C concentrations. We confirm previous knowledge that highly developed soils hold C through clay content interactions but also show a previously unreported mechanism of soil C stabilization in the younger Amazonian soil types which hold C through aluminium organic matter interactions.
Erkan Ibraim, Benjamin Wolf, Eliza Harris, Rainer Gasche, Jing Wei, Longfei Yu, Ralf Kiese, Sarah Eggleston, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Matthias Zeeman, Béla Tuzson, Lukas Emmenegger, Johan Six, Stephan Henne, and Joachim Mohn
Biogeosciences, 16, 3247–3266, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3247-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3247-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas and the major stratospheric ozone-depleting substance; therefore, mitigation of anthropogenic N2O emissions is needed. To trace N2O-emitting source processes, in this study, we observed N2O isotopocules above an intensively managed grassland research site with a recently developed laser spectroscopy method. Our results indicate that the domain of denitrification or nitrifier denitrification was the major N2O source.
Tobias Houska, David Kraus, Ralf Kiese, and Lutz Breuer
Biogeosciences, 14, 3487–3508, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3487-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3487-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
CO2 and N2O are two prominent GHGs contributing to global warming. We combined measurement and modelling to quantify GHG emissions from adjacent arable, forest and grassland sites in Germany. Measured emissions reveal seasonal patterns and management effects like fertilizer application, tillage, harvest and grazing. Modelling helps to estimate the magnitude and uncertainty of not measurable C and N fluxes and indicates missing input source, e.g. nitrate uptake from groundwater.
Stephanie K. Jones, Carole Helfter, Margaret Anderson, Mhairi Coyle, Claire Campbell, Daniela Famulari, Chiara Di Marco, Netty van Dijk, Y. Sim Tang, Cairistiona F. E. Topp, Ralf Kiese, Reimo Kindler, Jan Siemens, Marion Schrumpf, Klaus Kaiser, Eiko Nemitz, Peter E. Levy, Robert M. Rees, Mark A. Sutton, and Ute M. Skiba
Biogeosciences, 14, 2069–2088, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2069-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2069-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We assessed the nitrogen (N), carbon (C) and greenhouse gas (GHG) budget from an intensively managed grassland in southern Scotland using flux budget calculations as well as changes in soil N and C pools over time. Estimates from flux budget calculations indicated that N and C were sequestered, whereas soil stock measurements indicated a smaller N storage and a loss of C from the ecosystem. The GHG sink strength of the net CO2 ecosystem exchange was strongly affected by CH4 and N2O emissions.
David Pelster, Mariana Rufino, Todd Rosenstock, Joash Mango, Gustavo Saiz, Eugenio Diaz-Pines, German Baldi, and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 14, 187–202, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-187-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
In order to quantify greenhouse gas fluxes from typical eastern African smallholder farms, we measured flux rates every week for 1 year at 59 farms in western Kenya. These upland soils tend to be small sinks for CH4 and small sources of N2O. The management intensity of the farm plots had no effect on emissions, likely because the variability was low. Plots with trees had higher CH4 uptake than other plots. This suggests that emissions from small, low-input farms in this region are quite low.
G. Saiz, M. Bird, C. Wurster, C. A. Quesada, P. Ascough, T. Domingues, F. Schrodt, M. Schwarz, T. R. Feldpausch, E. Veenendaal, G. Djagbletey, G. Jacobsen, F. Hien, H. Compaore, A. Diallo, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 5041–5059, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate and explain differential patterns in SOM dynamics in C3/C4 mixed ecosystems at various spatial scales across contrasting climate and soils. This study shows that the interdependence between biotic and abiotic factors ultimately determines whether SOM dynamics of C3- and C4-derived vegetation are at variance in ecosystems where both vegetation types coexist. The results also highlight the far-reaching implications that vegetation thickening may have for the stability of deep SOM.
M. Liu, M. Dannenmann, S. Lin, G. Saiz, G. Yan, Z. Yao, D. E. Pelster, H. Tao, S. Sippel, Y. Tao, Y. Zhang, X. Zheng, Q. Zuo, and K. Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 12, 4831–4840, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4831-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4831-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate for the first time that a ground cover rice production system (GCRPS) significantly increased soil organic C and total N stocks at spatially representative paired sites under varying edaphic conditions. Our results suggest that GCRPS is a stable and sustainable technique that maintains key soil functions, while increasing rice yield and expanding the cultivation into regions where it has been hampered by low seasonal temperatures and/or a lack of irrigation water.
E. M. Veenendaal, M. Torello-Raventos, T. R. Feldpausch, T. F. Domingues, F. Gerard, F. Schrodt, G. Saiz, C. A. Quesada, G. Djagbletey, A. Ford, J. Kemp, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon-Junior, E. Lenza, J. A. Ratter, L. Maracahipes, D. Sasaki, B. Sonké, L. Zapfack, D. Villarroel, M. Schwarz, F. Yoko Ishida, M. Gilpin, G. B. Nardoto, K. Affum-Baffoe, L. Arroyo, K. Bloomfield, G. Ceca, H. Compaore, K. Davies, A. Diallo, N. M. Fyllas, J. Gignoux, F. Hien, M. Johnson, E. Mougin, P. Hiernaux, T. Killeen, D. Metcalfe, H. S. Miranda, M. Steininger, K. Sykora, M. I. Bird, J. Grace, S. Lewis, O. L. Phillips, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 2927–2951, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
When nearby forest and savanna stands are compared, they are not as structurally different as first seems. Moreover, savanna-forest transition zones typically occur at higher rainfall for South America than for Africa but with coexistence confined to a well-defined edaphic-climate envelope. With interacting soil cation-soil water storage–precipitations effects on canopy cover also observed we argue that both soils and climate influence the location of the two major tropical vegetation types.
G. Saiz, J. G. Wynn, C. M. Wurster, I. Goodrick, P. N. Nelson, and M. I. Bird
Biogeosciences, 12, 1849–1863, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1849-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1849-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Around half of all pyrogenic carbon (charcoal+soot) derived from wildfires comes from semi-annual burning of tropical savannas. This pyrogenic carbon is significant because it is a component of global aerosols capable of modulating the greenhouse effect and is resistant to degradation. We use controlled field burns in northern Australian savannas to determine how much pyrogenic carbon is formed, how much of this is recalcitrant and how it is partitioned between ground residues and airborne soot.
K. J. Bloomfield, T. F. Domingues, G. Saiz, M. I. Bird, D. M. Crayn, A. Ford, D. J. Metcalfe, G. D. Farquhar, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 11, 7331–7347, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7331-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7331-2014, 2014
C. Werner, K. Reiser, M. Dannenmann, L. B. Hutley, J. Jacobeit, and K. Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 11, 6047–6065, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6047-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6047-2014, 2014
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric loss of N from savanna soil was dominated by N2 emissions (82-99% of total N loss to atmosphere). Nitric oxide emissions significantly contributed at 50% WFPS; high temperatures and N2O emissions were negligible. Based on a simple upscale approach we estimated annual loss of N to the atmosphere at 7.5kg yr-1. N2O emission was low for most samples, but high for a small subset of cores at 75% WFPS (due to short periods where such conditions occur this has little effect on totals).
Related subject area
Biogeochemistry: Land
Implications of climate and litter quality for simulations of litterbag decomposition at high latitudes
Soil carbon-concentration and carbon-climate feedbacks in CMIP6 Earth system models
How to measure the efficiency of terrestrial carbon dioxide removal methods
Monitoring the impact of forest changes on carbon uptake with solar-induced fluorescence measurements from GOME-2A and TROPOMI for an Australian and Chinese case study
Technical note: Flagging inconsistencies in flux tower data
Relevance of near-surface soil moisture vs. terrestrial water storage for global vegetation functioning
Cropland expansion drives vegetation greenness decline in Southeast Asia
High-resolution spatial patterns and drivers of terrestrial ecosystem carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide fluxes in the tundra
Long-term additions of ammonium nitrate to montane forest ecosystems may cause limited soil acidification, even in the presence of soil carbonate
Leaf carbon and nitrogen stoichiometric variation along environmental gradients
Gross primary productivity and the predictability of CO2: more uncertainty in what we predict than how well we predict it
Scale variance in the carbon dynamics of fragmented, mixed-use landscapes estimated using model–data fusion
Seasonal controls override forest harvesting effects on the composition of dissolved organic matter mobilized from boreal forest soil organic horizons
Carbon cycle extremes accelerate weakening of the land carbon sink in the late 21st century
Estimating oil-palm Si storage, Si return to soils, and Si losses through harvest in smallholder oil-palm plantations of Sumatra, Indonesia
Assessing the sensitivity of multi-frequency passive microwave vegetation optical depth to vegetation properties
Seasonal variation of mercury concentration of ancient olive groves of Lebanon
Soil organic matter diagenetic state informs boreal forest ecosystem feedbacks to climate change
Upscaling dryland carbon and water fluxes with artificial neural networks of optical, thermal, and microwave satellite remote sensing
Sun-induced fluorescence as a proxy for primary productivity across vegetation types and climates
Technical note: A view from space on global flux towers by MODIS and Landsat: the FluxnetEO data set
Changing sub-Arctic tundra vegetation upon permafrost degradation: impact on foliar mineral element cycling
Land Management Contributes significantly to observed Vegetation Browning in Syria during 2001–2018
MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields tree cover needs calibrating in tropical savannas
Assessing the representation of the Australian carbon cycle in global vegetation models
Assessing the response of soil carbon in Australia to changing inputs and climate using a consistent modelling framework
Reviews and syntheses: Ongoing and emerging opportunities to improve environmental science using observations from the Advanced Baseline Imager on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites
First pan-Arctic assessment of dissolved organic carbon in lakes of the permafrost region
The impact of wildfire on biogeochemical fluxes and water quality in boreal catchments
Examining the sensitivity of the terrestrial carbon cycle to the expression of El Niño
Subalpine grassland productivity increased with warmer and drier conditions, but not with higher N deposition, in an altitudinal transplantation experiment
Reviews and syntheses: Impacts of plant-silica–herbivore interactions on terrestrial biogeochemical cycling
Implementation of nitrogen cycle in the CLASSIC land model
Combined effects of ozone and drought stress on the emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds from Quercus robur L.
A bottom-up quantification of foliar mercury uptake fluxes across Europe
Lagged effects regulate the inter-annual variability of the tropical carbon balance
Spatial variations in terrestrial net ecosystem productivity and its local indicators
Nitrogen cycling in CMIP6 land surface models: progress and limitations
Decomposing reflectance spectra to track gross primary production in a subalpine evergreen forest
Sensitivity of 21st century simulated ecosystem indicators to model parameters, prescribed climate drivers, RCP scenarios and forest management actions for two Finnish boreal forest sites
Summarizing the state of the terrestrial biosphere in few dimensions
Patterns and trends of the dominant environmental controls of net biome productivity
Localized basal area affects soil respiration temperature sensitivity in a coastal deciduous forest
Dissolved organic carbon mobilized from organic horizons of mature and harvested black spruce plots in a mesic boreal region
Ideas and perspectives: Proposed best practices for collaboration at cross-disciplinary observatories
Effects of leaf length and development stage on the triple oxygen isotope signature of grass leaf water and phytoliths: insights for a proxy of continental atmospheric humidity
Response of simulated burned area to historical changes in environmental and anthropogenic factors: a comparison of seven fire models
Estimation of coarse dead wood stocks in intact and degraded forests in the Brazilian Amazon using airborne lidar
Theoretical uncertainties for global satellite-derived burned area estimates
Estimating global gross primary productivity using chlorophyll fluorescence and a data assimilation system with the BETHY-SCOPE model
Elin Ristorp Aas, Inge Althuizen, Hui Tang, Sonya Geange, Eva Lieungh, Vigdis Vandvik, and Terje Koren Berntsen
Biogeosciences, 21, 3789–3817, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3789-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3789-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We used a soil model to replicate two litterbag decomposition experiments to examine the implications of climate, litter quality, and soil microclimate representation. We found that macroclimate was more important than litter quality for modeled mass loss. By comparing different representations of soil temperature and moisture we found that using observed data did not improve model results. We discuss causes for this and suggest possible improvements to both the model and experimental design.
Rebecca M. Varney, Pierre Friedlingstein, Sarah E. Chadburn, Eleanor J. Burke, and Peter M. Cox
Biogeosciences, 21, 2759–2776, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2759-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2759-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Soil carbon is the largest store of carbon on the land surface of Earth and is known to be particularly sensitive to climate change. Understanding this future response is vital to successfully meeting Paris Agreement targets, which rely heavily on carbon uptake by the land surface. In this study, the individual responses of soil carbon are quantified and compared amongst CMIP6 Earth system models used within the most recent IPCC report, and the role of soils in the land response is highlighted.
Sabine Egerer, Stefanie Falk, Dorothea Mayer, Tobias Nützel, Wolfgang Obermeier, and Julia Pongratz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1451, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1451, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using a state-of-the-art land model, we find that bioenergy plants can store carbon more efficiently than forests over long periods in the soil, in geological reservoirs or by substituting fossil fuel-based energy. Planting forests is more suitable for reaching climate targets until 2050. The carbon removal potential depends also on local environmental conditions. These considerations have important implications for for climate policy, spatial planning, nature conservation, and agriculture.
Juliëtte C. S. Anema, Klaas Folkert Boersma, Piet Stammes, Gerbrand Koren, William Woodgate, Philipp Köhler, Christian Frankenberg, and Jacqui Stol
Biogeosciences, 21, 2297–2311, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2297-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2297-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To keep the Paris agreement goals within reach, negative emissions are necessary. They can be achieved with mitigation techniques, such as reforestation, which remove CO2 from the atmosphere. While governments have pinned their hopes on them, there is not yet a good set of tools to objectively determine whether negative emissions do what they promise. Here we show how satellite measurements of plant fluorescence are useful in detecting carbon uptake due to reforestation and vegetation regrowth.
Martin Jung, Jacob Nelson, Mirco Migliavacca, Tarek El-Madany, Dario Papale, Markus Reichstein, Sophia Walther, and Thomas Wutzler
Biogeosciences, 21, 1827–1846, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1827-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1827-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a methodology to detect inconsistencies in perhaps the most important data source for measurements of ecosystem–atmosphere carbon, water, and energy fluxes. We expect that the derived consistency flags will be relevant for data users and will help in improving our understanding of and our ability to model ecosystem–climate interactions.
Prajwal Khanal, Anne J. Hoek Van Dijke, Timo Schaffhauser, Wantong Li, Sinikka J. Paulus, Chunhui Zhan, and René Orth
Biogeosciences, 21, 1533–1547, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1533-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1533-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Water availability is essential for vegetation functioning, but the depth of vegetation water uptake is largely unknown due to sparse ground measurements. This study correlates vegetation growth with soil moisture availability globally to infer vegetation water uptake depth using only satellite-based data. We find that the vegetation water uptake depth varies across climate regimes and vegetation types and also changes during dry months at a global scale.
Ruiying Zhao, Xiangzhong Luo, Yuheng Yang, Luri Syahid, Chi Chen, and Janice Lee
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-378, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-378, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Southeast Asia has been a global hotspot of land use change in the past half-century. Meanwhile, it also hosts some most carbon-dense and diverse ecosystems in the world. Here, we explored the impact of land use change, along with other environmental factors on the ecosystem in Southeast Asia. We found elevated CO2 imposed a positive impact on vegetation greenness, but the positive impact was largely offset by intensive land use changes in the region, particularly the cropland expansion.
Anna-Maria Virkkala, Pekka Niittynen, Julia Kemppinen, Maija E. Marushchak, Carolina Voigt, Geert Hensgens, Johanna Kerttula, Konsta Happonen, Vilna Tyystjärvi, Christina Biasi, Jenni Hultman, Janne Rinne, and Miska Luoto
Biogeosciences, 21, 335–355, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-335-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-335-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O are important for climate feedbacks. We combined extensive in situ measurements and remote sensing data to develop machine-learning models to predict GHG fluxes at a 2 m resolution across a tundra landscape. The analysis revealed that the system was a net GHG sink and showed widespread CH4 uptake in upland vegetation types, almost surpassing the high wetland CH4 emissions at the landscape scale.
Thomas Baer, Gerhard Furrer, Stephan Zimmermann, and Patrick Schleppi
Biogeosciences, 20, 4577–4589, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4577-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4577-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrogen (N) deposition to forest ecosystems is a matter of concern because it affects their nutrient status and makes their soil acidic. We observed an ongoing acidification in a montane forest in central Switzerland even if the subsoil of this site contains carbonates and is thus well buffered. We experimentally added N to simulate a higher pollution, and this increased the acidification. After 25 years of study, however, we can see the first signs of recovery, also under higher N deposition.
Huiying Xu, Han Wang, Iain Colin Prentice, and Sandy P. Harrison
Biogeosciences, 20, 4511–4525, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4511-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4511-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Leaf carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are crucial elements in leaf construction and physiological processes. This study reconciled the roles of phylogeny, species identity, and climate in stoichiometric traits at individual and community levels. The variations in community-level leaf N and C : N ratio were captured by optimality-based models using climate data. Our results provide an approach to improve the representation of leaf stoichiometry in vegetation models to better couple N with C cycling.
István Dunkl, Nicole Lovenduski, Alessio Collalti, Vivek K. Arora, Tatiana Ilyina, and Victor Brovkin
Biogeosciences, 20, 3523–3538, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3523-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3523-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Despite differences in the reproduction of gross primary productivity (GPP) by Earth system models (ESMs), ESMs have similar predictability of the global carbon cycle. We found that, although GPP variability originates from different regions and is driven by different climatic variables across the ESMs, the ESMs rely on the same mechanisms to predict their own GPP. This shows that the predictability of the carbon cycle is limited by our understanding of variability rather than predictability.
David T. Milodowski, T. Luke Smallman, and Mathew Williams
Biogeosciences, 20, 3301–3327, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3301-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3301-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Model–data fusion (MDF) allows us to combine ecosystem models with Earth observation data. Fragmented landscapes, with a mosaic of contrasting ecosystems, pose a challenge for MDF. We develop a novel MDF framework to estimate the carbon balance of fragmented landscapes and show the importance of accounting for ecosystem heterogeneity to prevent scale-dependent bias in estimated carbon fluxes, disturbance fluxes in particular, and to improve ecological fidelity of the calibrated models.
Keri L. Bowering, Kate A. Edwards, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 20, 2189–2206, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2189-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2189-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) mobilized from surface soils is a source of carbon (C) for deeper mineral horizons but also a mechanism of C loss. Composition of DOM mobilized in boreal forests varied more by season than as a result of forest harvesting. Results suggest reduced snowmelt and increased fall precipitation enhance DOM properties promoting mineral soil C stores. These findings, coupled with hydrology, can inform on soil C fate and boreal forest C balance in response to climate change.
Bharat Sharma, Jitendra Kumar, Auroop R. Ganguly, and Forrest M. Hoffman
Biogeosciences, 20, 1829–1841, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1829-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1829-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide increases vegetation growth and causes more heatwaves and droughts. The impact of such climate extremes is detrimental to terrestrial carbon uptake capacity. We found that due to overall climate warming, about 88 % of the world's regions towards the end of 2100 will show anomalous losses in net biospheric productivity (NBP) rather than gains. More than 50 % of all negative NBP extremes were driven by the compound effect of dry, hot, and fire conditions.
Britta Greenshields, Barbara von der Lühe, Felix Schwarz, Harold J. Hughes, Aiyen Tjoa, Martyna Kotowska, Fabian Brambach, and Daniela Sauer
Biogeosciences, 20, 1259–1276, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1259-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1259-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Silicon (Si) can have multiple beneficial effects on crops such as oil palms. In this study, we quantified Si concentrations in various parts of an oil palm (leaflets, rachises, fruit-bunch parts) to derive Si storage estimates for the total above-ground biomass of an oil palm and 1 ha of an oil-palm plantation. We proposed a Si balance by identifying Si return (via palm fronds) and losses (via harvest) in the system and recommend management measures that enhance Si cycling.
Luisa Schmidt, Matthias Forkel, Ruxandra-Maria Zotta, Samuel Scherrer, Wouter A. Dorigo, Alexander Kuhn-Régnier, Robin van der Schalie, and Marta Yebra
Biogeosciences, 20, 1027–1046, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1027-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1027-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Vegetation attenuates natural microwave emissions from the land surface. The strength of this attenuation is quantified as the vegetation optical depth (VOD) parameter and is influenced by the vegetation mass, structure, water content, and observation wavelength. Here we model the VOD signal as a multi-variate function of several descriptive vegetation variables. The results help in understanding the effects of ecosystem properties on VOD.
Nagham Tabaja, David Amouroux, Lamis Chalak, François Fourel, Emmanuel Tessier, Ihab Jomaa, Milad El Riachy, and Ilham Bentaleb
Biogeosciences, 20, 619–633, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-619-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-619-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the seasonality of the mercury (Hg) concentration of olive trees. Hg concentrations of foliage, stems, soil surface, and litter were analyzed on a monthly basis in ancient olive trees growing in two groves in Lebanon. Our study draws an adequate baseline for the eastern Mediterranean and for the region with similar climatic inventories on Hg vegetation uptake in addition to being a baseline for new studies on olive trees in the Mediterranean.
Allison N. Myers-Pigg, Karl Kaiser, Ronald Benner, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 20, 489–503, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-489-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-489-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Boreal forests, historically a global sink for atmospheric CO2, store carbon in vast soil reservoirs. To predict how such stores will respond to climate warming we need to understand climate–ecosystem feedbacks. We find boreal forest soil carbon stores are maintained through enhanced nitrogen cycling with climate warming, providing direct evidence for a key feedback. Further application of the approach demonstrated here will improve our understanding of the limits of climate–ecosystem feedbacks.
Matthew P. Dannenberg, Mallory L. Barnes, William K. Smith, Miriam R. Johnston, Susan K. Meerdink, Xian Wang, Russell L. Scott, and Joel A. Biederman
Biogeosciences, 20, 383–404, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-383-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-383-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Earth's drylands provide ecosystem services to many people and will likely be strongly affected by climate change, but it is quite challenging to monitor the productivity and water use of dryland plants with satellites. We developed and tested an approach for estimating dryland vegetation activity using machine learning to combine information from multiple satellite sensors. Our approach excelled at estimating photosynthesis and water use largely due to the inclusion of satellite soil moisture.
Mark Pickering, Alessandro Cescatti, and Gregory Duveiller
Biogeosciences, 19, 4833–4864, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4833-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4833-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores two of the most recent products in carbon productivity estimation, FLUXCOM gross primary productivity (GPP), calculated by upscaling local measurements of CO2 exchange, and remotely sensed sun-induced chlorophyll a fluorescence (SIF). High-resolution SIF data are valuable in demonstrating similarity in the SIF–GPP relationship between vegetation covers, provide an independent probe of the FLUXCOM GPP model and demonstrate the response of SIF to meteorological fluctuations.
Sophia Walther, Simon Besnard, Jacob Allen Nelson, Tarek Sebastian El-Madany, Mirco Migliavacca, Ulrich Weber, Nuno Carvalhais, Sofia Lorena Ermida, Christian Brümmer, Frederik Schrader, Anatoly Stanislavovich Prokushkin, Alexey Vasilevich Panov, and Martin Jung
Biogeosciences, 19, 2805–2840, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2805-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2805-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite observations help interpret station measurements of local carbon, water, and energy exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere and are indispensable for simulations of the same in land surface models and their evaluation. We propose generalisable and efficient approaches to systematically ensure high quality and to estimate values in data gaps. We apply them to satellite data of surface reflectance and temperature with different resolutions at the stations.
Elisabeth Mauclet, Yannick Agnan, Catherine Hirst, Arthur Monhonval, Benoît Pereira, Aubry Vandeuren, Maëlle Villani, Justin Ledman, Meghan Taylor, Briana L. Jasinski, Edward A. G. Schuur, and Sophie Opfergelt
Biogeosciences, 19, 2333–2351, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2333-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2333-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic warming and permafrost degradation largely affect tundra vegetation. Wetter lowlands show an increase in sedges, whereas drier uplands favor shrub expansion. Here, we demonstrate that the difference in the foliar elemental composition of typical tundra vegetation species controls the change in local foliar elemental stock and potential mineral element cycling through litter production upon a shift in tundra vegetation.
Tiexi Chen, Renjie Guo, Qingyun Yan, Xin Chen, Shengjie Zhou, Chuanzhuang Liang, Xueqiong Wei, and Han Dolman
Biogeosciences, 19, 1515–1525, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1515-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1515-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Currently people are very concerned about vegetation changes and their driving factors, including natural and anthropogenic drivers. In this study, a general browning trend is found in Syria during 2001–2018, indicated by the vegetation index. We found that land management caused by social unrest is the main cause of this browning phenomenon. The mechanism initially reported here highlights the importance of land management impacts at the regional scale.
Rahayu Adzhar, Douglas I. Kelley, Ning Dong, Charles George, Mireia Torello Raventos, Elmar Veenendaal, Ted R. Feldpausch, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Bonaventure Sonké, Herman Taedoumg, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Tomas Domingues, Luzmila Arroyo, Gloria Djagbletey, Gustavo Saiz, and France Gerard
Biogeosciences, 19, 1377–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product underestimates tree cover compared to field data and could be underestimating tree cover significantly across the tropics. VCF is used to represent land cover or validate model performance in many land surface and global vegetation models and to train finer-scaled Earth observation products. Because underestimation in VCF may render it unsuitable for training data and bias model predictions, it should be calibrated before use in the tropics.
Lina Teckentrup, Martin G. De Kauwe, Andrew J. Pitman, Daniel S. Goll, Vanessa Haverd, Atul K. Jain, Emilie Joetzjer, Etsushi Kato, Sebastian Lienert, Danica Lombardozzi, Patrick C. McGuire, Joe R. Melton, Julia E. M. S. Nabel, Julia Pongratz, Stephen Sitch, Anthony P. Walker, and Sönke Zaehle
Biogeosciences, 18, 5639–5668, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5639-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5639-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The Australian continent is included in global assessments of the carbon cycle such as the global carbon budget, yet the performance of dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) over Australia has rarely been evaluated. We assessed simulations by an ensemble of dynamic global vegetation models over Australia and highlighted a number of key areas that lead to model divergence on both short (inter-annual) and long (decadal) timescales.
Juhwan Lee, Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel, Mingxi Zhang, Zhongkui Luo, and Ying-Ping Wang
Biogeosciences, 18, 5185–5202, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5185-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5185-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We performed Roth C simulations across Australia and assessed the response of soil carbon to changing inputs and future climate change using a consistent modelling framework. Site-specific initialisation of the C pools with measurements of the C fractions is essential for accurate simulations of soil organic C stocks and composition at a large scale. With further warming, Australian soils will become more vulnerable to C loss: natural environments > native grazing > cropping > modified grazing.
Anam M. Khan, Paul C. Stoy, James T. Douglas, Martha Anderson, George Diak, Jason A. Otkin, Christopher Hain, Elizabeth M. Rehbein, and Joel McCorkel
Biogeosciences, 18, 4117–4141, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4117-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4117-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Remote sensing has played an important role in the study of land surface processes. Geostationary satellites, such as the GOES-R series, can observe the Earth every 5–15 min, providing us with more observations than widely used polar-orbiting satellites. Here, we outline current efforts utilizing geostationary observations in environmental science and look towards the future of GOES observations in the carbon cycle, ecosystem disturbance, and other areas of application in environmental science.
Lydia Stolpmann, Caroline Coch, Anne Morgenstern, Julia Boike, Michael Fritz, Ulrike Herzschuh, Kathleen Stoof-Leichsenring, Yury Dvornikov, Birgit Heim, Josefine Lenz, Amy Larsen, Katey Walter Anthony, Benjamin Jones, Karen Frey, and Guido Grosse
Biogeosciences, 18, 3917–3936, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3917-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3917-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Our new database summarizes DOC concentrations of 2167 water samples from 1833 lakes in permafrost regions across the Arctic to provide insights into linkages between DOC and environment. We found increasing lake DOC concentration with decreasing permafrost extent and higher DOC concentrations in boreal permafrost sites compared to tundra sites. Our study shows that DOC concentration depends on the environmental properties of a lake, especially permafrost extent, ecoregion, and vegetation.
Gustaf Granath, Christopher D. Evans, Joachim Strengbom, Jens Fölster, Achim Grelle, Johan Strömqvist, and Stephan J. Köhler
Biogeosciences, 18, 3243–3261, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3243-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3243-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We measured element losses and impacts on water quality following a wildfire in Sweden. We observed the largest carbon and nitrogen losses during the fire and a strong pulse of elements 1–3 months after the fire that showed a fast (weeks) and a slow (months) release from the catchments. Total carbon export through water did not increase post-fire. Overall, we observed a rapid recovery of the biogeochemical cycling of elements within 3 years but still an annual net release of carbon dioxide.
Lina Teckentrup, Martin G. De Kauwe, Andrew J. Pitman, and Benjamin Smith
Biogeosciences, 18, 2181–2203, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2181-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2181-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) describes changes in the sea surface temperature patterns of the Pacific Ocean. This influences the global weather, impacting vegetation on land. There are two types of El Niño: central Pacific (CP) and eastern Pacific (EP). In this study, we explored the long-term impacts on the carbon balance on land linked to the two El Niño types. Using a dynamic vegetation model, we simulated what would happen if only either CP or EP El Niño events had occurred.
Matthias Volk, Matthias Suter, Anne-Lena Wahl, and Seraina Bassin
Biogeosciences, 18, 2075–2090, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Grassland ecosystem services like forage production and greenhouse gas storage in the soil depend on plant growth.
In an experiment in the mountains with warming treatments, we found that despite dwindling soil water content, the grassland growth increased with up to +1.3 °C warming (annual mean) compared to present temperatures. Even at +2.4 °C the growth was still larger than at the reference site.
This suggests that plant growth will increase due to global warming in the near future.
Bernice C. Hwang and Daniel B. Metcalfe
Biogeosciences, 18, 1259–1268, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1259-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1259-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Despite growing recognition of herbivores as important ecosystem engineers, many major gaps remain in our understanding of how silicon and herbivory interact to shape biogeochemical processes. We highlight the need for more research particularly in natural settings as well as on the potential effects of herbivory on terrestrial silicon cycling to understand potentially critical animal–plant–soil feedbacks.
Ali Asaadi and Vivek K. Arora
Biogeosciences, 18, 669–706, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-669-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-669-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
More than a quarter of the current anthropogenic CO2 emissions are taken up by land, reducing the atmospheric CO2 growth rate. This is because of the CO2 fertilization effect which benefits 80 % of global vegetation. However, if nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients cannot keep up with increasing atmospheric CO2, the magnitude of this terrestrial ecosystem service may reduce in future. This paper implements nitrogen constraints on photosynthesis in a model to understand the mechanisms involved.
Arianna Peron, Lisa Kaser, Anne Charlott Fitzky, Martin Graus, Heidi Halbwirth, Jürgen Greiner, Georg Wohlfahrt, Boris Rewald, Hans Sandén, and Thomas Karl
Biogeosciences, 18, 535–556, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-535-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-535-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Drought events are expected to become more frequent with climate change. Along with these events atmospheric ozone is also expected to increase. Both can stress plants. Here we investigate to what extent these factors modulate the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from oak plants. We find an antagonistic effect between drought stress and ozone, impacting the emission of different BVOCs, which is indirectly controlled by stomatal opening, allowing plants to control their water budget.
Lena Wohlgemuth, Stefan Osterwalder, Carl Joseph, Ansgar Kahmen, Günter Hoch, Christine Alewell, and Martin Jiskra
Biogeosciences, 17, 6441–6456, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6441-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6441-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Mercury uptake by trees from the air represents an important but poorly quantified pathway in the global mercury cycle. We determined mercury uptake fluxes by leaves and needles at 10 European forests which were 4 times larger than mercury deposition via rainfall. The amount of mercury taken up by leaves and needles depends on their age and growing height on the tree. Scaling up our measurements to the forest area of Europe, we estimate that each year 20 t of mercury is taken up by trees.
A. Anthony Bloom, Kevin W. Bowman, Junjie Liu, Alexandra G. Konings, John R. Worden, Nicholas C. Parazoo, Victoria Meyer, John T. Reager, Helen M. Worden, Zhe Jiang, Gregory R. Quetin, T. Luke Smallman, Jean-François Exbrayat, Yi Yin, Sassan S. Saatchi, Mathew Williams, and David S. Schimel
Biogeosciences, 17, 6393–6422, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6393-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6393-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We use a model of the 2001–2015 tropical land carbon cycle, with satellite measurements of land and atmospheric carbon, to disentangle lagged and concurrent effects (due to past and concurrent meteorological events, respectively) on annual land–atmosphere carbon exchanges. The variability of lagged effects explains most 2001–2015 inter-annual carbon flux variations. We conclude that concurrent and lagged effects need to be accurately resolved to better predict the world's land carbon sink.
Erqian Cui, Chenyu Bian, Yiqi Luo, Shuli Niu, Yingping Wang, and Jianyang Xia
Biogeosciences, 17, 6237–6246, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6237-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6237-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Mean annual net ecosystem productivity (NEP) is related to the magnitude of the carbon sink of a specific ecosystem, while its inter-annual variation (IAVNEP) characterizes the stability of such a carbon sink. Thus, a better understanding of the co-varying NEP and IAVNEP is critical for locating the major and stable carbon sinks on land. Based on daily NEP observations from eddy-covariance sites, we found local indicators for the spatially varying NEP and IAVNEP, respectively.
Taraka Davies-Barnard, Johannes Meyerholt, Sönke Zaehle, Pierre Friedlingstein, Victor Brovkin, Yuanchao Fan, Rosie A. Fisher, Chris D. Jones, Hanna Lee, Daniele Peano, Benjamin Smith, David Wårlind, and Andy J. Wiltshire
Biogeosciences, 17, 5129–5148, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5129-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5129-2020, 2020
Rui Cheng, Troy S. Magney, Debsunder Dutta, David R. Bowling, Barry A. Logan, Sean P. Burns, Peter D. Blanken, Katja Grossmann, Sophia Lopez, Andrew D. Richardson, Jochen Stutz, and Christian Frankenberg
Biogeosciences, 17, 4523–4544, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4523-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4523-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We measured reflected sunlight from an evergreen canopy for a year to detect changes in pigments that play an important role in regulating the seasonality of photosynthesis. Results show a strong mechanistic link between spectral reflectance features and pigment content, which is validated using a biophysical model. Our results show spectrally where, why, and when spectral features change over the course of the season and show promise for estimating photosynthesis remotely.
Jarmo Mäkelä, Francesco Minunno, Tuula Aalto, Annikki Mäkelä, Tiina Markkanen, and Mikko Peltoniemi
Biogeosciences, 17, 2681–2700, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2681-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2681-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We assess the relative magnitude of uncertainty sources on ecosystem indicators of the 21st century climate change on two boreal forest sites. In addition to RCP and climate model uncertainties, we included the overlooked model parameter uncertainty and management actions in our analysis. Management was the dominant uncertainty factor for the more verdant southern site, followed by RCP, climate and parameter uncertainties. The uncertainties were estimated with canonical correlation analysis.
Guido Kraemer, Gustau Camps-Valls, Markus Reichstein, and Miguel D. Mahecha
Biogeosciences, 17, 2397–2424, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2397-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2397-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
To closely monitor the state of our planet, we require systems that can monitor
the observation of many different properties at the same time. We create
indicators that resemble the behavior of many different simultaneous
observations. We apply the method to create indicators representing the
Earth's biosphere. The indicators show a productivity gradient and a water
gradient. The resulting indicators can detect a large number of changes and
extremes in the Earth system.
Barbara Marcolla, Mirco Migliavacca, Christian Rödenbeck, and Alessandro Cescatti
Biogeosciences, 17, 2365–2379, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2365-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2365-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This work investigates the sensitivity of terrestrial CO2 fluxes to climate drivers. We observed that CO2 flux is mostly controlled by temperature during the growing season and by radiation off season. We also observe that radiation importance is increasing over time while sensitivity to temperature is decreasing in Eurasia. Ultimately this analysis shows that ecosystem response to climate is changing, with potential repercussions for future terrestrial sink and land role in climate mitigation.
Stephanie C. Pennington, Nate G. McDowell, J. Patrick Megonigal, James C. Stegen, and Ben Bond-Lamberty
Biogeosciences, 17, 771–780, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-771-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-771-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soil respiration (Rs) is the flow of CO2 from the soil surface to the atmosphere and is one of the largest carbon fluxes on land. This study examined the effect of local basal area (tree area) on Rs in a coastal forest in eastern Maryland, USA. Rs measurements were taken as well as distance from soil collar, diameter, and species of each tree within a 15 m radius. We found that trees within 5 m of our sampling points had a positive effect on how sensitive soil respiration was to temperature.
Keri L. Bowering, Kate A. Edwards, Karen Prestegaard, Xinbiao Zhu, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 17, 581–595, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-581-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-581-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We examined the effects of season and tree harvesting on the flow of water and the organic carbon (OC) it carries from boreal forest soils. We found that more OC was lost from the harvested forest because more precipitation reached the soil surface but that during periods of flushing in autumn and snowmelt a limit on the amount of water-extractable OC is reached. These results contribute to an increased understanding of carbon loss from boreal forest soils.
Jason Philip Kaye, Susan L. Brantley, Jennifer Zan Williams, and the SSHCZO team
Biogeosciences, 16, 4661–4669, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4661-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4661-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Interdisciplinary teams can only capitalize on innovative ideas if members work well together through collegial and efficient use of field sites, instrumentation, samples, data, and model code. Thus, biogeoscience teams may benefit from developing a set of best practices for collaboration. We present one such example from a the Susquehanna Shale Hills critical zone observatory. Many of the themes from our example are universal, and they offer insights useful to other biogeoscience teams.
Anne Alexandre, Elizabeth Webb, Amaelle Landais, Clément Piel, Sébastien Devidal, Corinne Sonzogni, Martine Couapel, Jean-Charles Mazur, Monique Pierre, Frédéric Prié, Christine Vallet-Coulomb, Clément Outrequin, and Jacques Roy
Biogeosciences, 16, 4613–4625, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4613-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4613-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This calibration study shows that despite isotope heterogeneity along grass leaves, the triple oxygen isotope composition of bulk leaf phytoliths can be estimated from the Craig and Gordon model, a mixing equation and a mean leaf water–phytolith fractionation exponent (lambda) of 0.521. The results strengthen the reliability of the 17O–excess of phytoliths to be used as a proxy of atmospheric relative humidity and open tracks for its use as an imprint of leaf water 17O–excess.
Lina Teckentrup, Sandy P. Harrison, Stijn Hantson, Angelika Heil, Joe R. Melton, Matthew Forrest, Fang Li, Chao Yue, Almut Arneth, Thomas Hickler, Stephen Sitch, and Gitta Lasslop
Biogeosciences, 16, 3883–3910, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3883-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3883-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study compares simulated burned area of seven global vegetation models provided by the Fire Model Intercomparison Project (FireMIP) since 1900. We investigate the influence of five forcing factors: atmospheric CO2, population density, land–use change, lightning and climate.
We find that the anthropogenic factors lead to the largest spread between models. Trends due to climate are mostly not significant but climate strongly influences the inter-annual variability of burned area.
Marcos A. S. Scaranello, Michael Keller, Marcos Longo, Maiza N. dos-Santos, Veronika Leitold, Douglas C. Morton, Ekena R. Pinagé, and Fernando Del Bon Espírito-Santo
Biogeosciences, 16, 3457–3474, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3457-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3457-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The coarse dead wood component of the tropical forest carbon pool is rarely measured. For the first time, we developed models for predicting coarse dead wood in Amazonian forests by using airborne laser scanning data. Our models produced site-based estimates similar to independent field estimates found in the literature. Our study provides an approach for estimating coarse dead wood pools from remotely sensed data and mapping those pools over large scales in intact and degraded forests.
James Brennan, Jose L. Gómez-Dans, Mathias Disney, and Philip Lewis
Biogeosciences, 16, 3147–3164, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3147-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3147-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We estimate the uncertainties associated with three global satellite-derived burned area estimates. The method provides unique uncertainties for the three estimates at the global scale for 2001–2013. We find uncertainties of 4 %–5.5 % in global burned area and uncertainties of 8 %–10 % in the frequently burning regions of Africa and Australia.
Alexander J. Norton, Peter J. Rayner, Ernest N. Koffi, Marko Scholze, Jeremy D. Silver, and Ying-Ping Wang
Biogeosciences, 16, 3069–3093, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3069-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3069-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents an estimate of global terrestrial photosynthesis. We make use of satellite chlorophyll fluorescence measurements, a visible indicator of photosynthesis, to optimize model parameters and estimate photosynthetic carbon uptake. This new framework incorporates nonlinear, process-based understanding of the link between fluorescence and photosynthesis, an advance on past approaches. This will aid in the utility of fluorescence to quantify terrestrial carbon cycle feedbacks.
Cited articles
Abaker, W. E., Berninger, F., Saiz, G., Braojos, V., and Starr, M.: Contribution
of Acacia senegal to biomass and soil carbon in plantations of varying age
in Sudan, Forest Ecol. Manag., 368, 71–80,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2016.03.003, 2016.
Abaker, W. E., Berninger, F., Saiz, G., Pumpanen, J., and Starr, M.: Linkages
between soil carbon, soil fertility and nitrogen fixation in Acacia senegal
plantations of varying age in Sudan, PeerJ, 6, e5232,
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5232, 2018.
Acton, P., Fox, J., Campbell, E., Rowe, H., and Wilkinson, M.:
Carbon isotopes for estimating soil decomposition and physical mixing in
well-drained forest soils, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 118, 1532–1545, 2013.
Amundson, R., Austin, A. T., Schuur, E. A. G., Yoo, K., Matzek, V., Kendall,
C., Uebersax, A., Brenner, D., and Baisden, W. T.: Global patterns of the
isotopic composition of soil and plant nitrogen, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 17,
1031, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GB001903, 2003.
Appelhans, T., Mwangomo, E., Otte, I., Detsch, F., Nauss, T., and Hemp, A.:
Eco-meteorological characteristics of the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro,
Tanzania, Int. J. Climatol., 36, 3245–3258, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4552, 2016.
Aranibar, J. N., Otter, L., Macko, S. A., Feral, C. J., Epstein, H. E.,
Dowty, P. R., Eckardt, F., Shugart, H. H., and Swap, R. J.: Nitrogen cycling
in the soil–plant system along a precipitation gradient in the Kalahari
sands, Glob. Change Biol., 10, 359-373.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2003.00698.x, 2004.
Aranibar, J. N., Anderson, I. C., Epstein, H. E., Feral, C. J. W., Swap, R. J.,
Ramontsho, J., and Macko, S. A.: Nitrogen isotope composition of soils, C3 and
C4
plants along land use gradients in southern Africa, J. Arid Environ., 72,
326–337, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2007.06.007, 2008.
Bai, E., Houlton, B. Z., and Wang, Y. P.: Isotopic identification of nitrogen
hotspots across natural terrestrial ecosystems, Biogeosciences, 9,
3287–3304, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3287-2012, 2012.
Bateman, A. S. and Kelly, S. D.: Fertilizer nitrogen isotope signatures,
Isot. Environ. Heal. S., 43, 237–247, 2007.
Bauters, M., Drake, T. W., Verbeeck, H., Bodé, S.,
Hervé-Fernández, P., Zito, P., Podgorski, D. C., Boyemba, F.,
Makelele, I., Ntaboba, L. C., Spencer, R. G. M., and Boeckx, P.: High
fire-derived nitrogen deposition on central African forests, P. Natl. Acad.
Sci. USA, 115, 549–554, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714597115, 2018.
Becker, J., Pabst, H., Mnyonga, J., and Kuzyakov, Y.: Annual litterfall
dynamics and nutrient deposition depending on elevation and land use at Mt.
Kilimanjaro, Biogeosciences, 12, 5635–5646,
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5635-2015, 2015.
Becker, J. N. and Kuzyakov, Y.: Teatime on Mount Kilimanjaro: Assessing
climate and land-use effects on litter decomposition and stabilization using
the Tea Bag Index, Land Degrad. Dev., 29, 2321–2329, 2018.
Bedard-Haughn, A., van Groenigen, J. W., and van Kessel, C.: Tracing
15N through landscapes: potential uses and precautions, J. Hydrol.,
272, 175–190, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(02)00263-9, 2003.
Benner, R., Fogel, M. L., Sprague, E. K., and Hodson, R. E.: Depletion of
13C in lignin and its implications for stable carbon isotope
studies, Nature, 329, 708–710, https://doi.org/10.1038/329708a0, 1987.
Bird, M. I., Haberle, S. G., and Chivas, A. R.: Effect of altitude on the
carbon-isotope composition of forest and grassland soils from Papua New
Guinea, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 8, 13–22, https://doi.org/10.1029/93GB03487, 1994.
Bird, M. I. and Pousai, P.: Variations of δ13C in the surface
soil organic carbon pool, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 11, 313–322,
https://doi.org/10.1029/97GB01197, 1997.
Bird, M. I., Veenendaal, E. M., and Lloyd, J. J.: Soil carbon inventories and
δ13C along a moisture gradient in Botswana, Glob. Change
Biol., 10, 342–349, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2003.00695.x, 2004.
Blagodatskaya, E., Blagodatsky, S., Khomyakov, N., Myachina, O., and
Kuzyakov, Y.: Temperature sensitivity and enzymatic mechanisms of soil
organic matter decomposition along an altitudinal gradient on Mount
Kilimanjaro, Sci. Rep.-UK, 6, 22240, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22240, 2016.
Booth, M. S., Stark, J. M., and Rastetter, E.: Controls on Nitrogen Cycling
in Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Synthetic Analysis of Literature Data, Ecol.
Monogr., 75, 139–157, https://doi.org/10.1890/04-0988, 2005.
Borken, W. and Matzner, E.: Reappraisal of drying and wetting effects on C
and N mineralization and fluxes in soils, Glob. Change Biol., 15, 808–824,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01681.x, 2009.
Butterbach-Bahl, K. and Dannenmann, M.: Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Interactions
and Biosphere-Atmosphere Exchange of Nitrous Oxide and Methane, in:
Recarbonization of the Biosphere, edited by: Lal, R., Lorenz, K., Hüttl,
R. F., Schneider, B. U., and von Brau, J., Springer, the Netherlands,
429–443, 2012.
Cernusak, L. A., Ubierna, N., Winter, K., Holtum, J. A. M., Marshall, J. D.,
and Farquhar, G. D.: Environmental and physiological determinants of carbon
isotope discrimination in terrestrial plants, New Phytol., 200, 950–965,
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12423, 2013.
Conen, F., Yakutin, M. V., Carle, N., and Alewell, C.: δ15N
natural abundance may directly disclose perturbed soil when related to
C : N ratio, Rapid Commun. Mass Sp., 27, 1101–1104, https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.6552,
2013.
Craine, J. M., Brookshire, E. N. J., Cramer, M. D., Hasselquist, N. J., Koba,
K., Marin-Spiotta, E., and Wang, L.: Ecological interpretations of nitrogen
isotope ratios of terrestrial plants and soils, Plant Soil, 396, 1–26,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2542-1, 2015a.
Craine, J. M., Elmore, A. J., Wang, L., Augusto, L., Baisden, W. T.,
Brookshire, E. N. J., Cramer, M. D., Hasselquist, N. J., Hobbie, E. A.,
Kahmen, A., Koba, K., Kranabetter, J. M., Mack, M. C., Marin-Spiotta, E.,
Mayor, J. R., McLauchlan, K. K., Michelsen, A., Nardoto, G. B., Oliveira, R.
S., Perakis, S. S., Peri, P. L., Quesada, C. A., Richter, A., Schipper, L.
A., Stevenson, B. A., Turner, B. L., Viani, R. A. G., Wanek, W., and Zeller,
B.: Convergence of soil nitrogen isotopes across global climate gradients,
Sci. Rep.-UK, 5, 8280, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08280, 2015b.
Dawson, T. E., Mambelli, S., Plamboeck, A. H., Templer, P. H., and Tu, K. P.:
Stable Isotopes in Plant Ecology, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 33, 507–559,
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.33.020602.095451, 2002.
de Freitas, A. D. S., de Sá Barretto Sampaio, E. V., de Souza Ramos, A.
P., de Vasconcellos Barbosa, M. R., Lyra, R. P., and Araújo, E. L.:
Nitrogen isotopic patterns in tropical forests along a rainfall gradient in
Northeast Brazil, Plant Soil, 391, 109–122, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2417-5,
2015.
Denk, T. R. A., Mohn, J., Decock, C., Lewicka-Szczebak, D., Harris, E.,
Butterbach-Bahl, K., Kiese, R., and Wolf, B.: The nitrogen cycle: A review of
isotope effects and isotope modeling approaches, Soil Biol. Biochem., 105,
121–137, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.11.015, 2017.
Duane, W., Pepin, N., Losleben, M., and Hardy, D.: General Characteristics of
Temperature and Humidity Variability on Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Arct. Antarct.
Alp. Res., 40, 323–334, 2008.
Ensslin, A., Rutten, G., Pommer, U., Zimmermann, R., Hemp, A., and Fischer,
M.: Effects of elevation and land use on the biomass of trees, shrubs and
herbs at Mount Kilimanjaro, Ecosphere, 6, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00492.1,
2015.
Eshetu, Z. and Högberg, P.: Effects of land use on 15N natural
abundance of soils in Ethiopian highlands, Plant Soil, 222, 109–117, 2000.
FAO and JRC: Global forest land-use change 1990–2005, in: FAO Forestry Paper
No. 16, edited by: Lindquist, E. J., D'Annunzio, R., Gerrand, A., MacDicken,
K., Achard, F., Beuchle, R., Brink, A., Eva, H. D., Mayaux, P.,
San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., and Stibig, H.-J., Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations and European Comission Joint Research Centre, Rome, FAO,
2012.
Farquhar, G. D. and Sharkey, T. D.: Stomatal Conductance and Photosynthesis,
Annu. Rev. Plant Phys., 33, 317–345,
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.pp.33.060182.001533, 1982.
Farquhar, G. D., von Caemmerer, S., and Berry, J. A.: A biochemical model of
photosynthetic CO2 assimilation in leaves of C3 species,
Planta, 149, 78–90, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00386231, 1980.
Garten, J. C., Hanson, P., Todd, J. D., Lu, B., and Brice, D.: Natural
15N and 13C abundance as indicators of forest N status
and soil C dynamics, in: Stable Isotopes in Ecology and Environmental
Science, second ed., edited by: Michener, R., Lajtha, K., Blackwell Science,
Oxford, 61–82, 2008.
Garten, C. T., Classen, A. T., and Norby, R. J.: Soil moisture surpasses
elevated CO2 and temperature as a control on soil carbon dynamics in
a multi-factor climate change experiment, Plant Soil, 319, 85–94,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9851-6, 2009.
Gerschlauer, F. and Kiese, R.: SP3_d15N/d13C natural abundance, TN, and SOC,
https://www.kilimanjaro.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/Data/Data.aspx,
last access: 31 August 2016.
Gerschlauer, F., Dannenmann, M., Kühnel, A., Meier, R., Kolar, A.,
Butterbach-Bahl, K., and Kiese, R.: Gross Nitrogen Turnover of Natural and
Managed Tropical Ecosystems at Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Ecosystems, 19,
1–18, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0001-3, 2016.
Gruber, N. and Galloway, J. N.: An Earth-system perspective of the global
nitrogen cycle, Nature, 451, 293–296, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06592, 2008.
Gütlein, A., Zistl-Schlingmann, M., Becker, J. N., Cornejo, N. S.,
Detsch, F., Dannenmann, M., Appelhans, T., Hertel, D., Kuzyakov, Y., and
Kiese, R.: Nitrogen turnover and greenhouse gas emissions in a tropical
alpine ecosystem, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Plant Soil, 411, 243–259,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3029-4, 2017.
Gütlein, A., Gerschlauer, F., Kikoti, I., and Kiese, R.: Impacts of
climate and land use on N2O and CH4 fluxes from tropical
ecosystems in the Mt. Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania, Glob. Change Biol., 24,
1239–1255, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13944, 2018.
Hedin, L. O., Brookshire, E. N. J., Menge, D. N. L., and Barron, A. R.: The
Nitrogen Paradox in Tropical Forest Ecosystems, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. S.,
40, 613–635, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.37.091305.110246, 2009.
Hemp, A.: Climate change-driven forest fires marginalize the impact of ice
cap wasting on Kilimanjaro, Glob. Change Biol., 11, 1013–1023,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2005.00968.x, 2005.
Hickman, J. E., Palm, C. A., Mutuo, P., Melillo, J. M., and Tang, J.: Nitrous
oxide (N2O) emissions in response to increasing fertilizer addition
in maize (Zea mays L.) agriculture in western Kenya, Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosys.,
100, 177–187, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-014-9636-7, 2014.
Högberg, P.: 15N natural abundance in soil-plant systems,
Tansley Review No. 95, New Phytol., 137, 179–203,
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1469-8137.1997.00808.x, 1997.
Houlton, B. Z. and Bai, E.: Imprint of denitrifying bacteria on the global
terrestrial biosphere, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 106, 21713–21716,
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0912111106, 2009.
Kirschbaum, M. U. F.: The temperature dependence of soil organic matter
decomposition, and the effect of global warming on soil organic C storage,
Soil Biol. Biochem., 27, 753–760, https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(94)00242-S, 1995.
Kohn, M. J.: Carbon isotope compositions of terrestrial C3 plants as
indicators of (paleo)ecology and (paleo)climate, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,
107, 19691–19695, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1004933107, 2010.
Körner, C., Farquhar, G. D., and Wong, S. C.: Carbon Isotope
Discrimination by Plants Follows Latitudinal and Altitudinal Trends,
Oecologia, 88, 30–40, 1991.
Leirós, M. C., Trasar-Cepeda, C., Seoane, S., and Gil-Sotres, F.:
Dependence of mineralization of soil organic matter on temperature and
moisture, Soil Biol. Biochem., 31, 327–335,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(98)00129-1, 1999.
Lewis, S. L., Lloyd, J., Sitch, S., Mitchard, E. T. A., and Laurance, W. F.:
Changing Ecology of Tropical Forests: Evidence and Drivers, Annu. Rev. Ecol.
Evol. S., 40, 529–549, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.39.110707.173345, 2009.
Ma, J.-Y., Sun, W., Liu, X.-N., and Chen, F.-H.: Variation in the Stable
Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Composition of Plants and Soil along a
Precipitation Gradient in Northern China, PLOS ONE, 7, e51894,
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051894, 2012.
Majule, A. E.: Impacts of Land Use/Land Cover Changes on Soil Degradation and
Biodiversity on the Slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, LUCID Project,
International Livestock Research Institute, 2003.
Mariotti, A., Germon, J. C., Hubert, P., Kaiser, P., Letolle, R., Tardieux,
A., and Tardieux, P.: Experimental determination of nitrogen kinetic isotope
fractionation: some principles; illustration for the denitrification and
nitrification processes, Plant Soil, 62, 413–430, 1981.
Martinelli, L. A., Piccolo, M. C., Townsend, A. R., Vitousek, P. M., Cuevas,
E., McDowell, W., Robertson, G. P., Santos, O. C., and Treseder, K.: Nitrogen
stable isotopic composition of leaves and soil: Tropical versus temperate
forests, Biogeochemistry, 46, 45–65, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01007573, 1999.
Mganga, K. Z. and Kuzyakov, Y.: Glucose decomposition and its incorporation
into soil microbial biomass depending on land use in Mt. Kilimanjaro
ecosystems, Eur. J. Soil Biol., 62, 74–82, 2014.
Michener, R. H. and Lajtha, K. (Eds.): Stable isotopes in ecology and
environmental science, 2nd ed., Ecological methods and concepts series,
Blackwell Pub, Malden, MA, 2007.
Nardoto, G. B., Quesada, C. A., Patiño, S., Saiz, G., Baker, T. R.,
Schwarz, M., Schrodt, F., Feldpausch, T. R., Domingues, T. F., Marimon, B.
S., Junior, B.-H. M., Vieira, I. C. G., Silveira, M., Bird, M. I., Phillips,
O. L., Lloyd, J., and Martinelli, L. A.: Basin-wide variations in Amazon
forest nitrogen-cycling characteristics as inferred from plant and soil
15N :14N measurements, Plant Ecol. Divers., 7, 173–187,
https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2013.807524, 2014.
Ometto, J. P. H. B., Ehleringer, J. R., Domingues, T. F., Berry, J. A.,
Ishida, F. Y., Mazzi, E., Higuchi, N., Flanagan, L. B., Nardoto, G. B., and
Martinelli, L. A.: The stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of
vegetation in tropical forests of the Amazon Basin, Brazil, Biogeochemistry,
79, 251–274, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-006-9008-8, 2006.
Ortiz, C., Vázquez, E., Rubio, A., Benito, M., Schindlbacher, A., Jandl,
R., Butterbach-Bahl, K., and Díaz-Pinés, E.: Soil organic matter
dynamics after afforestation of mountain grasslands in both a Mediterranean
and a temperate climate, Biogeochemistry, 131, 267–280,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0278-5, 2016.
Pan, Y., Birdsey, R. A., Fang, J., Houghton, R., Kauppi, P. E., Kurz, W. A.,
Phillips, O. L., Shvidenko, A., Lewis, S. L., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P.,
Jackson, R. B., Pacala, S. W., McGuire, A. D., Piao, S., Rautiainen, A.,
Sitch, S., and Hayes, D.: A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World's
Forests, Science, 333, 988–993, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1201609, 2011.
Panettieri, M., Rumpel, C., Dignac, M. F., and Chabbi, A.: Does grassland
introduction into cropping cycles affect carbon dynamics through changes of
allocation of soil organic matter within aggregate fractions?, Sci. Total
Environ., 576, 251–263, 2017.
Pardo, L. H. and Nadelhoffer, K. J.: Using Nitrogen Isotope Ratios to Assess
Terrestrial Ecosystems at Regional and Global Scales, in: Isoscapes, edited
by: West, J. B., Bowen, G. J., Dawson, T. E., and Tu, K. P., Springer, the
Netherlands, Dordrecht, 221–249, 2010.
Peterson, B. J. and Fry, B.: Stable Isotopes in Ecosystem Studies, Annu. Rev.
Ecol. Syst., 18, 293–320, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.18.110187.001453, 1987.
Piccolo, M. C., Neill, C., Melillo, J. M., Cerri, C. C., and Steudler, P. A.:
15N natural abundance in forest and pasture soils of the Brazilian
Amazon Basin, Plant Soil, 182, 249–258, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00029056, 1996.
R Core Team: R: A language and environment for statistical computing, R
Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, 2015.
Robinson, D.: δ15N as an integrator of the nitrogen cycle,
Trends Ecol. Evol., 16, 153–162, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(00)02098-X, 2001.
Saiz, G. and Albrecht, A.: Methods for smallholder quantification of soil
carbon stocks and stock changes, in: Measurement methods Standard
Assessment Of Agricultural Mitigation Potential And Livelihoods (SAMPLES),
edited by: Rosenstock, T. S., Rufino, M. C., Butterbach-Bahl, K., Wollenberg,
E., and Richards, M., ISBN 978-3-319-29792-7, CGIAR Research Program on
Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, 135–162, 2016.
Saiz, G., Bird, M., Domingues, T., Schrodt, F., Schwarz, M., Feldpausch, T.,
Veenendaal, E., Djagbletey, G., Hien, F., Compaore, H., Diallo, A., and
Lloyd, J.: Variation in soil carbon stocks and their determinants across a
precipitation gradient in West Africa, Glob. Change Biol., 18, 1670–1683,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02657.x, 2012.
Saiz, G., Bird, M., Wurster, C., Quesada, C. A., Ascough, P., Domingues, T.,
Schrodt, F., Schwarz, M., Feldpausch, T. R., Veenendaal, E., Djagbletey, G.,
Jacobsen, G., Hien, F., Compaore, H., Diallo, A., and Lloyd, J.: The
influence of C3 and C4 vegetation on soil organic matter dynamics
in contrasting semi-natural tropical ecosystems, Biogeosciences, 12,
5041–5059, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, 2015a.
Saiz, G., Wynn, J. G., Wurster, C. M., Goodrick, I., Nelson, P. N., and Bird,
M. I.: Pyrogenic carbon from tropical savanna burning: production and stable
isotope composition, Biogeosciences, 12, 1849–1863,
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1849-2015, 2015b.
Saiz, G., Wandera, F. M., Pelster, D. E., Ngetich, W., Okalebo, J. R.,
Rufino, M. C., and Butterbach-Bahl, K.: Long-term assessment of soil and
water conservation measures (Fanya-juu terraces) on soil organic matter in
South Eastern Kenya, Geoderma, 274, 1–9, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.03.022,
2016.
Saiz, G., Goodrick, I., Wurster, C., Nelson, P. N., Wynn, J., and Bird, M.:
Preferential Production and Transport of Grass-Derived Pyrogenic Carbon in
NE-Australian Savanna Ecosystems, Front. Earth Sci., 5, 115,
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00115, 2018.
Schellenberger Costa, D., Gerschlauer, F., Pabst, H., Kühnel, A., Huwe,
B., Kiese, R., Kuzyakov, Y., Kleyer, M., and Kühn, I.: Community-weighted
means and functional dispersion of plant functional traits along
environmental gradients on Mount Kilimanjaro, J. Veg. Sci., 28, 684–695,
https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12542, 2017.
Smith, P., Clark, H., Dong, H., Elsiddig, E.A., Haberl, H., Harper, R.,
House, J., Jafari, M., Masera, O., Mbow, C., Ravindranath, N. H., Rice, C.
W., Roble do Abad, C., Romanovskaya, A., Sperling, F., and Tubiello, F.:
Chapter 11 – Agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU), in: Climate
Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, IPCC Working Group III
Contribution to AR5, Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Soini, E.: Land use change patterns and livelihood dynamics on the slopes of
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Agric. Syst., 85, 306–323,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2005.06.013, 2005.
Sotta, E. D., Corre, M. D., and Veldkamp, E.: Differing N status and N
retention processes of soils under old-growth lowland forest in Eastern
Amazonia, Caxiuanã, Brazil, Soil Biol. Biochem., 40, 740–750,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2007.10.009, 2008.
Stevenson, B. A., Parfitt, R. L., Schipper, L. A., Baisden, W. T., and Mudge,
P.: Relationship between soil δ15N, C∕N and N
losses across land uses in New Zealand, Agr. Ecosyst. Environ., 139,
736–741, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2010.10.020, 2010.
Swap, R. J., Aranibar, J. N., Dowty, P. R., Gilhooly, W. P., and Macko, S.
A.: Natural abundance of 13C and 15N in C3 and
C4 vegetation of southern Africa: patterns and implications, Glob.
Change Biol., 10, 350–358, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2003.00702.x, 2004.
Tieszen, L. L., Senyimba, M. M., Imbamba, S. K., and Troughton, J. H.: The
distribution of C3 and C4 grasses and carbon isotope discrimination
along an altitudinal and moisture gradient in Kenya, Oecologia, 37, 337–350,
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347910, 1979.
Townsend, A. R., Cleveland, C. C., Houlton, B. Z., Alden, C. B., and White,
J. W.: Multi-element regulation of the tropical forest carbon cycle, Front.
Ecol. Environ., 9, 9–17, https://doi.org/10.1890/100047, 2011.
Traoré, S., Ouattara, K., Ilstedt, U., Schmidt, M., Thiombiano, A.,
Malmer, A., and Nyberg, G.: Effect of land degradation on carbon and nitrogen
pools in two soil types of a semi-arid landscape in West Africa, Geoderma,
241–242, 330–338, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2014.11.027, 2015.
van der Merwe, N. J. and Medina, E.: Photosynthesis and 13C12C
ratios in Amazonian rain forests, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 53, 1091–1094,
https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(89)90213-5, 1989.
van Reeuwijk, L. (Ed.): Procedures for Soil Analysis 9, Technical Paper,
International Soil Reference and Information Centre, Wageningen, 2002.
Vitousek, P. M.: Litterfall, Nutrient Cycling, and Nutrient Limitation in
Tropical Forests, Ecology, 65, 285–298, https://doi.org/10.2307/1939481, 1984.
Wang, C., Houlton, B. Z., Liu, D., Hou, J., Cheng, W., and Bai, E.: Stable
isotopic constraints on global soil organic carbon turnover, Biogeosciences,
15, 987–995, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-987-2018, 2018.
Wang, L., D'Odorico, P., Ries, L., and Macko, S. A.: Patterns and
implications of plant-soil δ13C and δ15N values
in African savanna ecosystems, Quaternary Res., 73, 77–83,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2008.11.004, 2010.
Wynn, J. G. and Bird, M. I.: C4-derived soil organic carbon decomposes
faster than its C3 counterpart in mixed C3∕C4 soils, Glob.
Change Biol., 13, 2206–2217, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01435.x, 2007.
Zaehle, S.: Terrestrial nitrogen–carbon cycle interactions at the global
scale, Philos. T. R. Soc. B, 368, 20130125, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0125, 2013.
Zech, M., Bimüller, C., Hemp, A., Samimi, C., Broesike, C., Hörold,
C., and Zech, W.: Human and climate impact on 15N natural abundance
of plants and soils in high-mountain ecosystems: a short review and two
examples from the Eastern Pamirs and Mt. Kilimanjaro, Isotopes Environ.
Health Stud., 47, 286–296, https://doi.org/10.1080/10256016.2011.596277, 2011.
Zhou, Y., Fan, J., Zhang, W., Harris, W., Zhong, H., Hu, Z., and Song, L.:
Factors influencing altitudinal patterns of C3 plant foliar carbon
isotope composition of grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China, Alpine
Bot., 121, 79, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00035-011-0093-5, 2011.
Zhu, Y., Jiang, Y., Liu, Q., Kang, M., Spehn, E. M., and Körner, C.:
Elevational Trends of Biodiversity and Plant Traits Do Not Converge – A Test
in the Helan Range, NW China, Plant Ecol., 205, 273–283, 2009.
Short summary
Mount Kilimanjaro is an iconic environmental asset under serious threat due to increasing human pressures and climate change constraints. We studied variations in the stable isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen in plant, litter, and soil material sampled along a strong land-use and altitudinal gradient. Our results show that, besides management, increasing temperatures in a changing climate may promote carbon and nitrogen losses, thus altering the stability of Kilimanjaro ecosystems.
Mount Kilimanjaro is an iconic environmental asset under serious threat due to increasing human...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint