The CloudRoots field experiment has obtained an open comprehensive observational data set that includes soil, plant, and atmospheric variables to investigate the interactions between a heterogeneous land surface and its overlying atmospheric boundary layer, including the rapid perturbations of clouds in evapotranspiration. Our findings demonstrate that in order to understand and represent diurnal variability, we need to measure and model processes from the leaf to the landscape scales.

Experimental warming increased soil respiration (R_S) by more than 25 % in a Tasmanian C-rich soil, but there was no impact on microbial respiration in laboratory experiments. Plant community composition had no effect on R_S, suggesting the response is likely due to enhanced belowground plant respiration and C supply through rhizodeposition and root exudates. Results imply we need studies of both C inputs and losses to model net ecosystem C exchange of these crucial, C-dense systems effectively.

This study investigates carbon fluxes at Illisarvik, an artificial drained thermokarst lake basin (DTLB) in Canada's Northwest Territories. This is the first carbon balance study in a DTLB outside of Alaska. We used neural networks to identify the factors controlling fluxes and to model the effects of the controlling factors. We discuss the role of vegetation heterogeneity in fluxes, especially of methane, and we show how the carbon fluxes differ from Alaskan DTLBs.

We investigated the link between the vegetation leaf area index (LAI) and the land–atmosphere exchange of water, energy, and carbon fluxes. We show that the correlation between the LAI and water and energy fluxes depends on the vegetation type and aridity. For carbon fluxes, however, the correlation with the LAI was strong and independent of vegetation and aridity. This study provides insight into when the vegetation LAI can be used to model or extrapolate land–atmosphere fluxes.

Oxygen fluxes are a valued proxy for organic carbon production and mineralization at the seafloor. These fluxes can be measured non-invasively with the aquatic eddy covariance instrument, but the fast, fragile oxygen sensor it uses often causes questionable flux data. We developed a dual-O₂-optode instrument and data evaluation method that allow improved flux measurements. Deployments over carbonate sands in the shallow shelf demonstrate that the instrument can produce reliable oxygen flux data.

This paper reports the first estimate of the status of bacteria in long-distance-transported Asian dust, demonstrating that airborne dust, which can carry viable and nonviable bacteria on particle surfaces, is an efficient medium for constantly spreading bacteria at regional and even global scales. Such data are essential to better model and understand the roles and activities of bioaerosols in environmental evolution and climate change and the potential risks of bioaerosols to human health.

This research reports the applicability of four organic temperature proxies (U₃₇^K', LDI, TEX₈₆^H, and RI-OH) to the northern South China Sea shelf. The comparison with local sea surface temperature (SST) indicates the impact of terrestrial input on LDI, TEX₈₆^H, and RI-OH proxies near the coast. After excluding samples influenced by terrestrial materials, proxy temperatures exhibit different seasonality, providing valuable tools to reconstruct regional SSTs under different monsoonal conditions.