Jutta Holst

Temporal dynamics of the carbon isotope composition in a Pinus sylvestris stand: from newly assimilated organic carbon to respired carbon dioxide

The 13C isotopic signature (C stable isotope ratio; δ13C) of CO2 respired from forest ecosystems and their particular compartments are known to be influenced by temporal changes in environmental conditions affecting C isotope fractionation during photosynthesis. Whereas most studies have assessed temporal variation in δ13C of ecosystem-respired CO2 on a day-to-day scale, not much information is available on its diel dynamics. We investigated environmental and physiological controls over potential temporal changes in δ13C of respired CO2 by following the short-term dynamics of the 13C signature from newly assimilated organic matter pools in the needles, via phloem-transported organic matter in twigs and trunks, to trunk-, soil- and ecosystem-respired CO2. We found a strong 24-h periodicity in δ13C of organic matter in leaf and twig phloem sap, which was strongly dampened as carbohydrates were transported down the trunk. Periodicity reappeared in the δ13C of trunk-respired CO2, which seemed to originate from apparent respiratory fractionation rather than from changes in δ13C of the organic substrate. The diel patterns of δ13C in soil-respired CO2 are partly explained by soil temperature and moisture and are probably due to changes in the relative contribution of heterotrophic and autotrophic CO2 fluxes to total soil efflux in response to environmental conditions. Our study shows that direct relations between δ13C of recent assimilates and respired CO2 may not be present on a diel time scale, and other factors lead to short-term variations in δ13C of ecosystem-emitted CO2. On the one hand, these variations complicate ecosystem CO2 flux partitioning, but on the other hand they provide new insights into metabolic processes underlying respiratory CO2 emission.

The long way down—are carbon and oxygen isotope signals in the tree ring uncoupled from canopy physiological processes?

The carbon (δ(13)C) and oxygen (δ(18)O) stable isotope composition is widely used to obtain information on the linkages between environmental drivers and tree physiology over various time scales. The tree-ring archive can especially be exploited to reconstruct inter- and intra-annual variation of both climate and physiology. There is, however, a lack of information on the processes potentially affecting δ(13)C and δ(18)O on their way from assimilation in the leaf to the tree ring. As a consequence, the aim of this study was to trace the isotope signals in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) from leaf water (δ(18)O) and leaf assimilates (δ(13)C and δ(18)O) to tree-ring wood via phloem-transported compounds over a whole growing season. Phloem and leaf samples for δ(13)C and δ(18)O analyses as well as soil water, xylem water, leaf water and atmospheric water vapour samples for δ(18)O analysis were taken approximately every 2 weeks during the growing season of 2007. The δ(13)C and δ(18)O samples from the tree rings were dated intra-annually by monitoring the tree growth with dendrometers. δ(18)O in the phloem organic matter and tree-ring whole wood was not positively related to leaf water evaporative enrichment and δ(18)O of canopy organic matter pools. This finding implies a partial uncoupling of the tree-ring oxygen isotopic signal from canopy physiology. At the same time, internal carbon storage and remobilization physiology most likely prevented δ(13)C in tree-ring whole wood from being closely related to intra-annual variation in environmental drivers. Taking into account the post-photosynthetic isotope fractionation processes resulting in alterations of δ(13)C and δ(18)O not only in the tree ring but also in phloem carbohydrates, as well as the intra-annual timing of changes in the tree internal physiology, might help to better understand the meaning of the tree-ring isotope signal not only intra- but also inter-annually.

Girdling affects ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) diversity and reveals functional differences in EMF community composition in a beech forest.

ABSTRACT The relationships between plant carbon resources, soil carbon and nitrogen content, and ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) diversity in a monospecific, old-growth beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest were investigated by manipulating carbon flux by girdling. We hypothesized that disruption of the carbon supply would not affect diversity and EMF species numbers if EM fungi can be supplied by plant internal carbohydrate resources or would result in selective disappearance of EMF taxa because of differences in carbon demand of different fungi. Tree carbohydrate status, root demography, EMF colonization, and EMF taxon abundance were measured repeatedly during 1 year after girdling. Girdling did not affect root colonization but decreased EMF species richness of an estimated 79 to 90 taxa to about 40 taxa. Cenococcum geophilum, Lactarius blennius, and Tomentella lapida were dominant, colonizing about 70% of the root tips, and remained unaffected by girdling. Mainly cryptic EMF species disappeared. Therefore, the Shannon-Wiener index (H′) decreased but evenness was unaffected. H′ was positively correlated with glucose, fructose, and starch concentrations of fine roots and also with the ratio of dissolved organic carbon to dissolved organic nitrogen (DOC/DON), suggesting that both H′ and DOC/DON were governed by changes in belowground carbon allocation. Our results suggest that beech maintains numerous rare EMF species by recent photosynthate. These EM fungi may constitute biological insurance for adaptation to changing environmental conditions. The preservation of taxa previously not known to colonize beech may, thus, form an important reservoir for future forest development.

Modification of Human-Biometeorologically Significant Radiant Flux Densities by Shading as Local Method to Mitigate Heat Stress in Summer within Urban Street Canyons

Increasing heat will be a significant problem for Central European cities in the future. Shading devices are discussed as a method to mitigate heat stress on citizens. To analyze the physical processes, which are characteristic of shading in terms of urban human-biometeorology, experimental investigations on the thermal effects of shading by a building and shading by tree canopies were conducted in Freiburg (Southwest Germany) during typical Central European summer weather. Urban human-biometeorology stands for the variables air temperature , mean radiant temperature , and physiologically equivalent temperature PET, that is the human-biometeorological concept to assess the thermal environment which was applied. The measuring setup consists of specific human-biometeorological stations, which enable the direct or indirect determination of , , and PET. With respect to both shading devices, the reduction did not exceed 2°C, while PET as a measure for human heat stress was lowered by two thermal sensation steps according to the ASHRAE scale. As has the role of a key variable for outdoor thermal comfort during Central European summer weather, all radiant flux densities relevant to the determination of were directly measured and analyzed in detail. The results show the crucial significance of the horizontal radiant flux densities for and consequently PET.

Impacts of street design parameters on human-biometeorological variables

Abstract in Undetermined This study deals with a current problem of urban human-biometeorology on the micro-scale, which becomes more important due to the future increase of severe summer heat in Central Europe. The impact of street design parameters on the thermal comfort of citizens is analysed in an experimental way for typical summer conditions in Central Europe. The investigation is focused on the behaviour of mean radiant temperature Tmrt and physiologically equivalent temperature PET as the most important human-biometeorological variables for thermal comfort during these atmospheric conditions. To get quantitative results on how they depend on small-scale characteristics of urban street canyons, an investigation design is applied which is based on measurements of relevant meteorological variables - like air temperature Ta - by specific humanbiometeorological measuring systems. They were conducted in selected street canyons within different urban quarters of Freiburg, the warmest city in Germany, from 2007-2009. Tmrt and PET were calculated from the measured meteorological variables by well-tested approaches. The geometry of urban street canyons is characterised by (i) the sky view factor SVF determined from fish-eye photos, (ii) the ratio of building height H to street width W, (iii) the orientation to the sun, and (iv) the fraction of ctc (coverage by the street tree canopy). To eliminate the influence of slightly different weather conditions even on typical summer days, the results are not presented in form of absolute values for the human-biometeorological variables, but in form of ratios for the measured radiative flux densities and in form of differences for the measured and calculated temperatures. As the results for Tmrt and PET should primarily quantify universal patterns of the impact of street design parameters on human thermal comfort, they are only presented as mean values for the period 10-16 CET. The main results obtained from different analyses are: (i) SVF for the southern half of the upper hemisphere (SVF90-270) is more suitable to characterise the sites with respect to the thermal perception of citizens than SVF for the whole upper hemisphere (SVF1-360), (ii) in contrast to wide E-W oriented street canyons, narrow E-W oriented street canyons have larger spatial differences in Ta, Tmrt and PET, (iii) with respect to the orientation, these differences are larger in E-W than in N-S oriented street canyons, and (iv) an increase of ctc by 10 % leads to a decrease of Ta by only 0.2 °C, but to a reduction of Tmrt by 3.6 °C and of PET by 1.4 °C. (Less)

Variability of PM10 concentrations dependent on meteorological conditions

The influence of atmospheric exchange conditions on near-surface PM 10 concentrations is analysed for four cities in the South-West of Germany in the period from 2001 to 2005. For each city, the PM 10 data originates from roadside stations and Urban Background (UB) stations, that is, two types of official urban air quality monitoring stations characterised by different emission situations. The atmospheric exchange conditions are represented by solar radiation, air temperature, wind speed, mixing-layer height, precipitation and backward-trajectories. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that

Effect of meteorological exchange conditions on PM10 concentration

The short-term limit value for PM10 having become effective in January 2005 was exceeded in many regions within the EU in 2005 and 2006. Therefore, strategies, particularly with respect to traffic control, are discussed, which could cause reduced PM10 concentrations leading to a more effective compliance with the short-term PM10 limit value. These strategies are often justified on PM10 differences between a roadside and an adjacent urban background station. As PM10 is a complex mixture of species originating from different sources, the working hypothesis has been posted that the meteorological exchange conditions strongly affect the PM10 concentration. Therefore, the role of the meteorological exchange conditions with respect to different PM10 patterns, like cycles and PM10 episodes, was investigated on the basis of mean daily PM10 values from air pollution monitoring stations in Baden-Wurttemberg (SW Germany) in the period January 2001 to February 2006. To characterise the meteorological exchange conditions in a spatial resolution, different meteorological variables were used. Partly, they are directly measured at the air pollution monitoring stations or, as for the height of the mixing-layer (MLH) and the stagnation index (SI), they were derived from results of the local model (LM) of the German Weather Service. For periods without precipitation, the results show a statistically significant relationship between PM10 and MLH as well as SI. PM10 increased with decreasing MLH and increasing SI. During periods with precipitation, these relationships were very weak and had no statistical significance. The analysis of the influence of precipitation performed on a daily basis revealed a distinct reduction of PM10 on the first day with precipitation after a period without precipitation. On following days without precipitation, PM10 increased again. Characteristic of the PM10 episodes analysed were remarkably reduced meteorological exchange conditions described by MLH, near-surface wind speed and precipitation. As a case study, two extreme PM10 episodes in January/February 2006 were investigated in detail. As expected, the station-specific variability of the mean daily PM10 values correlated well with daily values of MLH and SI reflecting the pattern of the regional meteorological exchange conditions. Altogether, all results of this investigation point out the main significance of the meteorological exchange conditions on the PM10 level, which is particularly dominant during PM10 episodes. (Less)

Stomatal conductance and intrinsic water use efficiency in the drought year 2003: a case study of European beech

Key messageBeech trees were able to cope with the drought of 2003. Harmful water shortage has been avoided by an effective stomatal closure while use of carbon storage pools may have prevented carbon starvation and growth reduction.AbstractWe applied hydrodynamic modeling together with a tree ring stable isotope approach to identify the physiological responses of beech trees to changing environmental conditions. The drought conditions of the extreme hot and dry summer in 2003 were hypothesized to significantly influence the radial growth of European beech mainly triggered by the stomatal response towards water scarcity leading, in turn, to a decline in carbon assimilation. The functional–structural single tree modeling approach applied, revealed in fact a strong limitation of water use and carbon gain during drought. However, tree ring width data did not show a clear drought response and no differentiation in radial growth during six subsequent years examined (2002–2007) has been observed. Using integrated results from mechanistic carbon–water balance simulations, tree ring carbon and oxygen isotope analysis and tree ring width measurements we postulate that the suggested drought-induced growth decline has been prevented by the remobilization of stored carbohydrates, an early onset in growth and the relatively late occurrence of the severe drought in 2003. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the stomatal response played a significant role in avoiding harmful water tension that would have caused xylem dysfunction. As a result of the combined investigation with physiological measurements (stable isotope approach) and hydrodynamic modeling of stomatal aperture, we could give insights into the physiological control of mature beech tree functioning under drought. We conclude that beech trees have been operating at their hydraulic limits and that the longer or repeated drought periods would have affected the growth considerably.