Valérie Le Dantec

Nitrogen controls plant canopy light‐use efficiency in temperate and boreal ecosystems

Optimum daily light-use efficiency (LUE) and normalized canopy photosynthesis (GEE*) rate, a proxy for LUE, have been derived from eddy covariance CO2 flux measurements obtained at a range of sites located in the mid to high latitudes. These two variables were analyzed with respect to environmental conditions, plant functional types (PFT) and leaf nitrogen concentration, in an attempt to characterize their variability and their potential drivers. LUE averaged 0.0182 mol/mol with a coefficient of variation of 37% (42% for GEE*). Foliar nitrogen N of the dominant plant species was found to explain 71% of LUE (n = 26) and 62% of GEE* (n = 44) variance, across all PFTs and sites. Mean Annual Temperature, MAT, explained 27% of LUE variance, and the two factors (MAT and N) combined in a simple linear model explain 80% of LUE and 76% GEE* variance. These results showed that plant canopies in the temperate, boreal and arctic zones fit into a general scheme closely related to the one, which had been established for plant leaves worldwide. The N-MAT- LUE relationships offer perspectives for LUE-based models of terrestrial photosynthesis based on remote sensing. On a continental scale, the decrease of LUE from the temperate to the arctic zone found in the data derived from flux measurements is not in line with LUE resulting from inversion of atmospheric CO2. (Less)

Root exclusion through trenching does not affect the isotopic composition of soil CO2 efflux

Disentangling the autotrophic and heterotrophic components of soil CO2 efflux is critical to understanding the role of soil system in terrestrial carbon (C) cycling. In this study, we combined a stable C-isotope natural abundance approach with the trenched plot method to determine if root exclusion significantly affected the isotopic composition (δ13C) of soil CO2 efflux (RS). This study was performed in different forest ecosystems: a tropical rainforest and two temperate broadleaved forests, where trenched plots had previously been installed. At each site, RS and its δ13C (δ13CRs) tended to be lower in trenched plots than in control plots. Contrary to RS, δ13CRs differences were not significant. This observation is consistent with the small differences in δ13C measured on organic matter from root, litter and soil. The lack of an effect on δ13CRs by root exclusion could be from the small difference in δ13C between autotrophic and heterotrophic soil respirations, but further investigations are needed because of potential artefacts associated with the root exclusion technique.

Is the WBE model appropriate for semi-arid shrubs subjected to clear cutting?

It is crucial to understand the adaptive mechanisms of woody plants facing periodic drought to assess their vulnerability to the increasing climate variability predicted in the Sahel. Guiera senegalensis J.F.Gmel is a semi-evergreen Combretaceae commonly found in Sahelian rangelands, fallows and crop fields because of its value as an agroforestry species. We compared canopy leafing, and allometric measurements of leaf area, stem area and stem length and their relationships with leaf water potential, stomatal conductance (gs) and soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance (KS-L), in mature and current-year resprouts of G. senegalensis in Sahelian Niger. In mature shrubs, seasonal drought reduced the ratio of leaf area to cross-sectional stem area (AL : AS), mainly due to leaf shedding. The canopy of the current-year resprouts remained permanently leafed as the shrubs produced leaves and stems continuously, and their AL : AS ratio increased throughout the dry season. Their KS-L increased, whereas gs decreased. West, Brown and Enquists (WBE) model can thus describe allometric trends in the seasonal life cycle of undisturbed mature shrubs, but not that of resprouts. Annual clear cutting drives allometric scaling relationships away from theoretical WBE predictions in the current-year resprouts, with scaling exponents 2.5 times greater than those of mature shrubs. High KS-L (twice that of mature shrubs) supports this intensive regeneration process. The adaptive strategy described here is probably common to many woody species that have to cope with both severe seasonal drought and regular disturbance over the long term.