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Scaling net ecosystem CO 2 exchange from the community to landscape‐level at a subarctic fen
Author(s) -
Griffis Timothy J.,
Rouse Wayne R.,
Waddington J. M.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2486.2000.00330.x
Subject(s) - subarctic climate , environmental science , wetland , ecosystem , vegetation (pathology) , growing season , ecosystem respiration , primary production , plant community , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , atmospheric sciences , ecological succession , biology , geology , medicine , geotechnical engineering , pathology
Summary Landscape‐ and community‐level CO 2 measurements were made at a subarctic sedge fen near Churchill Manitoba during the 1997 growing season. Climatic conditions were warmer and drier than the 30‐y normal. Landscape‐scale micrometeorological measurements indicated that the wetland gained 49 g CO 2 m −2 during the growing season. Chamber‐scale measurements from the main vegetation community types showed that small hummocks ( Carex spp. sites) dominated the CO 2 exchange, yielding an effective scaling factor of 70%. Scaled parameters of two algorithms describing photosynthesis and respiration for each community type show strong similarity to those derived at the landscape level. Scaling photosynthesis, respiration, and net ecosystem CO 2 exchange from the community to landscape‐level over the season is within the maximum probable error of each methodological approach and helps substantiate the 1997 CO 2 budget. We explore the equilibrium response of net ecosystem CO 2 exchange of this fen to climatic change by examining the feedback of water table position on vegetation distribution and nitrogen availability. Based on the effective scaling factors computed for each community type, we hypothesize that a small decrease in mean water table position could nearly triple the net uptake of CO 2 at this wetland.