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Abstract: Understanding the dynamics of leaf area index (LAI) at ecosystem scale is critical for evaluating and modeling the response of vegetation to environmental variability and change. We present an approach for quantifying daily ecosystem LAI that integrates automatic acquisition of a small number of reference photos, viewed towards the zenith, and a larger number of photos covering a spatially extensive area that were manually acquired during periodic field trips. We present an image archive spanning three years for an oak-savanna ecosystem in California to identify the timing of phenological and disturbance events, and to quantify the seasonal to interannual variability of tree LAI at ecosystem scale. The digital camera-derived LAI, corrected for clumping effects, agreed well (r2 =0.94, root mean square error=0.05) with independent estimates of LAI from litterfall traps and the LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer. Using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LAI product, which combined grass and tree LAI, we obtained realistic seasonal patterns of ecosystem LAI that corresponded with tree LAI from the digital cameras for the period when grass was dead. The digital camera method is an easy and inexpensive way to monitor LAI at ecosystem scale. This method can be used for testing and improving phenology models, evaluating remote-sensing-derived LAI products, and quantifying forest structures in rapidly changing environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Savannas are spatially heterogeneous, open ecosystems, thus efforts to quantify canopy structure with methods developed for homogeneous, closed canopies are prone to failure. We examine the applicability of two direct (litterfall, allometry) and five indirect (LAI-2000, TRAC, digital hemispheric photography, digital cover photography, traversing radiometer system) methods to determine leaf area index across a 9ha domain in an oak-savanna ecosystem in California, USA. Interpretation of the leaf area index measurements is supported by two gap-fraction models. We recommend that leaf inclination angle distribution should be characterized first. For this purpose, we propose a simple, reliable and reproducible method using a digital camera. We show that the combination of digital cover photography and LAI-2000 could provide spatially representative leaf area index, gap fraction and element clumping index. Based on these two indirect methods, we quantify spatially representative element clumping index and leaf area index at ecosystem scale as 0.49±0.10 (mean±95% confidence interval) and 0.77±0.27, respectively. In contrast to previous studies in northern ecosystems, measurement and modeling results suggest that element clumping index decreases with view zenith angle, most likely due to apparent changes of tree distribution pattern with the view zenith angle. Our results highlight the importance of ecosystem-scale clumping effects for the adequate quantification of tree leaf area index in savannas. Finally, we suggest a protocol to quantify leaf area index and its associated canopy structure variables in open canopy ecosystems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Forest ecosystems can act as sinks of carbon and thus mitigate anthropogenic carbon emissions. When forests are actively managed, treatments can alter forests carbon dynamics, reducing their sink strength and switching them from sinks to sources of carbon. These effects are generally characterized by fast temporal dynamics. Hence this study monitored for over a decade the impacts of management practices commonly used to reduce fire hazards on the carbon dynamics of mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA. Soil CO2 efflux, carbon pools (i.e. soil carbon, litter, fine roots, tree biomass), and radial tree growth were compared among un-manipulated controls, prescribed fire, thinning, thinning followed by fire, and two clear-cut harvested sites. Soil CO2 efflux was reduced by both fire and harvesting (ca. 15%). Soil carbon content (upper 15 cm) was not significantly changed by harvest or fire treatments. Fine root biomass was reduced by clear-cut harvest (60-70%) but not by fire, and the litter layer was reduced 80% by clear-cut harvest and 40% by fire. Thinning effects on tree growth and biomass were concentrated in the first year after treatments, whereas fire effects persisted over the seven-year post-treatment period. Over this period, tree radial growth was increased (25%) by thinning and reduced (12%) by fire. After seven years, tree biomass returned to pre-treatment levels in both fire and thinning treatments; however, biomass and productivity decreased 30%-40% compared to controls when thinning was combined with fire. The clear-cut treatment had the strongest impact, reducing ecosystem carbon stocks and delaying the capacity for carbon uptake. We conclude that post-treatment carbon dynamics and ecosystem recovery time varied with intensity and type of treatments. Consequently, management practices can be selected to minimize ecosystem carbon losses while increasing future carbon uptake, resilience to high severity fire, and climate related stresses.

Some land and ocean processes are related through connections (and synoptic-scale teleconnections) to the atmosphere. Synoptic-scale atmospheric (El Niño/Southern Oscillation [ENSO], Pacific Decadal Oscillation [PDO], and North Atlantic Oscillation [NAO]) decadal cycles are known to influence the global terrestrial carbon cycle. Potentially, smaller scale land-ocean connections influenced by coastal upwelling (changes in sea surface temperature) may be important for local-to-regional water-limited ecosystems where plants may benefit from air moisture transported from the ocean to terrestrial ecosystems. Here we use satellite-derived observations to test potential connections between changes in sea surface temperature (SST) in regions with strong coastal upwelling and terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) across the Baja California Peninsula. This region is characterized by an arid/semiarid climate along the southern California Current. We found that SST was correlated with the fraction of photosynthetic active radiation (fPAR; as a proxy for GPP) with lags ranging from 0 to 5 months. In contrast ENSO was not as strongly related with fPAR as SST in these coastal ecosystems. Our results show the importance of local-scale changes in SST during upwelling events, to explain the variability in GPP in coastal, water-limited ecosystems. The response of GPP to SST was spatially-dependent: colder SST in the northern areas increased GPP (likely by influencing fog formation), while warmer SST at the southern areas was associated to higher GPP (as SST is in phase with precipitation patterns). Interannual trends in fPAR are also spatially variable along the Baja California Peninsula with increasing secular trends in subtropical regions, decreasing trends in the most arid region, and no trend in the semi-arid regions. These findings suggest that studies and ecosystem process based models should consider the lateral influence of local-scale ocean processes that could influence coastal ecosystem productivity.

High ground-level ozone concentrations are typical of Mediterranean climates. Plant exposure to this oxidant is known to reduce carbon assimilation. Ozone damage has been traditionally measured through manipulative experiments that do not consider long-term exposure and propagate large uncertainty by up-scaling leaf-level observations to ecosystem-level interpretations. We analyzed long-term continuous measurements (>9 site-years at 30 min resolution) of environmental and eco-physiological parameters at three Mediterranean ecosystems: (i) forest site dominated by Pinus ponderosa in the Sierra Mountains in California, USA; (ii) forest site composed of a mixture of Quercus spp. and P. pinea in the Tyrrhenian sea coast near Rome, Italy; and (iii) orchard site of Citrus sinensis cultivated in the California Central Valley, USA. We hypothesized that higher levels of ozone concentration in the atmosphere result in a decrease in carbon assimilation by trees under field conditions. This hypothesis was tested using time series analysis such as wavelet coherence and spectral Granger causality, and complemented with multivariate linear and nonlinear statistical analyses. We found that reduction in carbon assimilation was more related to stomatal ozone deposition than to ozone concentration. The negative effects of ozone occurred within a day of exposure/uptake. Decoupling between carbon assimilation and stomatal aperture increased with the amount of ozone pollution. Up to 12-19% of the carbon assimilation reduction in P. ponderosa and in the Citrus plantation was explained by higher stomatal ozone deposition. In contrast, the Italian site did not show reductions in gross primary productivity either by ozone concentration or stomatal ozone deposition, mainly due to the lower ozone concentrations in the periurban site over the shorter period of investigation. These results highlight the importance of plant adaptation/sensitivity under field conditions, and the importance of continuous long-term measurements to explain ozone damage to real-world forests and calculate metrics for ozone-risk assessment., (© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)