TY - JOUR
T1 - Variations of carbon allocation and turnover time across tropical forests
AU - Yang, Hui
AU - Ciais, Philippe
AU - Wang, Yilong
AU - Huang, Yuanyuan
AU - Wigneron, Jean Pierre
AU - Bastos, Ana
AU - Chave, Jérôme
AU - Chang, Jinfeng
AU - E. Doughty, Christopher
AU - Fan, Lei
AU - Goll, Daniel
AU - Joetzjer, Emilie
AU - Li, Wei
AU - Lucas, Richard
AU - Quegan, Shaun
AU - Le Toan, Thuy
AU - Yu, Kailiang
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Aim: The carbon sink in tropical forests is a highly uncertain component of the global carbon budget. An understanding of the processes controlling this sink requires better quantification of carbon allocation, stocks and turnover times. Location: Tropical forests. Time period: 2010–2017. Major taxa studied: Tropical forest ecosystem. Methods: We develop a novel data assimilation system using satellite-based annual above-ground biomass derived from L-band vegetation optical depth with 25 km × 25 km grid spacing, together with leaf area, to constrain the 25 km × 25 km carbon allocation patterns of net primary productivity (NPP) into the wood, leaf and root pools, and their turnover times. Our average data-driven estimates of these variables are broadly consistent with independent ground-based estimates of NPP allocation and wood turnover from forest inventory plots. Results: In tropical forest, on average, the NPP allocation into wood (0.30 ± 0.04) is significantly higher than that into leaves (0.24 ± 0.07). From the wet to dry tropics, forest NPP allocation into both wood and leaves declines slightly. The turnover times of forest leaf pools exhibit little spatial variation, whereas the turnover times of wood pools in Africa (median and interquartile range: (Formula presented.) years) are slightly longer than those in South America ((Formula presented.) years) and Southeast Asia ((Formula presented.) years). Our datasets reveal emergent trade-offs across climatic and vegetation gradients between growth and life span/turnover for both wood and leaves. The spatial gradients of NPP allocation to wood/leaves are associated with canopy height, adjusted by climate condition and nutrient acquisition. The spatial gradients of wood and leaf turnover times are influenced mainly by climate and leaf characteristics. Main conclusions: Our data-driven estimates of carbon allocation and turnover times provide a basis for more detailed exploration of these mechanisms in field studies. This highlights that improved model representation of carbon allocation and turnover is necessary for more accurate prediction of future carbon dynamics.
AB - Aim: The carbon sink in tropical forests is a highly uncertain component of the global carbon budget. An understanding of the processes controlling this sink requires better quantification of carbon allocation, stocks and turnover times. Location: Tropical forests. Time period: 2010–2017. Major taxa studied: Tropical forest ecosystem. Methods: We develop a novel data assimilation system using satellite-based annual above-ground biomass derived from L-band vegetation optical depth with 25 km × 25 km grid spacing, together with leaf area, to constrain the 25 km × 25 km carbon allocation patterns of net primary productivity (NPP) into the wood, leaf and root pools, and their turnover times. Our average data-driven estimates of these variables are broadly consistent with independent ground-based estimates of NPP allocation and wood turnover from forest inventory plots. Results: In tropical forest, on average, the NPP allocation into wood (0.30 ± 0.04) is significantly higher than that into leaves (0.24 ± 0.07). From the wet to dry tropics, forest NPP allocation into both wood and leaves declines slightly. The turnover times of forest leaf pools exhibit little spatial variation, whereas the turnover times of wood pools in Africa (median and interquartile range: (Formula presented.) years) are slightly longer than those in South America ((Formula presented.) years) and Southeast Asia ((Formula presented.) years). Our datasets reveal emergent trade-offs across climatic and vegetation gradients between growth and life span/turnover for both wood and leaves. The spatial gradients of NPP allocation to wood/leaves are associated with canopy height, adjusted by climate condition and nutrient acquisition. The spatial gradients of wood and leaf turnover times are influenced mainly by climate and leaf characteristics. Main conclusions: Our data-driven estimates of carbon allocation and turnover times provide a basis for more detailed exploration of these mechanisms in field studies. This highlights that improved model representation of carbon allocation and turnover is necessary for more accurate prediction of future carbon dynamics.
KW - carbon cycle modelling
KW - carbon turnover time
KW - dynamic systems
KW - plant traits
KW - productivity allocation
KW - tropical ecosystem
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U2 - 10.1111/geb.13302
DO - 10.1111/geb.13302
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85104565964
SN - 1466-822X
VL - 30
SP - 1271
EP - 1285
JO - Global Ecology and Biogeography
JF - Global Ecology and Biogeography
IS - 6
ER -