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Large interannual CO 2 and energy exchange variability in a freshwater marsh under consistent environmental conditions

2008; American Geophysical Union; Volume: 113; Issue: G4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1029/2008jg000712

2156-2202

Adrian V. Rocha, Michael L. Goulden,

Climate variability and models

We analyzed a 5‐year record of the CO 2 and energy exchange, Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP), maximum Leaf Area Index (LAI max ), and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) for a Typha marsh in Southern California. The marsh was a net source of carbon over the study, despite high rates of ANPP. Interannual Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) variability was the largest that has been reported for any terrestrial ecosystem and was attributed to changes in maximum photosynthetic rates (GEE max ). The variation in energy and mass exchange was coupled between years; years with higher than average rates of carbon uptake were associated with lower than average sensible heat fluxes. Remotely sensed measures of surface greenness (EVI) were closely related to GEE max variation, providing further evidence of interannual variability. We were unable to attribute the fluctuations in GEE max to the direct effects of weather on ecosystem physiology, or to interannual variation in LAI max . GEE did not vary systematically with air temperature or the presence of standing water in the marsh; GEE max did not vary with LAI max between years. Rather, interannual variation in carbon exchange at the SJFM resulted from shifts in the marsh's production efficiency (the rates of gross or net CO 2 exchange per LAI) that were not caused by changes in the weather. Our findings challenge the assumptions that interannual variation of land‐atmosphere exchange is universally caused by the direct effect of weather on ecosystem physiology, and that an ecosystem's physiological response to the physical environment is consistent from year‐to‐year.