The Control of Plant Traits on Ecosystem Functions across the US Forests
Zhao B, Shevliakova E, Malyshev S, Dias C, Medeiros B, Browne M, Vinod N, De Deurwaerder H, Sack L, Detto M. 2024. The Control of Plant Traits on Ecosystem Functions across the US Forests. ESS Open Archive
ABSTRACT: Forests play a crucial role in global carbon cycling, yet their carbon sink capability and resilience are increasingly threatened by drought under climate change. The influence of plant traits on ecosystem functions and their responses to drought remains poorly understood. ▪ In this study, we analyzed the control of plant traits and climate on forest ecosystem functions and their sensitivity to water stress across eight NEON forest sites spanning diverse temperature and moisture gradients. ▪ Each site, equipped with eddy covariance flux towers, provided data on intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE), water-use efficiency (WUE), and light-use efficiency (LUE). We measured key photosynthetic and hydraulic traits (V c,max , K max , P 50) for the most abundant canopy species at each site, and assessed their sensitivity to soil water content (SWC) by dividing SWC into site-specific quantiles, representing dry to wet conditions. ▪ To further investigate trait-climate interactions, we integrated the measured traits into the GFDL LM4.1 Land Model and calibrated it using flux tower-derived ecosystem functions. Our findings provide critical insights into how plant traits and climate regulate ecosystem functions and their resilience under water stress, advancing our ability to predict forest responses to future climate scenarios.
- Type
- Poster
- Authors
- Zhao, Bailu; Shevliakova, Elena; Malyshev, Sergey; Dias, Camila; Medeiros, Barros; Browne, Marvin; Vinod, Nidhi; De Deurwaerder, Hannes; Sack, Lawren; Detto, Matteo
- Date of Issue
- 2024-12-11
- Publisher
- ESS Open Archive
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- ecosystem function, forests, GRSM-01202, National Ecological Observatory Network, NEON