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Carbon balance in a cool–temperate deciduous forest in northern Japan: seasonal and interannual variations, and environmental controls of its annual balance

  • Special Feature: Original article
  • CO2 flux observation in various forests of Monsoon-Asia
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Journal of Forest Research

Abstract

We monitored variation in seasonal and annual net ecosystem production (NEP), gross primary production (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (R E) based on 7-year eddy covariance measurements above a cool–temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest (Japanese beech forest). The 7-year means (±SD) of annual NEP, GPP, and R E were 312 ± 64, 1250 ± 62, and 938 ± 36 g C m−2 year−1, respectively. Variation in NEP was much larger than variation in GPP and R E. During the growing season, the main factor controlling carbon balance was air temperature; variation in seasonal integrated NEP was regulated by accumulated air temperature (degree-day) with a significant negative correlation, whereas the seasonal ratio of R E to GPP was correlated positively with accumulated air temperature. Because the deviation of seasonal NEP was also significantly correlated with seasonal R E/GPP, NEP was controlled by R E/GPP, depending on air temperature during the growing season. Seasonal R E in the defoliation and snow seasons was also important for evaluating the annual carbon balance, because the total number of days in the two seasons was quite large owing to a long snowy winter. In the defoliation and snow seasons, we found defoliation season length was a major factor determining seasonal integrated R E, illustrating the positive correlation between R E and defoliation season length. The major factors controlling interannual variations in forest carbon balance are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This study was carried out with the support of the Tohoku Regional Forest Office of the Japan Forest Agency. We are grateful to the staff of the Iwate-Hokubu District Forest Office for their support with field observations. We extend our appreciation to Dr Yoshio Awaya for providing litter-fall data and to Dr Ryuichi Hirata for instructing us on the gap-filling method. We also thank our colleagues, Drs G. Hitsuma, Y. Chiba, S. Noguchi, K. Shichi, K. Hirai, and K. Yamanoi for their help during the study. This study was supported financially by the Global Environment Research Account (FY2007-2011) from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, the project research fund (Environment Research: FY2006-2009) from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, and research grants (#199903:FY1999-2002 and #200303:FY2003-2005) from the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute.

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  1. Tohoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 92-25 Nabeyashiki Shimokuriyagawa, Morioka, Iwate, 020-0123, Japan

    Yukio Yasuda, Takeshi Saito, Daisuke Hoshino, Kenji Ono & Takeshi Morisawa

  2. Department of Meteorological Environment, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan

    Yoshikazu Ohtani

  3. Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Sapparo, Japan

    Yasuko Mizoguchi

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  1. Yukio Yasuda
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  2. Takeshi Saito
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  3. Daisuke Hoshino
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  5. Yoshikazu Ohtani
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  7. Takeshi Morisawa
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Correspondence to Yukio Yasuda.

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Yasuda, Y., Saito, T., Hoshino, D. et al. Carbon balance in a cool–temperate deciduous forest in northern Japan: seasonal and interannual variations, and environmental controls of its annual balance. J For Res 17, 253–267 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-011-0298-x

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