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Biometric-Based Estimations of Net Primary Production (NPP) in Forest Ecosystems

  • Chapter
Canopy Photosynthesis: From Basics to Applications

Part of the book series: Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration ((AIPH,volume 42))

Summary

Net primary production (NPP) refers to the net amount of the carbon and energy fixed by green plants through photosynthetic activity. Estimates of NPP are of fundamental human importance, because food supply is predominantly dependent on plant productivity. Moreover, measurements of spatiotemporal variations of forest NPP provide important information for understanding and projecting the global carbon cycle, because forest ecosystems are a major terrestrial carbon sink. Here we discuss methods for estimating NPP in forest ecosystems using inventory data, and describe the “summation method”, which was developed in Japan in the 1960s at the International Biological Program (IBP) to facilitate standardization in the absence of complex instruments under field conditions. Global climate change prompted to development of this “summation method” as an improved “biometric method” in the 1990s. Biometric-based estimates of NPP are conceptually defined as the total amount of new organic matter produced during an interval per unit area at the ecosystem scale, and are expressed as the sum of stand increments of living biomass (SI), newly produced aboveground litter (L an ), and fine root production (P fr ). The SI of above- and belowground (coarse roots) biomass can be estimated by tracking the survival and diameter of individual tree stems in a permanent plot. Aboveground litter of short-lived organs (L an ), such as deciduous leaves, flowers, and fruits, can be determined using litter traps that are set on the forest floor. Although methods for determining P fr remain unstandardized, 1-year turnover of fine roots is often considered an estimate of fine root dynamics (P fr  ≈ mean fine root biomass). In a study of the Takayama Experimental Forest, we demonstrated correlations of biometric-based NPP estimates with various methods, such as simulated canopy photosynthesis by scaling up leaf photosynthesis and incorporating values obtained using eddy covariance. The resulting biometric method has sufficient sensitivity to demonstrate climate-induced year-to-year variations of tree growth and allocation of carbon inputs by NPP in forest ecosystems.

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Abbreviations

B :

Forest biomass

B t1 :

Forest biomass at time t 1

B t2 :

Forest biomass after an interval at time t 2

B 2n :

The amount of new organic matter retained by live plants after an interval at time t 2

BI s :

Biomass increments of surviving trees during an interval

BI i :

Biomass increments of ingrowth trees during an interval

D, DBH:

Diameter at breast height

GPP:

Gross primary production

IPCC:

Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change

IBP:

International Biological Program

LAI :

Leaf area index

L :

The amount of loss of organic matter from plant biomass during an interval

L an :

The amount of aboveground plant litter produced and shed during an interval

L n :

The amount of organic matter both produced and lost by plants during an interval

L o :

The amount of loss of old plant biomass present at time t 1 during an interval

M :

Necromass by tree mortality during an interval

NEP:

Net ecosystem production

NPP:

Net primary production

P n :

The amount of organic matter newly produced during an interval

P fr :

Fine root production

RA:

Autotrophic respiration (plant respiration)

RE:

Ecosystem respiration

RH:

Heterotrophic respiration

RHCWD :

Heterotrophic respiration that decomposed coarse woody debris

RHSOM :

Heterotrophic respiration that decomposed litter and soil organic matter

SI :

Stand increment of forest biomass

V cmax :

Maximum velocity of carboxylation

W :

Dry mass of tree

W s :

Dry mass of tree stem

ρ :

Species-specific stem wood density

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. Kurumado and Y. Miyamoto of the Takayama Field Station of Gifu University for their support of field. Thanks are also due to Drs. H. Kondo of AIST, W. Mo-Kishimoto of NIAES and M. Adachi of NIES. This study was supported by KAKENHI (JSPS, no. 21310009) to TO, JSPS-NRF-NSFC A3 Foresight Program and Research and Education Funding for JALPS (Japanese Alps Inter-University Cooperative Project), MEXT, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, Gifu, Gifu, 501-1193, Japan

    Toshiyuki Ohtsuka & Hiroyuki Muraoka

  2. Center of Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Study, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506, Japan

    Nobuko Saigusa

  3. School of Environmental Science, The University of Shiga Prefecture, Hikone, Shiga, 522-8533, Japan

    Yasuo Iimura

  4. Faculty of Education and Integrated Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 162-8480, Japan

    Hiroshi Koizumi

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  1. Toshiyuki Ohtsuka
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  2. Nobuko Saigusa
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  3. Yasuo Iimura
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  4. Hiroyuki Muraoka
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  5. Hiroshi Koizumi
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Correspondence to Toshiyuki Ohtsuka .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Kouki Hikosaka

  2. Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences Institute of Agricultural and, Tartu, Estonia

    Ülo Niinemets

  3. Crop and Weed Ecology, Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Niels P.R. Anten

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Ohtsuka, T., Saigusa, N., Iimura, Y., Muraoka, H., Koizumi, H. (2016). Biometric-Based Estimations of Net Primary Production (NPP) in Forest Ecosystems. In: Hikosaka, K., Niinemets, Ü., Anten, N. (eds) Canopy Photosynthesis: From Basics to Applications. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, vol 42. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7291-4_12

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