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Landscape variation in canopy nitrogen and carbon assimilation in a temperate mixed forest

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Abstract

Canopy nitrogen (N) is a key factor regulating carbon cycling in forest ecosystems through linkages among foliar N and photosynthesis, decomposition, and N cycling. This analysis examined landscape variation in canopy nitrogen and carbon assimilation in a temperate mixed forest surrounding Harvard Forest in central Massachusetts, USA by integration of canopy nitrogen mapping with ecosystem modeling, and spatial data from soils, stand characteristics and disturbance history. Canopy %N was mapped using high spectral resolution remote sensing from NASA’s AVIRIS (Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer) instrument and linked to an ecosystem model, PnET-II, to estimate gross primary productivity (GPP). Predicted GPP was validated with estimates derived from eddy covariance towers. Estimated canopy %N ranged from 0.5 to 2.9% with a mean of 1.75% across the study region. Predicted GPP ranged from 797 to 1622 g C m−2 year−1 with a mean of 1324 g C m−2 year−1. The prediction that spatial patterns in forest growth are associated with spatial patterns in estimated canopy %N was supported by a strong, positive relationship between field-measured canopy %N and aboveground net primary production. Estimated canopy %N and GPP were related to forest composition, land-use history, and soil drainage. At the landscape scale, PnET-II GPP was compared with predicted GPP from the BigFoot project and from NASA’s MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data products. Estimated canopy %N explained much of the difference between MODIS GPP and PnET-II GPP, suggesting that global MODIS GPP estimates may be improved if broad-scale estimates of foliar N were available.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted with support from the National Science Foundation (Grants NSF-DEB 12-37491 and NSF-EF 1638688), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grants NNX12AK56G and NNX14AJ18G) and the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern States Research Cooperative (Award #15-DG-11242307-053). Our special thanks go to Brian Hall and the Harvard Forest LTER for their generosity in providing us with the GIS data layers and meteorological data. Thanks also go to William Munger, Julian Hadley, and Steven Wofsy for the HEM and EMS flux tower data. The BigFoot and MOD17 GPP data products were retrieved from the online Data Pool, courtesy of the NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC), USGS/Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/data_access/data_pool. We thank the NASA Airborne Science Program and the AVIRIS team for the acquisition of remote sensing data.

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Correspondence to Zaixing Zhou.

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Communicated by Ram Oren.

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Zhou, Z., Ollinger, S.V. & Lepine, L. Landscape variation in canopy nitrogen and carbon assimilation in a temperate mixed forest. Oecologia 188, 595–606 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-018-4223-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-018-4223-2

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