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    Original Research Papers

    Spatial variation in plant community functions regulates carbon gas dynamics in a boreal fen ecosystem

    Authors:

    T. Riutta ,

    University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Ecology, FI
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    J . Laine,

    Finnish Forest Research Institute, Parkano Research Unit, FI
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    M. Aurela,

    Finnish Meteorological Institute, Climate and Global Change Research, FI
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    J . Rinne,

    University of Helsinki, Department of Physical Sciences, FI
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    T. Vesala,

    University of Helsinki, Department of Physical Sciences, FI
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    T. Laurila,

    Finnish Meteorological Institute, Climate and Global Change Research, FI
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    S. Haapanala,

    University of Helsinki, Department of Physical Sciences, FI
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    M. Pihlatie,

    University of Helsinki, Department of Physical Sciences, FI
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    E.-S. Tuittila

    University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Ecology, FI
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    Abstract

    The aim of this study was to asses how the variability in carbon gas exchange at the plant community scale affected the C gas exchange estimates at the ecosystem scale in a fen that was homogeneous in a micrometeorological sense, that is, had an even surface topography and plant cover. CO2 and CH4 exchange was measured at the plant community scale with chambers and at the ecosystem scale with the eddy covariance (EC) technique. Community-scale measurements were upscaled to the ecosystem scale by weighting the community-specific estimates by the area of the community. All communities were net CO2 sinks and CH4 sources during the growing season, but net ecosystem production (NEP) and CH4 emissions ranged from 21 to 190 g CO2-C m-2 and from 4.3 to 13 g CH4-C m-2, respectively, between the communities. The seasonal estimates of NEP and CH4, upscaled to the 200 m radius from the EC tower, were 82 and 7.9 g CH4-C m-2, which agreed well with the EC measurements. As the communities differed markedly in their C gas dynamics, their proportions controlled the ecosystem scale estimates. Successful upscaling required detailed knowledge on the proportions and leaf area of the communities.

    How to Cite: Riutta, T., Laine, J., Aurela, M., Rinne, J., Vesala, T., Laurila, T., Haapanala, S., Pihlatie, M. and Tuittila, E.-S., 2007. Spatial variation in plant community functions regulates carbon gas dynamics in a boreal fen ecosystem. Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology, 59(5), pp.838–852. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2007.00302.x
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      Published on 01 Jan 2007
    Peer Reviewed
     CC BY 4.0
     Accepted on 25 Jun 2007            Submitted on 11 Oct 2006

    Reference

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