Productivity and evapotranspiration of two contrasting semiarid ecosystems following the 2011 global carbon land sink anomaly

Cleverly, J; Eamus, D; Van Gorsel, E; Chen, C; Rumman, R; Luo, Q; Coupe, NR; Li, L; Kljun, N; Faux, R; Yu, Q; Huete, A

Productivity and evapotranspiration of two contrasting semiarid ecosystems following the 2011 global carbon land sink anomaly

Cleverly, J

Eamus, D

Van Gorsel, E Chen, C Rumman, R Luo, Q Coupe, NR

Li, L

Kljun, N Faux, R

Yu, Q

Huete, A

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2016, 220 pp. 151 - 159
Issue Date:: 2016-04-15

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Cleverly, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2731-7150	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Eamus, D https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2765-8040	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Van Gorsel, E	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Chen, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Rumman, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Luo, Q	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Coupe, NR https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3921-1772	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Li, L https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9983-6681	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Kljun, N	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Faux, R https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9761-9832	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Yu, Q https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6950-1821	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Huete, A https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2809-2376	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016-04-15	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2016, 220 pp. 151 - 159	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0168-1923	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/41965
dc.description.abstract	© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Global carbon balances are increasingly affected by large fluctuations in productivity occurring throughout semiarid regions. Recent analyses found a large C uptake anomaly in 2011 in arid and semiarid regions of the southern hemisphere. Consequently, we compared C and water fluxes of two distinct woody ecosystems (a Mulga (Acacia) woodland and a Corymbia savanna) between August 2012 and August 2014 in semiarid central Australia, demonstrating that the 2011 anomaly was short-lived in both ecosystems. The Mulga woodland was approximately C neutral but with periods of significant uptake within both years. The extreme drought tolerance of Acacia is presumed to have contributed to this. By contrast, the Corymbia savanna was a very large net C source (130 and 200gCm-2yr-1 in average and below average rainfall years, respectively), which is likely to have been a consequence of the degradation of standing, senescent biomass that was a legacy of high productivity during the 2011 anomaly. The magnitude and temporal patterns in ecosystem water-use efficiencies (WUE), derived from eddy covariance data, differed across the two sites, which may reflect differences in the relative contributions of respiration to net C fluxes across the two ecosystems. In contrast, differences in leaf-scale measures of WUE, derived from 13C stable isotope analyses, were apparent at small spatial scales and may reflect the different rooting strategies of Corymbia and Acacia trees within the Corymbia savanna. Restrictions on root growth and infiltration by a siliceous hardpan located below Acacia, whether in the Mulga woodland or in small Mulga patches of the Corymbia savanna, impedes drainage of water to depth, thereby producing a reservoir for soil moisture storage under Acacia while acting as a barrier to access of groundwater by Corymbia trees in Mulga patches, but not in the open Corymbia savanna.	en_US
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140102698
dc.relation.ispartof	Agricultural and Forest Meteorology	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.agrformet.2016.01.086	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	en_US
dc.title	Productivity and evapotranspiration of two contrasting semiarid ecosystems following the 2011 global carbon land sink anomaly	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	220	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
utslib.for	04 Earth Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CAMGIS - Centre for Advanced Modelling and Geospatial lnformation Systems
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	220	en_US

Abstract:

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Global carbon balances are increasingly affected by large fluctuations in productivity occurring throughout semiarid regions. Recent analyses found a large C uptake anomaly in 2011 in arid and semiarid regions of the southern hemisphere. Consequently, we compared C and water fluxes of two distinct woody ecosystems (a Mulga (Acacia) woodland and a Corymbia savanna) between August 2012 and August 2014 in semiarid central Australia, demonstrating that the 2011 anomaly was short-lived in both ecosystems. The Mulga woodland was approximately C neutral but with periods of significant uptake within both years. The extreme drought tolerance of Acacia is presumed to have contributed to this. By contrast, the Corymbia savanna was a very large net C source (130 and 200gCm-2yr-1 in average and below average rainfall years, respectively), which is likely to have been a consequence of the degradation of standing, senescent biomass that was a legacy of high productivity during the 2011 anomaly. The magnitude and temporal patterns in ecosystem water-use efficiencies (WUE), derived from eddy covariance data, differed across the two sites, which may reflect differences in the relative contributions of respiration to net C fluxes across the two ecosystems. In contrast, differences in leaf-scale measures of WUE, derived from 13C stable isotope analyses, were apparent at small spatial scales and may reflect the different rooting strategies of Corymbia and Acacia trees within the Corymbia savanna. Restrictions on root growth and infiltration by a siliceous hardpan located below Acacia, whether in the Mulga woodland or in small Mulga patches of the Corymbia savanna, impedes drainage of water to depth, thereby producing a reservoir for soil moisture storage under Acacia while acting as a barrier to access of groundwater by Corymbia trees in Mulga patches, but not in the open Corymbia savanna.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/41965