Timing and magnitude of C partitioning through a young loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stand using 13C labeling and shade treatments

Warren, Jeffrey M.; Iversen, Colleen M.; Garten, Jr., Charles T.; Norby, Richard J.; Childs, Joanne; Brice, Deanne Jane; Evans, R. M.; Gu, Lianhong; Thornton, Peter E.; Weston, David J.

doi:10.1093/treephys/tpr129

Timing and magnitude of C partitioning through a young loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stand using ¹³C labeling and shade treatments

Journal Article · Fri Dec 30 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Tree Physiology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpr129· OSTI ID:1328347

Warren, Jeffrey M. ^[1]; Iversen, Colleen M. ^[1]; Garten, Jr., Charles T. ^[1]; Norby, Richard J. ^[1]; Childs, Joanne ^[1]; Brice, Deanne Jane ^[1]; Evans, R. M. ^[2]; Gu, Lianhong ^[1]; Thornton, Peter E. ^[1]; Weston, David J. ^[1]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

The dynamics of rapid changes in carbon (C) partitioning within forest ecosystems are not well understood, which limits improvement of mechanistic models of C cycling. Our objective was to inform model processes by describing relationships between C partitioning and accessible environmental or physiological measurements, with a special emphasis on short-term C flux through a forest ecosystem. We exposed eight 7-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) trees to air enriched with ¹³CO₂ and then implemented adjacent light shade (LS) and heavy shade (HS) treatments in order to manipulate C uptake and flux. The impacts of shading on photosynthesis, plant water potential, sap flow, basal area growth, root growth, and soil CO₂ efflux rate (CER) were assessed for each tree over a three-week period. The progression of the ¹³C label was concurrently tracked from the atmosphere through foliage, phloem, roots, and surface soil CO₂ efflux. The HS treatment significantly reduced C uptake, sap flow, stem growth and fine root standing crop, and resulted in greater residual soil water content to 1 m depth. Sap flow was strongly correlated with CER on the previous day, but not the current day, with no apparent treatment effect on the relationship. Although there were apparent reductions in new C flux belowground, the heavy shade treatment did not noticeably reduce the magnitude of belowground autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration based on surface soil CO₂ efflux rate (CER), which was overwhelmingly driven by soil temperature and moisture. The ¹³C label was immediately detected in foliage on label day (half-life = 0.5 d), progressed through phloem by day 2 (half-life = 4.7 d), roots by day 2-4, and subsequently was evident as respiratory release from soil which peaked between days 3-6. The δ¹³C of soil CO₂ efflux was strongly correlated with phloem ¹³C on the previous day, or two days earlier. While the ¹³C label was readily tracked through the ecosystem, the fate of root C through respiratory, mycorrhizal or exudative release pathways were not assessed. Lastly, these data detail the timing and relative magnitude of C flux through various components of a young pine stand in relation to environmental conditions.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1328347

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1044652

Journal Information:: Tree Physiology, Journal Name: Tree Physiology Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 32; ISSN 0829-318X

Publisher:: Oxford University PressCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
13CO2
Pinus taeda
carbon allocation
carbon partitioning
loblolly pine
respiration
shade
soil CO2 efflux