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Title: Field evidences for the positive effects of aerosols on tree growth

Journal Article · · Global Change Biology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14339· OSTI ID:1440889
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of Vegetation and Environmental Change and Inst. of Botany; Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Environmental and Climate Sciences Dept.
  3. Carnegie Inst. of Science, Stanford, CA (United States). Dept. of Global Ecology; Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Joint Global Change Research Inst.
  4. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  5. Peking Univ., Beijing (China). Dept. of Ecology and College of Urban and Environmental Science
  6. Minzu Univ. of China, Beijing (China). College of Life and Environmental Sciences
  7. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
+ Show Author Affiliations

Theoretical and eddy-covariance studies demonstrate that aerosol-loading stimulates canopy photosynthesis, but field evidence for the aerosol effect on tree growth is limited. Here we measured in-situ daily stem growth rates of aspen trees under a wide range of aerosol-loading in China. The results showed that daily stem growth rates were positively correlated with aerosol-loading, even at exceptionally high aerosol levels. Using structural equation modelling analysis, we showed that variations in stem growth rates can be largely attributed to two environmental variables co-varying with aerosol loading: diffuse fraction of radiation and vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Furthermore, we found that these two factors influence stem growth by influencing photosynthesis from different parts of canopy. By using field observations and a mechanistic photosynthesis model, we demonstrate that photosynthetic rates of both sun and shade leaves increased under high aerosol-loading conditions but for different reasons. For sun leaves, the photosynthetic increase was primarily attributed to the concurrent lower VPD; for shade leaves, the positive aerosol effect was tightly connected with increased diffuse light. Overall, our study provides the first field-evidence of increased tree growth under high aerosol loading. We highlight the importance of understanding biophysical mechanisms of aerosol-meteorology interactions, and incorporating the different pathways of aerosol effects into earth system models to improve the prediction of large-scale aerosol impacts, and the associated vegetation-mediated climate feedbacks.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Basic Research Program of China; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; 2014CB954003; 2017YFC0503900; DE‐SC0012704; AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1440889
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1457789; OSTI ID: 1557098
Report Number(s):
BNL-205741-2018-JAAM; PNNL-SA-135221
Journal Information:
Global Change Biology, Vol. 24, Issue 10; ISSN 1354-1013
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 55 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

The fertilization effect of global dimming on crop yields is not attributed to an improved light interception journal October 2019
El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event reduces CO2 uptake of an Indonesian oil palm plantation journal January 2019
The Spatiotemporal Pattern of the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) on the Canopies of Various Forest Types in the Exurban National Park: A Case in Ningbo City, Eastern China journal October 2019
Studying the impact of biomass burning aerosol radiative and climate effects on the Amazon rainforest productivity with an Earth system model journal January 2019

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
aerosol loading
tree stem growth
vapor pressure deficit
diffuse radiation
sun/shade leaf
canopy photosynthesis
mechanistic photosynthesis model
aerosol‐meteorology interactions