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Title: Evapotranspiration and water yield of a pine-broadleaf forest are not altered by long-term atmospheric [CO2] enrichment under native or enhanced soil fertility

Journal Article · · Global Change Biology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14363· OSTI ID:1560506
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [6];  [7]; ORCiD logo [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12]
  1. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  2. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States); Univ. of Helsinki, Helsinki (Finland)
  3. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States); Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea); National Center for Agro‐Meteorology, Seoul (Korea)
  4. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States); Univ. of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (United States)
  5. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States); Chulalongkorn Univ., Bangkok (Thailand)
  6. Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)
  7. Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States)
  8. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States); USDA Forest Service, Otto, NC (United States)
  9. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
  10. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)
  11. Boston Univ., Boston, MA (United States)
  12. Rutgers Univ., Newark, NJ (United States)

Abstract Changes in evapotranspiration ( ET ) from terrestrial ecosystems affect their water yield ( WY ), with considerable ecological and economic consequences. Increases in surface runoff observed over the past century have been attributed to increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations resulting in reduced ET by terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we evaluate the water balance of a Pinus taeda (L.) forest with a broadleaf component that was exposed to atmospheric [CO 2 ] enrichment (ECO 2 ; +200 ppm) for over 17 years and fertilization for 6 years, monitored with hundreds of environmental and sap flux sensors on a half‐hourly basis. These measurements were synthesized using a one‐dimensional Richard's equation model to evaluate treatment differences in transpiration ( T ), evaporation ( E ), ET , and WY . We found that ECO 2 did not create significant differences in stand T, ET , or WY under either native or enhanced soil fertility, despite a 20% and 13% increase in leaf area index, respectively. While T , ET , and WY responded to fertilization, this response was weak (<3% of mean annual precipitation). Likewise, while E responded to ECO 2 in the first 7 years of the study, this effect was of negligible magnitude (<1% mean annual precipitation). Given the global range of conifers similar to P. taeda , our results imply that recent observations of increased global streamflow cannot be attributed to decreases in ET across all ecosystems, demonstrating a great need for model–data synthesis activities to incorporate our current understanding of terrestrial vegetation in global water cycle models.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1560506
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1462779
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: 11 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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