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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

Abstract

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%more » 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.« less

Authors:
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)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
OSTI Identifier:
1560506
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1462779
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Global Change Biology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 24; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1354-1013
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Citation Formats

Ward, Eric J., Oren, Ram, Seok Kim, Hyun, Kim, Dohyoung, Tor-ngern, Pantana, Ewers, Brent E., McCarthy, Heather R., Oishi, Andrew Christopher, Pataki, Diane E., Palmroth, Sari, Phillips, Nathan G., and Schäfer, Karina V. R. Evapotranspiration and water yield of a pine-broadleaf forest are not altered by long-term atmospheric [CO2] enrichment under native or enhanced soil fertility. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1111/gcb.14363.
Ward, Eric J., Oren, Ram, Seok Kim, Hyun, Kim, Dohyoung, Tor-ngern, Pantana, Ewers, Brent E., McCarthy, Heather R., Oishi, Andrew Christopher, Pataki, Diane E., Palmroth, Sari, Phillips, Nathan G., & Schäfer, Karina V. R. Evapotranspiration and water yield of a pine-broadleaf forest are not altered by long-term atmospheric [CO2] enrichment under native or enhanced soil fertility. United States. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14363
Ward, Eric J., Oren, Ram, Seok Kim, Hyun, Kim, Dohyoung, Tor-ngern, Pantana, Ewers, Brent E., McCarthy, Heather R., Oishi, Andrew Christopher, Pataki, Diane E., Palmroth, Sari, Phillips, Nathan G., and Schäfer, Karina V. R. Wed . "Evapotranspiration and water yield of a pine-broadleaf forest are not altered by long-term atmospheric [CO2] enrichment under native or enhanced soil fertility". United States. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14363. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1560506.
@article{osti_1560506,
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},
author = {Ward, Eric J. and Oren, Ram and Seok Kim, Hyun and Kim, Dohyoung and Tor-ngern, Pantana and Ewers, Brent E. and McCarthy, Heather R. and Oishi, Andrew Christopher and Pataki, Diane E. and Palmroth, Sari and Phillips, Nathan G. and Schäfer, Karina V. R.},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.1111/gcb.14363},
journal = {Global Change Biology},
number = 10,
volume = 24,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Wed Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Mid-latitude freshwater availability reduced by projected vegetation responses to climate change
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