Time dependence of energy storage across multiple ecosystems

Abstract:

Energy flow through ecosystems plays a critical role in processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales, from monthly growing season length of landscapes to sub-diurnal responses of soil respiration to temperature, photosynthesis and water inputs. The interaction of solar radiation and ecosystems is complex with terrestrial canopies and aquatic structure both connecting above- and below-ground processes via energy fluxes. Previous work by Leuning et al has shown that at 30-minute timescales, only 8% of eddy covariance sites in the La Thuile dataset observe energy closure and when averaged to 24-hour timescales, this goes up to 45%. This work examines the effect of temporal lags in energy storage in both terrestrial (shrub and forest) and aquatic (lake) ecosystems. Analyses show energy storage terms have unique temporal lags that vary between ecosystem and time of year, from having zero lag to several hour timescales within terrestrial ecosystems, depending primarily on water content. Large differences between ecosystem types are also highlighted as aquatic ecosystems have lags that range between daily and monthly timescales. Furthermore, ecosystem disturbance can alter time lags as well and results from a native bark beetle disturbance show vegetation lag decreasing while soil lag increasing following changes in water content. Energy storage lags can improve site energy closure by several percent, and these results will lead to a better understanding of surface energy budget closure, an as-of-yet unresolved issue in the flux community, as well as highlighting the importance of time-dependency of ecosystem energy fluxes as a unique method to examine ecosystem processes.