Temporal variations of atmospheric CO 2 concentration in a temperate deciduous forest in central Japan

Abstract

In order to examine the temporal variation of the atmospheric CO 2 concentration in a temperate deciduous forest, and its relationship with meteorological conditions, continuous measurements of CO 2 and meteorological parameters have been made since 1993 on a tower at Takayama in the central part of Japan. In addition to an average secular increase in atmospheric CO 2 of 1.8 ppm yr −1 , diurnal variation with a maximum during the night-time to early morning and a minimum in the afternoon is observed from late spring to early fall; the diurnal cycle is not so clearly observed in the remaining seasons of the year. A concentration difference between above and below the canopy, and its diurnal variation, can also be seen clearly in summer. Daily mean concentration data show a prominent seasonal cycle. The maximum and the minimum of the seasonal cycle occur in April and from mid August to mid September, respectively. Day-today changes in the diurnal cycle of CO 2 are highly dependent on the day-today variations in meteorological conditions. However, CO 2 variations on longer time scales (>10 d) appear to be linearly related to changes in respiration. At Takayama, variations in the 10-d standard deviation of daily mean CO 2 data and 10-d averaged respiration show distinct relationships with soil temperature during spring and fall seasons. In spring, respiration has a stronger exponential dependence on soil temperature than in fall. Interestingly, in summer when soil temperature becomes greater than about 15 • C, biological respiration becomes more variable and independent of the soil temperature. Thus, at the Takayama site, the Q 10 relationship is seasonally dependent, and does not represent well the biological respiration process when the soil temperature rises above 15 • C.