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Warren, Jeffrey M.

Publications and source records attributed to Warren, Jeffrey M..

At least 19 records

Getting allometry right at the Oak Ridge free‐air CO 2 enrichment experiment: Old problems and new opportunities for global change experiments

Societal Impact Statement Free‐air CO 2 enrichment (FACE) experiments provide essential data on forest responses to increasing atmospheric CO 2 for evaluations of climate change impacts on humanity. Understanding and reducing the uncertainty in the experimental results is critical to ensure scientific and public confidence in the models and policy initiatives that derive therefrom. One source of uncertainty is the estimation of tree biomass using mathematical relationships between biomass and easily obtained and non‐destructive measurements (allometry). We evaluated the robustness of the allometric relationships established at the beginning of a FACE experiment and discuss the challenges and opportunities for the new generation of FACE experiments. Summary Long‐term field experiments to elucidate forest responses to rising atmospheric CO 2 concentration require allometric equations to estimate tree biomass from non‐destructive measurements of tree size. We analyzed whether the allometric equations established at the beginning of a free‐air CO 2 enrichment (FACE) experiment in a Liquidambar styraciflua plantation were still valid at the end of the 12 year experiment. Aboveground woody biomass was initially predicted by an equation that included bole diameter, taper, and height, assuming that including taper and height as predictors would accommodate changes in tree structure that might occur over time and in response to elevated CO 2 . At the conclusion of the FACE experiment, we harvested 23 trees, measured dimensions and dry mass of boles and branches, and extracted and measured the woody root mass of 10 trees. Although 10 of the harvested trees were larger than the trees used to establish the allometric relationship, measured aboveground woody biomass was well predicted by the original allometry. The initial linear equation between bole basal area and woody root biomass underestimated final root biomass by 28%, but root biomass was just 21% of total wood mass, and errors in aboveground and belowground estimates were offsetting. The allometry established at the beginning of the experiment provided valid predictions of tree biomass throughout the experiment. New allometric approaches using terrestrial laser scanning should reduce an important source of uncertainty in decade‐long forest experiments and in assessments of centuries‐long forest biomass accretion used in evaluating carbon offsets and climate mitigation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Photosynthetic capacity in middle-aged larch and spruce acclimates independently to experimental warming and elevated CO 2

Photosynthetic acclimation to both warming and elevated CO 2 of boreal trees remains a key uncertainty in modelling the response of photosynthesis to future climates. We investigated the impact of increased growth temperature and elevated CO 2 on photosynthetic capacity (V cmax and J max ) in mature trees of two North American boreal conifers, tamarack and black spruce. We show that V cmax and J max at a standard temperature of 25°C did not change with warming, while V cmax and J max at their thermal optima (T opt ) and growth temperature (T g ) increased. Moreover, V cmax and J max at either 25°C, T opt or T g decreased with elevated CO 2 . The J max /V cmax ratio decreased with warming when assessed at both T opt and T g but did not significantly vary at 25°C. The J max /V cmax increased with elevated CO 2 at either reference temperature. We found no significant interaction between warming and elevated CO 2 on all traits. If this lack of interaction between warming and elevated CO 2 on the V cmax , J max and J max /V cmax ratio is a general trend, it would have significant implications for improving photosynthesis representation in vegetation models. However, future research is required to investigate the widespread nature of this response in a larger number of species and biomes.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Soil water percolation and nutrient fluxes as a function of topographical, seasonal and soil texture variation in Central Amazonia, Brazil

Abstract Understanding soil water dynamics and transport of nutrients is challenging in tropical rainforests due to the uniqueness of several properties related to soils, vegetation and seasonality that make relating patterns found in temperate environments to tropical sites difficult. We address the need for better edaphic characterization in tropical environments by investigating soil water percolation rates and chemistry across topographic, soil texture and seasonal gradients in a mature tropical rainforest in Central Amazonia, Brazil. We utilized a passive wick flux meter (e.g., drainage lysimeter) to directly measure real‐time percolation fluxes at 60‐cm depth, and to sample a suite of chemical species across plateau, slope and valley topographic positions. We found percolation flux volume and chemical exports generally increase with decreasing elevation and clay content, which was lowest in the valley. Daily percolation flux was observed to be 2.39 ± 0.44 in plateau, 3.01 ± 0.50 in slope and 6.16 ± 0.83 mm in valley. Most solutes were present in small amounts of <1 mg L −1 , such as PO₄ 3− , Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ and Mn 2+ ; however, NO 3 − concentrations were >20 mg L −1 , even exceeding 100 mg L −1 in the valley. Based on additional isotopic analysis, we speculate high NO 3 − concentrations are partially an artefact of root decomposition following installation of the flux meters. The empirical relationships we show among percolation volume and nutrient exports under varying topographies and soil textures can improve Earth System Model performance by better constraining ecohydrological relationships to nutrient fluxes, which can in‐turn better illuminate the important factors that govern their behaviour.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Experimental Whole-Ecosystem Warming Enables Novel Estimation of Snow Cover and Depth Sensitivities to Temperature, and Quantification of the Snow-Albedo Feedback Effect

Climate change is reducing the amount, duration, and extent of snow across high-latitude ecosystems. But, in landscapes where persistent winter snow cover develops, experimental platforms to specifically investigate interactions between warming and changes in snowpack, and impacts on ecosystem processes, have been lacking. We leveraged a whole-ecosystem warming experiment in a boreal peatland forest to quantify how snow duration, depth, and fractional cover vary with warming of up to +9°C. We found that every snow-related quantity we examined declined precipitously as the amount of warming increased. The importance of deep, continuous snow cover for moderating shallow soil temperature is highlighted by an increase in soil temperature variance and the frequency of short-duration freeze-thaw cycles in the warmer plots. We used a paired-plot approach to estimate the magnitude of the snow-albedo feedback effect, and demonstrate that albedo-driven warming linked to reduced snow cover varies between December (+0.4°C increase in maximum air temperature) and March (+1.2°C increase) because of differences in insolation. Overall, results show that even modest future warming will have profound impacts on northern winters and cold-season ecosystem processes. Plot-level data from this warming experiment, and emergent relationships between warming and quantities related to snow cover and duration, could be of enormous value for testing and improving the representation of snow processes in simulation models, especially under future climate scenarios that are outside of the range of historically observed variability.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

SPRUCE Ground Observations of Phenology in Experimental Plots, 2023

This data set consists of one comma separated (*.csv) file containing phenological transition dates, as derived from direct observations of vegetative and reproductive phenology recorded by a human observer, from the SPRUCE experiment during 2023 (2023-03-30 to 2023-11-29), the eighth full year of whole-ecosystem warming (Hanson et al. 2017). Both spring and autumn phenological events are included. Since April 2016, human observers have been directly tracking the phenology of both woody and herbaceous species on a weekly schedule within the SPRUCE experimental chambers, these data are reported in annual ground observations data sets (see Related Data Sets). The observed date reported here is the first survey date in 2023 on which an event/phenophase was definitively observed. This data set also contains a companion file in HTML (*.html) containing figures showing the relationship between the day of year and temperature treatment for different phenological phases by species for 2023.

Marcell Experimental Forest↗

Boreal conifers maintain carbon uptake with warming despite failure to track optimal temperatures

Warming shifts the thermal optimum of net photosynthesis ( T optA ) to higher temperatures. However, our knowledge of this shift is mainly derived from seedlings grown in greenhouses under ambient atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) conditions. It is unclear whether shifts in T optA of field-grown trees will keep pace with the temperatures predicted for the 21 st century under elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Here, using a whole-ecosystem warming controlled experiment under either ambient or elevated CO 2 levels, we show that T optA of mature boreal conifers increased with warming. However, shifts in T optA did not keep pace with warming as T optA only increased by 0.26–0.35°C per 1°C of warming. Net photosynthetic rates estimated at the mean growth temperature increased with warming in elevated CO 2 spruce, while remaining constant in ambient CO 2 spruce and in both ambient CO 2 and elevated CO 2 tamarack with warming. Although shifts in T optA of these two species are insufficient to keep pace with warming, these boreal conifers can thermally acclimate photosynthesis to maintain carbon uptake in future air temperatures.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Integrating fine root diameter and watershed mapping to characterize rhizosphere hydrology

Root morphology and soil hydraulic characteristics were integrated using watershed distance mapping to show water distribution and uptake across the plant-soil interface. Poplar (Populus deltoides, P. trichocarpa), maize (Zea mays), juniper (Juniperus virginiana), grape (Vitis rotundifolia) and maple (Acer saccharum) seedlings were grown in sand, after which root diameter and soil water dynamics were assessed via sequential neutron radiography. Three local soil regions (root-soil interface or edge, rhizosphere, bulk soil) were classified based on both radial distance from the root surface and diameter of the nearest root, from which changes in water content and distribution were characterized using digital image processing. Water content dynamics across the rhizosphere showed two different species-independent processes: a consistently elevated water content at the root-soil edge interface which increased with root diameter, and hysteresis as the rhizosphere transitioned to bulk soil (~0.5 cm from the root), independent of root diameter. Water uptake per unit root surface area declined exponentially with root diameter, independent of species. Results highlight the species-independent hydrologic characteristics of the rhizosphere and the potential for evaluating them in a local spatially connected soil context. Avenues for improved integration of soil and root characteristics are discussed.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Using long‐term data from a whole ecosystem warming experiment to identify best spring and autumn phenology models

Abstract Predicting vegetation phenology in response to changing environmental factors is key in understanding feedbacks between the biosphere and the climate system. Experimental approaches extending the temperature range beyond historic climate variability provide a unique opportunity to identify model structures that are best suited to predicting phenological changes under future climate scenarios. Here, we model spring and autumn phenological transition dates obtained from digital repeat photography in a boreal Picea ‐ Sphagnum bog in response to a gradient of whole ecosystem warming manipulations of up to +9°C, using five years of observational data. In spring, seven equally best‐performing models for Larix utilized the accumulation of growing degree days as a common driver for temperature forcing. For Picea , the best two models were sequential models requiring winter chilling before spring forcing temperature is accumulated. In shrub, parallel models with chilling and forcing requirements occurring simultaneously were identified as the best models. Autumn models were substantially improved when a CO 2 parameter was included. Overall, the combination of experimental manipulations and multiple years of observations combined with variation in weather provided the framework to rule out a large number of candidate models and to identify best spring and autumn models for each plant functional type.

Schädel, Christina↗

The Complex, Unique, and Powerful Imaging Instrument for Dynamics (CUPI 2 D) at the Spallation Neutron Source (invited)

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is planning to build the Second Target Station (STS) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). STS will host a suite of novel instruments that complement the First Target Station’s beamline capabilities by offering an increased flux for cold neutrons and a broader wavelength bandwidth. A novel neutron imaging beamline, named the Complex, Unique, and Powerful Imaging Instrument for Dynamics (CUPI 2 D), is among the first eight instruments that will be commissioned at STS as part of the construction project. CUPI 2 D is designed for a broad range of neutron imaging scientific applications, such as energy storage and conversion (batteries and fuel cells), materials science and engineering (additive manufacturing, superalloys, and archaeometry), nuclear materials (novel cladding materials, nuclear fuel, and moderators), cementitious materials, biology/medical/dental applications (regenerative medicine and cancer), and life sciences (plant–soil interactions and nutrient dynamics). The innovation of this instrument lies in the utilization of a high flux of wavelength-separated cold neutrons to perform real time in situ neutron grating interferometry and Bragg edge imaging—with a wavelength resolution of δλ/λ ≈ 0.3%—simultaneously when required, across a broad range of length and time scales. This manuscript briefly describes the science enabled at CUPI 2 D based on its unique capabilities. The preliminary beamline performance, a design concept, and future development requirements are also presented.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Functional variability in specific root respiration translates to autotrophic differences in soil respiration in a temperate deciduous forest

CO 2 release from forest soils (R s ) is a prominent flux in the global carbon cycle. Rs is derived from roots (autotrophic respiration, R a ) and microbial (heterotrophic) respiration and is highly dynamic, as it depends on edaphic and environmental conditions as well as root functional traits and microbial community composition. It is unclear how root functional traits affect root and microbial respiration rates; however, their consideration may help parse out the relative contributions of root and microbial respiration to R s . At a temperate forest site, root systems of 3–4 functional root orders and their surrounding surface soil were carefully excavated and placed into custom trays designed to repeatedly measure R s in situ on eight temperate tree species that varied in their root functional strategies and mycorrhizal affinity. R s was measured bi-weekly to monthly for nearly one year using a custom chamber attached to a gas exchange system. R s varied over time, ranging from 0.3 to 12 µmol m -2 s -1 . Comparable root systems of the same species were excised from the soil and specific root respiration rates (R r ) were measured. Rr ranged from 2.5 to 9.0 nmol g -1 s -1 and was negatively correlated with root tissue density and positively related to root tissue nitrogen concentration. Using R r to estimate R a , we estimate that R a accounts for <10%, on average 2–3%, of R s for individual root systems (averaging 1.2 g dry biomass) housed in surrounding soil (average 1.3 kg dry mass) in situ; thus, Ra was roughly 20 times greater than Rh per unit mass. The contribution of R a peaked in the fall and coincided with leaf senescence of the forest canopy. A soil-sterilizing experimental treatment designed to help isolate R a in situ reduced bacterial biomass and shifted fungal community composition, but there was no reduction in Rs of the in-situ root-soil tray systems. The relative R a to R s ratio increased with root functional strategies characterized by greater specific root length and tip abundance, but also to greater root tissue density. The ratio of R a to R s also increased with warmer soil temperatures and decreased slightly with increasing soil moisture. We discuss how incorporating root functional traits as modulators of the autotrophic contribution to R s could be considered when modeling total soil CO 2 efflux from forests.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Amazon drought resilience – emerging results point to new empirical needs

Will climate change turn tropical forests from a carbon sink to a source (Pan et al., 2011)? Tropical forests cycle more carbon, water, and energy than any other biome (Bonan, 2008). The Amazon is the largest tropical forest, spanning one-third of South America, and any perturbation in its function has repercussions on the global climate. Mild and severe droughts in the Amazon are predicted to double and triple in area, respectively, by 2100, while the area under wet extremes will increase (Duffy et al., 2015). Our understanding of the role of plants' hydrological environments in determining their drought response, however, is limited (Chitra-Tarak et al., 2018, 2021). An important review by Costa et al. (2023; pp. 714–733) published in this issue of New Phytologist highlights that shallow-water table (WT) forests constitute c. 50% of the Amazon and may act as hydrological refugia during droughts, yet they have been neglected in Amazon forest research to date. Emerging results suggest that the shallow-WT forests that dominate the Amazon basin may increase in productivity under moderate droughts due to relief from hypoxia, suggesting a potential buffer from drought relative to deeper WT forests (Fig. 1). During severe droughts, however, shallow-WT forests may be vulnerable to collapse due to drought-intolerant traits. Addressing the underrepresentation of relatively drought-resilient shallow-WT forests in the Amazon's forest inventories may help resolve the much-debated incongruence in recent studies of the Amazon's drought resilience. Data from forest inventories (biased toward deep-WT forests) indicate that the Amazon's carbon sink is declining, partially because of drought impacts (Phillips et al., 2009; Brienen et al., 2015), whereas basin-wide satellite-based measures of gross primary productivity, which include shallow-WT forests, indicate varied regional responses to droughts (Saleska et al., 2007; Brando et al., 2010). Costa et al.'s (2023) descriptive insights of the intricate balance of geology, topography, hydrology, vegetation, and drought on ecosystem function, as well as their conceptual predictive framework, are useful for developing new empirical research in these understudied ecosystems and improving Earth system models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Influence of living grass Roots and endophytic fungal hyphae on soil hydraulic properties

Soil hydraulic properties are often estimated based on laboratory data or pedotransfer functions dependent on soil physical properties, which often do not consider potential impacts of soil roots or fungal hyphae. Here, we first review current knowledge of how these soil biotic components affect hydraulic properties, then we conducted laboratory experiments to specifically test if the presence of roots and mycorrhizal fungi had a significant effect on the hydraulic properties of two soils with contrasting textures: Flint sand and Hamblen silt loam. Soil cores were seeded with (Panicum virgatum) and grown in a greenhouse over three separate growth periods. The endophytic fungus Serendipita indica was injected as liquid inoculant into designated mycorrhizal cores. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (K sat ) measurements were made with a constant head permeameter, and soil water retention curves were obtained by the evaporation method, supplemented at the dry end for Hamblen silt loam with water activity meter data. Retention curve parameters were obtained by fitting the van Genuchten equation to the resulting measurements. Mean root volume ratios were higher in the mycorrhizal inoculated treatment than in the uninoculated treatment for both soils. For Flint sand, analysis of variance revealed that K sat was reduced by the presence of roots as compared to bare soil. This was likely due to roots clogging soil pores. Results also indicated the presence of roots changed the shape of the water retention curve for Flint sand by increasing water content at saturation and by reducing the slope of the curve. These changes suggested roots created additional porosity and broadened the pore-size distribution. The presence of mycorrhizal fungi accentuated the root effects. The influence of roots and mycorrhizal fungi on hydraulic properties was less obvious for the Hamblen silt loam, as none of the treatments differed from each other at p < 0.05. The results highlight the necessity to consider the impact of root and fungal structures on models of soil hydraulic properties.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Dry Season Transpiration and Soil Water Dynamics in the Central Amazon

With current observations and future projections of more intense and frequent droughts in the tropics, understanding the impact that extensive dry periods may have on tree and ecosystem-level transpiration and concurrent carbon uptake has become increasingly important. Here, we investigate paired soil and tree water extraction dynamics in an old-growth upland forest in central Amazonia during the 2018 dry season. Tree water use was assessed via radial patterns of sap flow in eight dominant canopy trees, each a different species with a range in diameter, height, and wood density. Paired multi-sensor soil moisture probes used to quantify volumetric water content dynamics and soil water extraction within the upper 100 cm were installed adjacent to six of those trees. To link depth-specific water extraction patterns to root distribution, fine root biomass was assessed through the soil profile to 235 cm. To scale tree water use to the plot level (stand transpiration), basal area was measured for all trees within a 5 m radius around each soil moisture probe. The sensitivity of tree transpiration to reduced precipitation varied by tree, with some increasing and some decreasing in water use during the dry period. Tree-level water use scaled with sapwood area, from 11 to 190 L per day. Stand level water use, based on multiple plots encompassing sap flow and adjacent trees, varied from ∼1.7 to 3.3 mm per day, increasing linearly with plot basal area. Soil water extraction was dependent on root biomass, which was dense at the surface (i.e., 45% in the upper 5 cm) and declined dramatically with depth. As the dry season progressed and the upper soil dried, soil water extraction shifted to deeper levels and model projections suggest that much of the water used during the month-long dry-down could be extracted from the upper 2–3 m. Results indicate variation in rates of soil water extraction across the research area and, temporally, through the soil profile. These results provide key information on whole-tree contributions to transpiration by canopy trees as water availability changes. In addition, information on simultaneous stand level dynamics of soil water extraction that can inform mechanistic models that project tropical forest response to drought.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Stem respiration and growth in a central Amazon rainforest

Tropical forests cycle a large amount of CO 2 between the land and atmosphere, with a substantial portion of the return flux due tree respiratory processes. However, in situ estimates of woody tissue respiratory fluxes and carbon use efficiencies (CUEW) and their dependencies on physiological processes including stem wood production (Pw) and transpiration in tropical forests remain scarce. In this work, we synthesize monthly Pw and daytime stem CO 2 efflux (ES) measurements over one year from 80 trees with variable biomass accumulation rates in the central Amazon. On average, carbon flux to woody tissues, expressed in the same stem area normalized units as ES, averaged 0.90 ± 1.2 µmol m -2 s -1 for Pw, and 0.55 ± 0.33 µmol m -2 s -1 for daytime ES. A positive linear correlation was found between stem growth rates and stem CO 2 efflux, with respiratory carbon loss equivalent to 15 ± 3% of stem carbon accrual. CUEW of stems was non-linearly correlated with growth and was as high as 77-87% for a fast-growing tree. Diurnal measurements of stem CO 2 efflux for three individuals showed a daytime reduction of ES by 15-50% during periods of high sap flow and transpiration. The results demonstrate that high daytime ES fluxes are associated with high CUE W during fast tree growth, reaching higher values than previously observed in the Amazon Basin (e.g. maximum CUEW up to 77-87%, versus 30-56%). The observations are consistent with the emerging view that diurnal dynamics of stem water status influences growth processes and associated respiratory metabolism.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Belowground respiration, root traits, and soil characteristics of an East Tennessee deciduous forest, 2019-2020

This dataset contains empirical physiological, morphological, and chemical data of root systems, and elemental, nutrient content for soils collected on forty individuals of eight temperate tree species, between June 2019 and July 2020 at The University of Tennessee Forest Research Center and Arboretum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The project used a novel methodology to empirically derive estimates of the autotrophic and heterotrophic components of soil respiration in-situ. The project consists of two measurement approaches. The first set of measurements uses a standard approach for measuring specific root respiration on excised root systems. The second used “in-situ root trays” This dataset includes 10 data files in comma separate (*.csv) ASCII format. Data include measurements of leaf and root functional traits for excised root systems and for living root systems housed within in-situ root trays, data on soil carbon and nitrogen pools, in-situ measurements of soil moisture and temperature, data on soil respiration rates for in-situ root trays (both as soil mass-based fluxes, and soil-area based fluxes), and data on the geographic coordinates and tree sizes of study trees. Forty study trees of eight temperate tree species were studied (five individuals per species). Two in-situ root trays were installed per species, each housing one entire root system comprising < 3 root orders, and still being attached to the tree via transportive root. All respiration measurements were conducted with the Li-6800 portable photosynthesis system (Li-COR, Lincoln, NE, USA). Root respiration measurements of excised root tissues were made using the Li-6800 and the Walz 3010-GWK1 gas exchange chamber (Heinz Walz GmbH, Effeltrich, Germany). Root scan images were analyzed using WinRHIZO. These images are companion files to this dataset and are contained in two compressed (*.zip) folders. Additional metadata are provided: 10 data dictionaries and a file-level metadata file in comma separate (*.csv) format and a user guide in PDF (*.pdf) format.

EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > VEGETATION > LEAF CHAR↗

The roles of photochemical and non-photochemical quenching in regulating photosynthesis depend on the phases of fluctuating light conditions

We report the induction and relaxation of photochemistry and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) are not instantaneous and require time to respond to fluctuating environments. There is a lack of integrated understanding on how photochemistry and NPQ influence photosynthesis in fluctuating environments. We measured the induction and relaxation of chlorophyll a fluorescence and gas exchange in poplar and cotton at varying temperatures under saturating and fluctuating lights. When the light shifted from dark to high, the fraction of open reaction centers in photosystem II (q L ) gradually increased while NPQ increased suddenly and then remained stable. Temperature significantly changed the response of q L but not that of NPQ during the dark to high light transition. Increased q L led to higher photosynthesis but their precise relationship was affected by NPQ and temperature. q L was significantly related to biochemical capacity. Thus, q L appears to be a strong indicator of the activation of carboxylase, leading to the similar dynamics between q L and photosynthesis. When the light shifted from high to low intensity, NPQ is still engaged at a high level, causing a stronger decline in photosynthesis. Our finding suggests that the dynamic effects of photochemistry and NPQ on photosynthesis depend on the phases of environmental fluctuations and interactive effects of light and temperature. Across the full spectra of light fluctuation, the slow induction of q L is a more important limiting factor than the slow relaxation of NPQ for photosynthesis in typical ranges of temperature for photosynthesis. The findings provided a new perspective to improve photosynthetic productivity with molecular biology under natural fluctuating environments.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗