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193 records · Page 11

Root system architecture and environmental flux analysis in mature crops using 3D root mesocosms

Current methods of root sampling typically only obtain small or incomplete sections of root systems and do not capture their true complexity. To facilitate the visualization and analysis of full-sized plant root systems in 3-dimensions, we developed customized mesocosm growth containers. While highly scalable, the design presented here uses an internal volume of 45 ft 3 (1.27 m 3 ), suitable for large crop and bioenergy grass root systems to grow largely unconstrained. Furthermore, they allow for the excavation and preservation of 3-dimensional root system architecture (RSA), and facilitate the collection of time-resolved subterranean environmental data. Sensor arrays monitoring matric potential, temperature and CO 2 levels are buried in a grid formation at various depths to assess environmental fluxes at regular intervals. Methods of 3D data visualization of fluxes were developed to allow for comparison with root system architectural traits. Following harvest, the recovered root system can be digitally reconstructed in 3D through photogrammetry, which is an inexpensive method requiring only an appropriate studio space and a digital camera. We developed a pipeline to extract features from the 3D point clouds, or from derived skeletons that include point cloud voxel number as a proxy for biomass, total root system length, volume, depth, convex hull volume and solidity as a function of depth. Ground-truthing these features with biomass measurements from manually dissected root systems showed a high correlation. We evaluated switchgrass, maize, and sorghum root systems to highlight the capability for species wide comparisons. We focused on two switchgrass ecotypes, upland (VS16) and lowland (WBC3), in identical environments to demonstrate widely different root system architectures that may be indicative of core differences in their rhizoeconomic foraging strategies. Finally, we imposed a strong physiological water stress and manipulated the growth medium to demonstrate whole root system plasticity in response to environmental stimuli. Hence, these new “3D Root Mesocosms” and accompanying computational analysis provides a new paradigm for study of mature crop systems and the environmental fluxes that shape them.

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↗

Topography and functional traits shape the distribution of key shrub plant functional types in low-Arctic tundra

The expansion of shrubs in the Arctic tundra fundamentally modifies land-atmosphere interactions. However, it remains unclear how shrub distribution and expansion differ across key species due to challenges with discriminating tundra plant species at regional scales. Here, we combined multi-scale, multi-platform remote sensing and in situ trait measurements to elucidate the distribution patterns and primary controls of two representative deciduous-tall-shrub (DTS) genera, Alnus and Salix, in low-Arctic tundra. We show that topographic features were a key control on DTSs, creating heterogeneous, but predictable distributions of Alnus and Salix fractional cover (fCover). Alnus was more tolerant of elevation and slope and was found on hilly uplands (slope >10°) within a specific elevational band (200–400 m above sea level [MSL]). In contrast, Salix occurred at lower elevations (50–300 m MSL) on gentler slopes (3-10°) and required adequate soil moisture associated with its profligate water use. We also show that niche differentiation between Alnus and Salix changed with patch size, where larger patches were more specialized in resource requirements than individual plants of Alnus and Salix. To understand what constrains the growth of DTSs at locations with low fCover, we developed environmental limiting factor models, which showed that topography limits the upper bound of Alnus and Salix fCover in 69.2% and 48.7% of the landscape, respectively. These findings highlight a critical need to better understand and represent topography-controlled processes and functional traits in regulating shrub distribution, as well as a need for more detailed species classification to predict shrubification in the Arctic.

alder↗

Modeling the Impact of Riparian Hollows on River Corridor Nitrogen Exports

Recent studies in snowmelt-dominated catchments have documented changes in nitrogen (N) retention over time, such as declines in watershed exports of N, though there is a limited understanding of the controlling processes driving these trends. Working in the mountainous headwater East River Colorado watershed, we explored the effects of riparian hollows as N-cycling hotspots and as important small-scale controls on observed watershed trends. Using a modeling-based approach informed by remote sensing and in situ observations, we simulated the N-retention capacity of riparian hollows with seasonal and yearly hydrobiogeochemical perturbations imposed as drivers. We then implemented a scaling approach to quantify the relative contribution of riparian hollows to the total river corridor N budget. We found that riparian hollows primarily serve as N sinks, with N-transformation rates significantly limited by periods of enhanced groundwater upwelling and promoted at the onset of rainfall events. Given these observed hydrologic controls, we expect that the nitrate ( NO 3 - ) sink capacity of riparian hollows will increase in magnitude with future climatic perturbations, specifically the shift to more frequent rainfall events and fewer snowmelt events, as projected for many mountainous headwater catchments. Our current estimates suggest that while riparian hollows provision ~5–20% of NO 3 - to the river network, they functionally act as inhibitors to upland NO 3 - reaching the stream. Our work linking transient hydrological conditions to numerical biogeochemical simulations is an important step in assessing N-retaining features relative to the watershed N budget and better understanding the role of small-scale features within watersheds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Impact of Harvest on Switchgrass Leaf Microbial Communities

Switchgrass is a promising feedstock for biofuel production, with potential for leveraging its native microbial community to increase productivity and resilience to environmental stress. Here, we characterized the bacterial, archaeal and fungal diversity of the leaf microbial community associated with four switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) genotypes, subjected to two harvest treatments (annual harvest and unharvested control), and two fertilization levels (fertilized and unfertilized control), based on 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region amplicon sequencing. Leaf surface and leaf endosphere bacterial communities were significantly different with Alphaproteobacteria enriched in the leaf surface and Gammaproteobacteria and Bacilli enriched in the leaf endosphere. Harvest treatment significantly shifted presence/absence and abundances of bacterial and fungal leaf surface community members: Gammaproteobacteria were significantly enriched in harvested and Alphaproteobacteria were significantly enriched in unharvested leaf surface communities. These shifts were most prominent in the upland genotype DAC where the leaf surface showed the highest enrichment of Gammaproteobacteria, including taxa with 100% identity to those previously shown to have phytopathogenic function. Fertilization did not have any significant impact on bacterial or fungal communities. We also identified bacterial and fungal taxa present in both the leaf surface and leaf endosphere across all genotypes and treatments. These core taxa were dominated by Methylobacterium, Enterobacteriaceae, and Curtobacterium, in addition to Aureobasidium, Cladosporium, Alternaria and Dothideales. Local core leaf bacterial and fungal taxa represent promising targets for plant microbe engineering and manipulation across various genotypes and harvest treatments. Our study showcases, for the first time, the significant impact that harvest treatment can have on bacterial and fungal taxa inhabiting switchgrass leaves and the need to include this factor in future plant microbial community studies.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Impacts of Hurricane Disturbance on Water Quality across the Aquatic Continuum of a Blackwater River to Estuary Complex

Hurricanes cause landscape-scale disturbances that affect biogeochemical cycling and water quality in coastal ecosystems. During Hurricane Irma’s passage through northern Florida, water movements driven by wind velocities up to 105 km h-1 caused a salinity peak in an estuary/blackwater river complex. Water quality was monitored across the 15 km site to detect the magnitude and duration of disturbance. Saline water intruded 15 km inland into a freshwater portion of the river that peaked at a salinity of 2 psu. Due to the volume of precipitation from the hurricane, significant runoff of freshwater and dissolved organic matter (DOM) caused a decrease in salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), and Chlorophyll-a concentrations while increasing turbidity and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM). The disturbance caused rapid changes observed by in-situ water quality monitors over a 3-week period, but some effects persisted for longer periods as shown by 3-month weekly water sampling. This disturbance caused shifts in DOM loading, altered salinity dynamics, and reshaped landscapes due to wind and wave surge both in upland marsh and downstream estuary. Hurricane disturbance temporarily and abruptly alters the aquatic continuum, and observations of system response can help us understand the mechanisms associated with ecosystem resilience and recovery.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Impact of Shifts in Vegetation Phenology on the Carbon Balance of a Semiarid Sagebrush Ecosystem

Dryland ecosystems are critical in regulating the interannual variability of the global terrestrial carbon cycle. The responses of such ecosystems to weather and environmental conditions remain important factors that limit the accurate projections of carbon balance under future climate change. Here, we investigated how shifts in vegetation phenology resulting from changes in weather and environmental conditions influenced ecosystem carbon cycling in one semiarid ecosystem in the Hanford area of central Washington, United States. We examined two years of measurements of the phenology camera, eddy covariance, and soil chamber from an upland semiarid sagebrush ecosystem. Both years had contrasting diel and seasonal patterns of CO 2 fluxes, primarily driven by differences in vegetation phenology. The net ecosystem exchange of CO 2 (NEE) and evapotranspiration (ET) in 2019 were enlarged by shifted vegetation phenology, as a cold and snow-covered winter and warm and dry winter in 2020 resulted in constrained magnitudes of NEE and ET during the summer months. The annual gross primary productivity (GPP) was much higher in 2019 than in 2020 (-211 vs. -112 gC m -2 ), whereas ecosystem respiration was comparable in these two years (164 vs. 144 gC m -2 ). Thus, the annual NEE in 2019 was negative (-47 gC m -2 ) with the sagebrush ecosystem functioning as a carbon sink, while the positive annual NEE in 2020 indicated that the sagebrush ecosystem functioned as a carbon source. Our results demonstrate that winter snowpack can be a critical driver of annual carbon uptake in semiarid sagebrush ecosystems.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Vulnerability of Wetlands Due to Projected Sea-Level Rise in the Coastal Plains of the South and Southeast United States

Coastal wetlands are vulnerable to accelerated sea-level rise, yet knowledge about their extent and distribution is often limited. We developed a land cover classification of wetlands in the coastal plains of the southern United States along the Gulf of Mexico (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida) using 6161 very-high (2 m per pixel) resolution WorldView-2 and WorldView-3 satellite images from 2012 to 2015. Area extent estimations were obtained for the following vegetated classes: marsh, scrub, grass, forested upland, and forested wetland, located in elevation brackets between 0 and 10 m above sea level at 0.1 m intervals. Sea-level trends were estimated for each coastal state using tide gauge data collected over the period 1983–2021 and projected for 2100 using the trend estimated over that period. These trends were considered conservative, as sea level rise in the region accelerated between 2010 and 2021. Estimated losses in vegetation area due to sea level rise by 2100 are projected to be at least 12,587 km 2 , of which 3224 km 2 would be coastal wetlands. Louisiana is expected to suffer the largest losses in vegetation (80%) and coastal wetlands (75%) by 2100. Such high-resolution coastal mapping products help to guide adaptation plans in the region, including planning for wetland conservation and coastal development.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Lead Contamination Differences in the Muscle of Wild Turkeys Harvested with Lead and Copper-Plated Lead Shot

Abstract Despite the known deleterious effects lead exposure can have on humans, lead remains the most common type of ammunition used to harvest big game and upland game birds. We sampled wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo breast muscle shot with standard lead and copper-plated lead pellets to quantify lead residue concentrations within the wound channel, and we sampled multiple adjacent locations to measure the extent lead contamination spreads through tissue of harvested turkeys. We found that samples taken from the wound channel contained more lead (mean = 3.76 μg/g dry weight) than both samples taken adjacent to the wound channel (mean = 0.20 μg/g dry weight) and samples taken from >5 cm away (mean = 0.15 μg/g dry weight). Additionally, we found that birds harvested with standard lead ammunition did not differ in lead concentrations from those shot with copper-plated lead, suggesting that copper plating does not aid in reducing lead exposure. Our findings suggest that wild turkeys harvested with either lead or copper-plated lead shot have the potential to expose consumers, especially children due to their lower tolerance, to low levels of lead that could exceed daily consumption limits set by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control. However, elevated lead levels were confined to the wound channel, and thus proper preparation of game to remove tissue surrounding wound channels may eliminate or substantially reduce lead exposure from harvested game birds.

Biodiversity & Conservation↗

FLUXNET-CH 4 : a global, multi-ecosystem dataset and analysis of methane seasonality from freshwater wetlands

Methane (CH 4 ) emissions from natural landscapes constitute roughly half of global CH4 contributions to the atmosphere, yet large uncertainties remain in the absolute magnitude and the seasonality of emission quantities and drivers. Eddy covariance (EC) measurements of CH4 flux are ideal for constraining ecosystem-scale CH 4 emissions due to quasi-continuous and high-temporal-resolution CH 4 flux measurements, coincident carbon dioxide, water, and energy flux measurements, lack of ecosystem disturbance, and increased availability of datasets over the last decade. Here, we (1) describe the newly published dataset, FLUXNET-CH 4 Version 1.0, the first open-source global dataset of CH 4 EC measurements (available at https://fluxnet.org/data/fluxnet-ch4-community-product/, last access: 7 April 2021). FLUXNET-CH 4 includes half-hourly and daily gap-filled and non-gap-filled aggregated CH4 fluxes and meteorological data from 79 sites globally: 42 freshwater wetlands, 6 brackish and saline wetlands, 7 formerly drained ecosystems, 7 rice paddy sites, 2 lakes, and 15 uplands. Then, we (2) evaluate FLUXNET-CH 4 representativeness for freshwater wetland coverage globally because the majority of sites in FLUXNET-CH4 Version 1.0 are freshwater wetlands which are a substantial source of total atmospheric CH 4 emissions; and (3) we provide the first global estimates of the seasonal variability and seasonality predictors of freshwater wetland CH4 fluxes. Our representativeness analysis suggests that the freshwater wetland sites in the dataset cover global wetland bioclimatic attributes (encompassing energy, moisture, and vegetation-related parameters) in arctic, boreal, and temperate regions but only sparsely cover humid tropical regions. Seasonality metrics of wetland CH 4 emissions vary considerably across latitudinal bands. In freshwater wetlands (except those between 20°S to 20°N) the spring onset of elevated CH 4 emissions starts 3 d earlier, and the CH 4 emission season lasts 4 d longer, for each degree Celsius increase in mean annual air temperature. On average, the spring onset of increasing CH 4 emissions lags behind soil warming by 1 month, with very few sites experiencing increased CH 4 emissions prior to the onset of soil warming. In contrast, roughly half of these sites experience the spring onset of rising CH 4 emissions prior to the spring increase in gross primary productivity (GPP). The timing of peak summer CH 4 emissions does not correlate with the timing for either peak summer temperature or peak GPP. Our results provide seasonality parameters for CH 4 modeling and highlight seasonality metrics that cannot be predicted by temperature or GPP (i.e., seasonality of CH 4 peak). FLUXNET-CH 4 is a powerful new resource for diagnosing and understanding the role of terrestrial ecosystems and climate drivers in the global CH 4 cycle, and future additions of sites in tropical ecosystems and site years of data collection will provide added value to this database. All seasonality parameters are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4672601 (Delwiche et al., 2021). Additionally, raw FLUXNET-CH 4 data used to extract seasonality parameters can be downloaded from https://fluxnet.org/data/fluxnet-ch4-community-product/ (last access: 7 April 2021), and a complete list of the 79 individual site data DOIs is provided in Table 2 of this paper.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Soil CO2 and CH4 Chamber Fluxes in Tussock Tundra, Council Road Mile Marker 71, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 2016-2019

In August-September 2016, June-August 2017, June-August 2018, and June 2019, co-located measurements were made of surface CH4 and CO2 flux, soil temperature, moisture, and thaw depth. Measurements were made at 35 chamber locations at the Council Mile Marker 71 Site (CN_MM71) on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Chamber locations include upland moist acidic tussock tundra, thermo-erosional slopes, and periodically inundated lowland water channels. The dataset includes three *.csv data files with measurements using transparent and opaque chambers (CO2 and CH4 fluxes in light and dark) plus one *.pdf user guide.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska. Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Shrub Seedling Experiment: Environmental Conditions, Vegetation Composition, and Seedling Recruitment, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 2018-2019

In June 2018, a manipulative seed-addition experiment was established at the Council Mile Marker 71 (CN_MM71), Quartz Creek Burn Area (Kougarok Mile Marker 86), and Quartz Creek Unburned (Kougarok Mile Marker 80) sites on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. At each site, 5 replicate blocks were established in disturbed and intact upland tussock tundra (a total of 40 plots). Disturbed plots at Council were located on thermo-erosional (thermokarst) slopes, while disturbed plots in Quartz Creek were in burned areas affected by the Mingvk Lake fire in 2015. Using a split-plot design, an additional manual disturbance treatment (scraping to remove the surface bryophyte layer) was implemented across all blocks in June 2018. Seeds of five erect, deciduous shrubs were broadcast seeded into each plot in June 2018, and seedlings were censused in August 2018 and August 2019. The dataset includes ancillary measurements of plot-level environmental conditions (soil temperature, moisture, chemistry, thaw depth, microtopography, substrate thickness) and vegetation composition (NDVI and estimated percent cover by species and plant functional type). Dataset contains 10 csv data files (five data files with corresponding data dictionaries and one file-level metadata file) and one pdf user guide. The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska. Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Baltimore Ecosystem Study: Soil atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, 1998 - ongoing

The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) established a network of long-term permanent biogeochemical study plots in 1998. These plots provide long-term data on vegetation, soil and hydrologic processes in the key ecosystem types within the urban ecosystem. The network of study plots includes forest plots (upland and riparian), chosen to represent the range of forest conditions in the area and grass plots (to represent home lawns). Plots are instrumented with lysimeters (drainage and tension) to sample soil solution chemistry, time domain reflectometry probes to measure soil moisture, dataloggers to measure and record soil temperature, and trace gas flux chambers to measure the flux of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane from soil to the atmosphere. Measurements of in situ nitrogen mineralization, nitrification and denitrification were made at approximately monthly intervals from Fall 1998 - Fall 2000. Detailed vegetation characterization (all layers) was done in summer 1998 and 2015. Data from these plots has been published in Groffman et al. (2006, 2009), Groffman and Pouyat (2009), Savva et al. (2010), Costa and Groffman (2013), Duncan et al. (2013), Waters et al. (2014), Ni and Groffman (2018), Templeton et al. (2019). Literature Cited Costa, K.H. and P.M. Groffman. 2013. Factors regulating net methane flux in urban forests and grasslands. Soil Science Society of America Journal 77:850 - 855. Duncan, J. M., L. E. Band, and P. M. Groffman. 2013. Towards closing the watershed nitrogen budget: Spatial and temporal scaling of denitrification. Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences 118:1-5; DOI: 10.1002/jgrg.20090 Groffman PM, Pouyat RV, Cadenasso ML, Zipperer WC, Szlavecz K, Yesilonis IC,. Band LE and Brush GS. 2006. Land use context and natural soil controls on plant community composition and soil nitrogen and carbon dynamics in urban and rural forests. Forest Ecology and Management 236:177-192. Groffman, P.M., C.O. Williams, R.V. Pouyat, L.E. Band and I.C. Yesilonis. 2009. Nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide flux in urban forests and grasslands. Journal of Environmental Quality 38:1848-1860. Groffman, P.M. and R.V. Pouyat. 2009. Methane uptake in urban forests and lawns. Environmental Science and Technology 43:5229-5235. DOI: 10.1021/es803720h. Ni, X. and P.M. Groffman. 2018. Declines in methane uptake in forest soils. Proceedings of the National Academies of Science of the United States of America 115:8587-8590. Savva, Y., K. Szlavecz, R. V. Pouyat, P. M. Groffman, and G. Heisler. 2010. Effects of land use and vegetation cover on soil temperature in an urban ecosystem. Soil Science Society of America Journal 74:469-480. Templeton, L., M.L. Cadenasso, J. Sullivan, M. Neel and P.M. Groffman. 2019. Changes in vegetation structure and composition of urban and rural forest patches in Baltimore from 1998 to 2015. Forest Ecology and Management. In press. Waters, E.R., J.L. Morse, N.D. Bettez and P.M. Groffman. 2014. Differential carbon and nitrogen controls of denitrification in riparian zones and streams along an urban to exurban gradient. Journal of Environmental Quality 43:955–963.

Groffman, Peter M↗