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Increasing atmospheric dryness exacerbates mangrove carbon-water decoupling.
Xiangxue Wang1,2,3,4, Yueting Deng1,2,3,4, Yanjie Liu1,2,3,5
1State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361102, China.
Mangrove water-use efficiency (WUE) shows seasonal and daily variations, with decoupling between carbon and water fluxes increasing with atmospheric dryness. A new formula helps predict mangrove carbon and water dynamics in a changing climate.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Environmental Science
- Plant Physiology
Background:
- Mangroves exhibit high productivity and conservative water use, even under drought stress.
- Temporal variability in mangrove carbon-water relations across different timescales is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the temporal variability of ecosystem-level gross primary productivity (GPP), transpiration (T), and water-use efficiency (WUE) in a subtropical mangrove.
- To examine the environmental controls on these carbon-water fluxes.
- To develop a validated diurnal hysteresis formulation for mangrove carbon-water relations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized seven-year eddy covariance measurements to collect ecosystem-level data.
- Analyzed seasonal and diurnal patterns of GPP, T, and WUE.
- Investigated the relationship between carbon-water fluxes and environmental factors, particularly vapor pressure deficit (VPD).
Main Results:
- Mangrove WUE displayed a U-shaped seasonal pattern (lower in summer) and varied diurnally, shifting from U-shaped in winter to L-shaped in summer.
- Asynchronous GPP and T led to diurnal hysteresis, which correlated with VPD.
- A VPD-adjusted hysteresis formulation (T∝GPP·VPD0.78) effectively reduced this diurnal hysteresis.
Conclusions:
- Increasing atmospheric dryness intensifies mangrove carbon-water decoupling, with diurnal hysteresis being highly sensitive to VPD.
- The validated diurnal hysteresis formulation aids in projecting mangrove carbon and water fluxes under future climate scenarios.
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