Nitrogen concentration and physical properties are key drivers of woody tissue respiration.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite the critical role of woody tissues in determining net carbon exchange of terrestrial ecosystems, relatively little is known regarding the drivers of sapwood and bark respiration. METHODS: Using one of the most comprehensive wood respiration datasets to date (82 species from Australian rainforest, savanna and temperate forest), we quantified relationships between tissue respiration rates (Rd) measured in vitro (i.e. 'respiration potential') and physical properties of bark and sapwood, and nitrogen concentration (Nmass) of leaves, sapwood and bark. KEY RESULTS: Across all sites, tissue density and thickness explained similar, and in some cases more, variation in bark and sapwood Rd than did Nmass. Higher density bark and sapwood tissues had lower Rd for a given Nmass than lower density tissues. Rd-Nmass slopes were less steep in thicker compared with thinner-barked species and less steep in sapwood than in bark. Including the interactive effects of Nmass, density and thickness significantly increased the explanatory power for bark and sapwood respiration in branches. Among these models, Nmass contributed more to explanatory power in trunks than in branches, and in sapwood than in bark. Our findings were largely consistent across sites, which varied in their climate, soils and dominant vegetation type, suggesting generality in the observed trait relationships. Compared with a global compilation of leaf, stem and root data, Australian species showed generally lower Rd and Nmass, and less steep Rd-Nmass relationships. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report control of respiration-nitrogen relationships by physical properties of tissues, and one of few to report respiration-nitrogen relationships in bark and sapwood. Together, our findings indicate a potential path towards improving current estimates of autotrophic respiration by integrating variation across distinct plant tissues.

Seasonal changes in carbon and nitrogen compound concentrations in a Quercus petraea chronosequence.

Forest productivity declines with tree age. This decline may be due to changes in metabolic functions, resource availability and/or changes in resource allocation (between growth, reproduction and storage) with tree age. Carbon and nitrogen remobilization/storage processes are key to tree growth and survival. However, studies of the effects of tree age on these processes are scarce and have not yet considered seasonal carbon and nitrogen variations in situ. This study was carried out in a chronosequence of sessile oak (Quercus petraea Liebl.) for 1 year to survey the effects of tree age on the seasonal changes of carbon and nitrogen compounds in several tree compartments, focusing on key phenological stages. Our results highlight a general pattern of carbon and nitrogen function at all tree ages, with carbon reserve remobilization at budburst for growth, followed by carbon reserve formation during the leafy season and carbon reserve use during winter for maintenance. The variation in concentrations of nitrogen compounds shows less amplitude than that of carbon compounds. Storage as proteins occurs later, and mainly depends on leaf nitrogen remobilization and root uptake in autumn. We highlight several differences between tree age groups, in particular the loss of carbon storage function of fine and medium-sized roots with tree ageing. Moreover, the pattern of carbon compound accumulation in branches supports the hypothesis of a preferential allocation of carbon towards growth until the end of wood formation in juvenile trees, at the expense of the replenishment of carbon stores, while mature trees start allocating carbon to storage right after budburst. Our results demonstrate that at key phenological stages, physiological and developmental functions differ with tree age, and together with environmental conditions, influence the carbon and nitrogen concentration variations in sessile oaks.