Water use efficiency (WUE) is an objective indicator of plant water use, the research of which is helpful to understand the carbon-water coupling mechanism in terrestrial ecosystems. We investigated WUE of dominant tree species in the succession series of broad-leaved Korean pine forests in Changbai Mountain (middle-aged poplar-birch secondary forest, mature poplar-birch secondary forest, broad-leaved Korean pine forest) by using stable carbon isotope technology. The WUE of three forests under different succession stages decreased in order of broad-leaved Korean pine forest > middle-aged poplar-birch secondary forest > mature poplar-birch secondary forest. In addition, the same tree species had different WUE in different forest stands. The WUE of Populus davidiana and Betula platyphylla in the middle-aged poplar-birch secondary forest was higher than that in mature poplar-birch secondary forest. The WUE of Fraxinus mandshurica in broad-leaved Korean pine forest was much higher than that in middle-aged poplar-birch secondary forest. The WUE of Acer mono and Quercus mongolica in broad-leaved Korean pine forest was higher than that in mature poplar-birch secondary forest. The dominant tree species had different WUE as for wood types which generally presented ring-porous wood species>diffuse-porous wood species. There were different seasonal trends during the growing season among the dominant species in the broad-leaved Korean pine forest. The WUE of Fraxinus mandshurica, Acer mono, Quercus mongolica and Tilia amurensis showed first decreasing and then increasing, while that of Pinus koraiensis was opposite. The WUE of the broad-leaved Korean pine forest was negatively correlated with temperature in the growing season. The different WUE was one of the strategies for dominant species in the broad-leaved Korean pine forest in Changbai Mountains to adapt to the community succession and respond to climate and environmental change.
Ecosystem , Pinus , China , Forests , Republic of Korea , Trees , Water
Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) can precisely determine the carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) of specific compounds in a complex substrate. The δ13C values in tree non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) compounds, e.g. sugars, organic acids, and sugar alcohols, measured via CSIA could help tracing the newly assimilated photosynthate during carbon transfer and exchange with atmosphere. Further, they can act as sensitive indicators of the physiological response of trees to environmental change. In this review, we first systematically introduced the methods of CSIA with respect to sampling, purification, and analysis. Then, compound-specific δ13C difference among different NSCs and across tree carbon pools, as well as temporal pattern and mechanism underlying the variation of δ13C were described. Finally, we discussed the interaction between δ13C in tree NSCs, the main substrates of respiration, and respired CO2(δ13CR). Further studies on the post-photosynthetic discrimination, tree stress physiology, and tree-ring δ13C formation with the promising applications of CISA were suggested.
Plant Leaves , Trees , Carbohydrates , Carbon , Carbon Isotopes
Carbon isotope in tree ring is an effective indicator of climate and environmental change. However, few studies have analyzed the indication effect of tree ring carbon isotope on net primary productivity (NPP) of forests. Based on meteorological factors of growing seasons, we analyzed the variation trend and the relationship between the tree ring δ13C chronosequence of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) and net primary productivity (NPP) of Korean pine in Changbai Mountain. We found that before 1970, the change of Korean pine tree ring δ13C and NPP was synchronous, with a highly significant linear positive correlation between them, indicating that tree ring δ13C recorded the impacts of climate change on NPP. After 1970, tree ring δ13C was negatively correlated with NPP but not statistically significant, meaning that other environmental factors such as severe droughts reduced the sensitivity of tree ring δ13C to climate change and the recording of NPP by tree ring δ13C. The δ13C of the current year was also correlated with the corresponding NPP in the following year, which indicated that the current year's environmental conditions were of great significance to the growth of Korean pine in the following year. This study showed that tree ring δ13C was a good indicator of the NPP of Korean pine in Changbai Mountain and that tree ring δ13C had the potential to reconstruct long-term changes of forest NPP in the history.
Pinus , Trees , China , Climate Change , Forests
Stable carbon isotope composition can accurately indicate ecosystem carbon cycling and provide key information for the study of the influence of forest succession on the carbon cycling and carbon sequestration potential. We measured the δ13C values and carbon and nitrogen contents of leaf, trunk, root, litter, and soil along a forest successional gradient in Changbai Mountain, which included a middle-aged poplar-birch secondary forest, a mature poplar-birch secondary forest, and an old-growth broad-leaved Korean pine forest. The results showed that leaf δ13C reduced with their position from the upper canopy to lower canopy, bark δ13C was less than xylem, fine root δ13C was less than course root. In contrast to the secondary forests, δ13C of the undecomposed litter layer was less than that of the semi-decomposed layer and decomposed litter layer in the broad-leaved Korean pine forest. Soil δ13C increased with depth. The ascending order of mean δ13C was leaf, litter, root, trunk, and soil, indicating that there is obvious fractionation among different organs of plants and among different parts of a specific organ. In addition, plant δ13C first decreased and then increased with the succession process, but soil δ13C increased with the succession processes. The different patterns of the changes of plant and soil δ13C along forest succession could be explained by the relationship between nitrogen content and carbon isotope fractionation effect, indicating that carbon isotope fractionation was affected by the change of dominant tree species and the variation of carbon turnover rate.
Forests , Pinus , Carbon/analysis , Carbon Isotopes/analysis , China , Environmental Monitoring , Soil/chemistry , Trees
