The Seasonal and Diurnal Patterns of net Ecosystem CO2 Exchange in a Subtropical Montane Cloud Forest.

CO2 fluxes were measured by an open/closed path eddy covariance system at a natural regenerated 50-years-old yellow cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana) forest at Chi-Lan Mountain site (CLM site, 24°35'N, 121°25'E, 1650 m elevation), north-eastern Taiwan. CLM site is located at a relative uniform south-eastern-facing valley slope (15°) characterized with year round fog occurrence and diurnal mountain-valley wind and can be classified as subtropical montane cloud forest. Based on measurement from July 2007 to June 2008, seasonal and diurnal patterns of CO2 fluxes were described and patterns under different cloudiness and foggy conditions were presented. Comparing with other cypress forests in temperate region, there is only a weak seasonal pattern of the CO2 fluxes at CLM site. Throughout the year, average incident photosynthetically active radiation in summer was almost the double of that in winter, whereas the difference of mean daytime CO2 fluxes among seasons was much less than the seasonal light difference. During summer when light intensity was higher, mean daytime CO2 fluxes reached -7.5 μmol/m2/s in July and -8.8 μmol/m2/s in August. As heavy fog accounted for 64% and 67% of the time in November and February, mean daytime CO2 fluxes dropped to -6.9 and -6.1 μmol/m2/s respectively. With comparable higher incident radiation intensity (>1000 μmol/m2/s), the CO2 fluxes were higher in overcast days than in clear days. In July 2007, clear days accounted for 30% of the month, light intensity reached its peak at midday, and however, CO2 fluxes didn't reach its highest value in the meanwhile. Canopy conductance calculated from the Penman-Monteith equation and measured latent heat fluxes both showed a midday depression at clear days, which indicated the regulation of transpiration by plant physiological mechanism. With comparable lower incident radiation intensity (<1000 μmol/m2/s), the CO2 fluxes were higher in overcast days than in foggy days. The difference suggested that water droplets deposited on leaves might partially block the pathway of the gas exchange through stomata as canopy immersed in the very humid air. However, CO2 fluxes did not cease during foggy periods, as also supported by sap flow and leaf chamber measurements, the morphological characteristics of leaf or/and canopy structure might contribute to the well adaptability of this subtropical montane cloud forest to the humid environment.