Upland Trees Contribute to Exchange of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) in Forest Ecosystems

The increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) concentration contributes to the acceleration of the greenhouse effect. However, the role of trees in the N2O exchange of forest ecosystems is still an open question. While the soils of temperate and boreal forests were shown to be a natural source of N2O, trees have been so far overlooked in the forest N2O inventories. We determined N2O fluxes in common tree species of boreal and temperate forests: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Norway spruce (Picea abies), downy and silver birch (Betula pubescens, B. pendula), and European beech (Fagus sylvatica). We investigated (1) whether these tree species exchange N2O with the atmosphere under natural field conditions, (2) how the tree N2O fluxes contribute to the forest N2O balance, and (3) whether these fluxes show seasonal dynamics. The studies were performed in a boreal forest (SMEAR II station, Finland; June 2014 - May 2015) and two temperate mountain forests (White Carpathians, Czech Republic; Black Forest, Germany; June and July 2015). Fluxes of N2O in mature tree stems and forest floor were measured using static chamber systems followed by chromatographic and photo-acoustic analyses of N2O concentration changes. Pine, spruce and birch trees were identified as net annual N2O sources. Spruce was found the strongest emitter (0.27 mg ha-1 h-1) amounting thus up to 2.5% of forest floor N2O emissions. All tree species showed a substantial seasonality in stem N2O flux that was related to their physiological activity and climatic variables. In contrast, stems of beech trees growing at soils consuming N2O may act as a substantial sink of N2O from the atmosphere. Consistent N2O consumption by tree stems ranging between -12.1 and -35.2 mg ha-1 h-1 and contributing by up to 3.4% to the forest floor N2O uptake is a novel finding in contrast to current studies presenting trees as N2O emitters. To understand these fluxes, N2O exchange of photoautotrophic organisms associated with beech bark (lichens, mosses and algae) was quantified. All the organisms were net N2O sinks at full rehydration with consumption rates comparable to stem consumption rates. All tree species studied contribute to N2O exchange in forest ecosystems and these fluxes have to be included in the forest N2O emission inventories.