Remotely Sensed Canopy Nitrogen Correlates With Nitrous Oxide Emissions in a Lowland Tropical Rainforest

Tropical forests exhibit significant heterogeneity in plant functional and chemical traits that may contribute to spatial patterns of key soil biogeochemical processes, such as carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions. Although tropical forests are the largest ecosystem source of nitrous oxide (N2O), drivers of spatial patterns within forests are poorly resolved. Here, we show that local variation in canopy foliar N, mapped by remote‐sensing image spectroscopy, correlates with patterns of soil N2O emission from a lowland tropical rainforest. We identified ten 0.25 ha plots (assemblages of 40–70 individual trees) in which average remotely‐sensed canopy N fell above or below the regional mean. The plots were located on a single minimally‐dissected terrace (km2) where soil type, vegetation structure and climatic conditions were relatively constant. We measured N2O fluxes monthly for 1 yr and found that high canopy N species assemblages had on average three‐fold higher total mean N2O fluxes than nearby lower canopy N areas. These differences are consistent with strong differences in litter stoichiometry, nitrification rates and soil nitrate concentrations. Canopy N status was also associated with microbial community characteristics: lower canopy N plots had two‐fold greater soil fungal to bacterial ratios and a significantly lower abundance of ammonia‐oxidizing archaea, although genes associated with denitrification (nirS, nirK, nosZ) showed no relationship with N2O flux. Overall, landscape emissions from this ecosystem are at the lowest end of the spectrum reported for tropical forests, consist with multiple metrics indicating that these highly productive forests retain N tightly and have low plant‐available losses. These data point to connections between canopy and soil processes that have largely been overlooked as a driver of denitrification. Defining relationships between remotely‐sensed plant traits and soil processes offers the chance to map these processes at large scales, potentially increasing our ability to predict N2O emissions in heterogeneous landscapes

Top-Down Analysis of Forest Structure and Biogeochemistry across Hawaiian Landscapes.

v. ill. 23 cm.QuarterlyTechnical and analytical improvements in aircraft-based remote sensing allow synoptic measurements of structural and chemical properties of vegetation across whole landscapes. We used the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, which includes waveform light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and high-fidelity imaging spectroscopy, to evaluate the landscapes surrounding four well-studied sites on a substrate age gradient across the Hawaiian Islands. The airborne measurements yielded variations in ground topography, canopy height, and canopy nitrogen (N) concentration more accurately than they could have been obtained by any reasonable intensity of ground-based sampling. We detected spatial variation in ecosystem properties associated with the properties of different species, including differences in canopy N concentrations associated with the native species Metrosideros polymorpha and Acacia koa, and differences brought about by invasions of the biological N fixer Morella faya. Structural and chemical differences associated with exotic tree plantations and with dominance of forest patches by the native mat-forming fern Dicranopteris linearis also could be analyzed straightforwardly. This approach provides a powerful tool for ecologists seeking to expand from plot-based measurements to landscape-level analyses

Stream Nutrient Concentrations on the Windward Coast of Hawai‘I Island and Their Relationship to Watershed Characteristics.

v. ill. 23 cm.QuarterlyDissolved inorganic and organic nutrients and physiochemical parameters were measured in 24 Hawai‘i Island streams. Particulate nutrients and instantaneous nutrient and sediment fluxes were measured in half of these streams. Stream waters were dilute and slightly alkaline and had low concentrations of ammonium, orthophosphate, dissolved organic phosphorus, and total suspended solids. Particulate matter comprised 45%, 73%, and 28% of nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon pools, respectively. Dissolved nitrogen was comprised primarily of organic nitrogen (54%) and nitrate (34%). In some streams, nitrate and total nitrogen concentrations were slightly elevated relative to Hawai‘i Department of Health (HDOH) water quality standards. Instantaneous nitrate yields for the streams plus 26 HDOH stations were calculated, and the average from the combined data set was 7.1 (SD 11.1) moles N day-1 km-2. Nitrate concentrations and yields were 2.1 and 3.5 times higher, respectively, in Kohala watersheds than in Mauna Kea watersheds. Regression analysis was used to evaluate whether water quality parameters are predicted by watershed area, mean annual rainfall, population density, or percentage of agricultural land. Many water quality parameters were not predicted by these variables. In Mauna Kea streams, concentrations of dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon increased with increasing watershed area, nitrate concentrations increased with increasing population density, and both specific conductivity and nitrate yield increased with increasing percentage of agricultural lands. In Kohala streams, nitrate concentrations and yields were not predicted by watershed characteristics. Overall, watershed characteristics, as quantified in this study, were not strong predictors of water quality

Relationships among net primary productivity, nutrients and climate in tropical rain forest: a pan-tropical analysis

Tropical rain forests play a dominant role in global biosphere-atmosphere CO(2) exchange. Although climate and nutrient availability regulate net primary production (NPP) and decomposition in all terrestrial ecosystems, the nature and extent of such controls in tropical forests remain poorly resolved. We conducted a meta-analysis of carbon-nutrient-climate relationships in 113 sites across the tropical forest biome. Our analyses showed that mean annual temperature was the strongest predictor of aboveground NPP (ANPP) across all tropical forests, but this relationship was driven by distinct temperature differences between upland and lowland forests. Within lowland forests (< 1000 m), a regression tree analysis revealed that foliar and soil-based measurements of phosphorus (P) were the only variables that explained a significant proportion of the variation in ANPP, although the relationships were weak. However, foliar P, foliar nitrogen (N), litter decomposition rate (k), soil N and soil respiration were all directly related with total surface (0-10 cm) soil P concentrations. Our analysis provides some evidence that P availability regulates NPP and other ecosystem processes in lowland tropical forests, but more importantly, underscores the need for a series of large-scale nutrient manipulations - especially in lowland forests - to elucidate the most important nutrient interactions and controls