Global Convergence in the Temperature Sensitivity of Respiration at Ecosystem Level

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 329; no. 5993; pp. 838 - 840
• Main Authors: Mahecha, Miguel D, Reichstein, Markus, Carvalhais, Nuno, Lasslop, Gitta, Lange, Holger, Seneviratne, Sonia I, Vargas, Rodrigo, Ammann, Christof, Arain, M. Altaf, Cescatti, Alessandro, Janssens, Ivan A, Migliavacca, Mirco, Montagnani, Leonardo, Richardson, Andrew D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 13.08.2010; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Carbon - metabolism; Carbon cycle; Carbon Dioxide - metabolism; Cell Respiration; Climate; Climate cycles; Ecological and Environmental Phenomena; Ecosystem; Ecosystem models; Ecosystems; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Global climate models; Models, Biological; Models, Statistical; Photosynthesis; Plants - metabolism; Respiration; Soil - analysis; Soil ecology; Soil Microbiology; Soil respiration; Synecology; Temperature; Terrestrial ecosystems; Time series; Ecosystem; Air temperature; Carbon dioxide; Vegetation; Emission; Environmental factor; Respiration
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1189587

The respiratory release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the land surface is a major flux in the global carbon cycle, antipodal to photosynthetic CO₂ uptake. Understanding the sensitivity of respiratory processes to temperature is central for quantifying the climate-carbon cycle feedback. We approximated the sensitivity of terrestrial ecosystem respiration to air temperature (Q₁₀) across 60 FLUXNET sites with the use of a methodology that circumvents confounding effects. Contrary to previous findings, our results suggest that Q₁₀ is independent of mean annual temperature, does not differ among biomes, and is confined to values around 1.4 ± 0.1. The strong relation between photosynthesis and respiration, by contrast, is highly variable among sites. The results may partly explain a less pronounced climate-carbon cycle feedback than suggested by current carbon cycle climate models.