Eddy covariance-based differences in net ecosystem productivity values and spatial patterns between naturally regenerating forests and planted forests in China
Differences in environmental factorsEnvironmental factors showed value differences between forest types, while the significance of differences differed among variables, which were both found with corrected values and original measurements (Fig. 1).Figure 1The differences in environmental factors between naturally regenerating forests (NF) and planted forests (PF) in China. The environmental factors include three annual climatic factors (a–c), three seasonal temperature factors (d–f), three seasonal precipitation factors (g–i), three biotic factors (j–l), and two soil factors (m,n). Three annual climatic factors include mean annual air temperature (MAT, a), mean annual precipitation (MAP, b), and aridity index (AI, c) defined as the ratio of MAP to annual potential evapotranspiration. Three seasonal temperature factors include the temperature of the warmest month (Tw, d), the temperature of the coldest month (Tc, e), temperature annual range (TR, f). Three seasonal precipitation factors include precipitation of the wettest month (Pw, g), precipitation of the driest month (Pd, h), and precipitation seasonality (Ps, i) defined as the standard deviation of monthly precipitation during the measuring year. Three biological factors include the mean annual leaf area index (LAI, j), the maximum leaf area index (MLAI, k), and stand age (SA, l). Two soil factors include soil organic carbon content (SOC, m) and soil total nitrogen content (STN, n). The differences are tested for each variable with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), where * and ** indicate significant differences between forest types at significance levels of α = 0.05 and α = 0.01, respectively. The corrected values are mean values during 2003–2019 after correcting the original measurements with the interannual trend (See methods), which are listed in each panel, while original measurements are mean values during the measuring period of each ecosystem, which are not shown in each panel.Full size imageFor annual climatic factors, the significant difference between NF and PF only appeared in MAT (Fig. 1a). The mean MAT of NF was 10.50 ± 7.81 °C, which was significantly lower than that of PF (15.65 ± 6.23 °C) (p 0.05) (Fig. 2c). Even considering the significant effects of MAT on ER, ANCOVA results obtained by fixing MAT as a covariant also suggested that ER values did not significantly differ between forest types (F = 0.01, p > 0.05). Fixing other variables as a covariant also drew a similar result.Therefore, NF showed a lower NEP resulting from the lower GPP than PF, while their differences were not statistically significant (Fig. 2).Differences in NEP latitudinal patternsCarbon fluxes showed divergent latitudinal patterns between NF and PF, while their latitudinal patterns varied among carbon fluxes, which were both found with corrected values and original measurements (Fig. 3).Figure 3The latitudinal patterns of carbon fluxes over Chinese naturally regenerating forests (NF) and planted forests (PF). The carbon fluxes include net ecosystem productivity (NEP, a,b), gross primary productivity (GPP, c,d), and ecosystem respiration (ER, e,f). Each panel is drawn with the corrected values (blue points) and original measurements (grey points), respectively. The blue and black lines represent the regression lines calculated from the corrected values and original measurements, respectively, with their regression statistics listed in blue and black letters. Only the regression slope (Sl) and R2 of each regression are listed. The grey lines represent the regressions between carbon fluxes added by random errors and latitude. Only significant (p 0.05).The ER of NF showed a significant decreasing latitudinal pattern (Fig. 3e), while that of PF exhibited no significant latitudinal pattern (Fig. 3f). The increasing latitude caused the ER of NF to significantly decrease. Each unit increase in latitude led to a 28.71 gC m−2 year−1 decrease in ER, with an R2 of 0.31. However, the increasing latitude contributed little to the ER spatial variation of PF (p > 0.05).In addition, the latitudinal patterns of carbon fluxes and their differences between forest types were also obtained with the original measurements (Fig. 3, grey points). The latitudinal patterns of random error adding carbon fluxes were comparable to those of our corrected carbon fluxes (Fig. 3), which confirmed that the latitudinal patterns of carbon fluxes and their differences between forest types would not be affected by the uncertainties in generating the corrected carbon fluxes.Therefore, among NFs, the similar decreasing latitudinal patterns of GPP and ER meant that NEP showed no significant latitudinal pattern, while the significant decreasing latitudinal pattern of GPP and no significant latitudinal pattern of ER caused NEP to show a decreasing latitudinal pattern among PFs.Differences in the environmental effects on NEP spatial variationsEnvironmental factors, including the annual climatic factors, seasonal temperature factors, seasonal precipitation factors, biological factors, and soil factors, exerted divergent effects on the spatial variations of NEP and its components, which also differed between forest types (Table 1). No factor was found to affect that the spatial variation of NEP among NFs, while most annual and seasonal climatic factors were found to affect that among PFs. The spatial variations of GPP and ER among NFs were both affected by most annual and seasonal climatic factors and LAI, while those among PFs were primarily shaped by most annual and seasonal climatic factors. Though LAI showed no significant effect on GPP and ER spatial variations among PFs, SA exerted a significant negative effect. In addition, the spatial variations of soil variables contributed little to the spatial variations of carbon fluxes. Therefore, among NFs, most annual and seasonal climatic factors and LAI were found to affect GPP and ER spatial variations, while no factor was found to significantly influent the NEP spatial variation. However, among PFs, most annual and seasonal climatic factors were found to affect the spatial variations of NEP and its components, while LAI showed no significant effect. Using the original measurements also generated the similar correlation coefficients (Supplementary Table S1).Table 1 Correlation coefficients between carbon fluxes and environmental factors in naturally regenerating forests (NF) and planted forests (PF).Full size tableGiven the high correlations among annual climatic factors and seasonal climatic factors (Supplementary Table S2), the partial correlation analysis was applied to determine which factors should be employed to reveal the mechanisms underlying the spatial variations of NEP. Partial correlation analysis showed that MAT and MAP exerted the most important roles in spatial variations of NEP and its components (Table 2). After controlling MAT (or MAP), other factors seldom showed significant correlation with carbon fluxes, especially fixing MAT (Table 2). In addition, MAT and MAP exerted similar effects on the spatial variations of NEP and its components (Table 1). Using the original measurements also generated the similar partial correlation coefficients (Supplementary Table S3). Therefore, we only presented the effects of MAT on carbon flux spatial variations and their differences between forest types in detail.Table 2 Partial correlation coefficients between carbon fluxes and environmental factors in naturally regenerating forests (NF) and planted forests (PF) with fixing mean annual air temperature (MAT) or mean annual precipitation (MAP).Full size tableThe increasing MAT increased carbon fluxes, while the increasing rates differed between forest types (Fig. 4). The increasing MAT contributed little to the NEP spatial variation of NF but raised the NEP of PF (Fig. 4a,b). Each unit increase in MAT caused the NEP of PF to increase at a rate of 27.77 gC m−2 year−1, with an R2 of 0.31 (Fig. 4b). The increasing MAT significantly raised GPP in NF and PF (Fig. 4c,d). For NF, each unit increase in MAT increased GPP at a rate of 43.76 gC m−2 year−1, with an R2 of 0.49 (Fig. 4c), while each unit increase in MAT increased the GPP of PF at a rate of 69.18 gC m−2 year−1, with an R2 of 0.57 (Fig. 4d). The GPP increasing rates did not significantly differ between NF and PF (F = 1.52, p > 0.05). The increasing MAT also raised ER in both NF and PF (Fig. 4e,f), whose increasing rates were 38.97 gC m−2 year−1 (Fig. 4e) and 36.79 gC m−2 year−1 (Fig. 4f), respectively, while their differences were not statistically significant (F = 0.01, p > 0.05). In addition, using the original measurements also generated the similar spatial variations and their differences between forest types (Fig. 4). Furthermore, the random error adding carbon fluxes responded similarly to those of our correcting carbon fluxes (Fig. 4), indicating that the effects of MAT on carbon fluxes would not be affected by the uncertainties in our correcting carbon fluxes. Therefore, the similar responses of GPP and ER to MAT made MAT contribute little to NEP spatial variations among NFs, while GPP and ER showed divergent response rates to MAT, which made NEP increase with MAT among PFs.Figure 4The effects of mean annual air temperature (MAT) on the spatial variations of carbon fluxes over Chinese naturally regenerating forests (NF) and planted forests (PF). The carbon fluxes include net ecosystem productivity (NEP, a,b), gross primary productivity (GPP, c,d), and ecosystem respiration (ER, e,f). Each panel is drawn with the corrected values (blue points) and original measurements (grey points), respectively. The blue and black lines represent the regression lines calculated from the corrected values and original measurements, respectively, with their regression statistics listed in blue and black letters. Only the regression slope (Sl) and R2 of each regression are listed. The grey lines represent the regressions between carbon fluxes added by random errors and latitude. Only significant (p More