Tree phenology and carbon dioxide fluxes: use of digital photography at for 
process-based interpretation the ecosystem scale

Ahrends, H. E.; Etzold, S.; Kutsch, W. L.; Stoeckli, R.; Bruegger, R.; Jeanneret, F.; Wanner, H.; Buchmann, N.; Eugster, W.

doi:10.3354/cr00811

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Add to Basket

Local TagsRelease HistoryDetailsSummary

Released

Journal Article

Tree phenology and carbon dioxide fluxes: use of digital photography at for process-based interpretation the ecosystem scale

MPS-Authors

/persons/resource/persons62454

Kutsch, W. L.
Department Biogeochemical Processes, Prof. E.-D. Schulze, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Max Planck Society;

External Resource

http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/cr00811
(Publisher version)

Fulltext (restricted access)

There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.

Fulltext (public)

BGC1281.pdf
(Publisher version), 551KB

Supplementary Material (public)

There is no public supplementary material available

Citation

Ahrends, H. E., Etzold, S., Kutsch, W. L., Stoeckli, R., Bruegger, R., Jeanneret, F., et al. (2009). Tree phenology and carbon dioxide fluxes: use of digital photography at for process-based interpretation the ecosystem scale. Climate Research, 39(3), 261-274. doi:10.3354/cr00811.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-000E-D7B3-1

Abstract

Vegetation phenology is an important indicator of climate change and climate variability and it is strongly connected to biospheric-atmospheric gas exchange. We aimed to evaluate the applicability of phenological information derived from digital imagery for the interpretation of CO₂ exchange measurements. For the years 2005-2007 we analyzed seasonal phenological development of 2 temperate mixed forests using tower-based imagery from standard RGB cameras. Phenological information was jointly analyzed with gross primary productivity (GPP) derived from net ecosystem exchange data. Automated image analysis provided reliable information on vegetation developmental stages of beech and ash trees covering all seasons. A phenological index derived from image color values was strongly correlated with GPP, with a significant mean time lag of several days for ash trees and several weeks for beech trees in early summer (May to mid-July). Leaf emergence dates for the dominant tree species partly explained temporal behaviour of spring GPP but were also masked by local meteorological conditions. We conclude that digital cameras at flux measurement sites not only provide an objective measure of the physiological state of a forest canopy at high temporal and spatial resolutions, but also complement CO₂ and water exchange measurements, improving our knowledge of ecosystem processes.