title: Global convergence in the temperature sensitivity of respiration at ecosystem level.
abstract: The respiratory release of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) from the land surface is a major flux in the global carbon cycle, antipodal to photosynthetic CO(2) 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 (Q(10)) across 60 FLUXNET sites with the use of a methodology that circumvents confounding effects. Contrary to previous findings, our results suggest that Q(10) 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.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, Germany. mmahecha@bgc-jena.mpg.de
authors.forename: Miguel D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Mahecha
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reichstein
authors.forename: Nuno
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Carvalhais
authors.forename: Gitta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lasslop
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Sonia I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Seneviratne
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ammann
authors.forename: M Altaf
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Arain
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cescatti
authors.forename: Ivan A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Janssens
authors.forename: Mirco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Migliavacca
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Montagnani
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Richardson
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D019069:Cell Respiration; D002980:Climate; D055669:Ecological and Environmental Phenomena; D017753:Ecosystem; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010788:Photosynthesis; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002244:Carbon