Sun-induced fluorescence and gross primary productivity during a heat wave

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 14169 - 9
• Main Authors: Wohlfahrt, G., Gerdel, K., Migliavacca, M., Rotenberg, E., Tatarinov, F., Müller, J., Hammerle, A., Julitta, T., Spielmann, F. M., Yakir, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 21-09-2018; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 140/125; 704/158/2445; 704/158/2454; 704/158/2455; 704/47/4113; Bands; Carbon dioxide; Carbonyl compounds; Chlorophyll; Coniferous forests; Ecosystems; Fluorescence; Heat; Heat waves; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Photosynthesis; Productivity; Radiation; Remote sensing; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensors; Sulfides; Vegetation; Biochemical Deterioration; Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (APAR); Heat Waves; Gross Primary Production (GPP); Carbonyl Sulfide
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32602-z

Remote sensing of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has been suggested as a promising approach for probing changes in global terrestrial gross primary productivity (GPP). To date, however, most studies were conducted in situations when/where changes in both SIF and GPP were driven by large changes in the absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) and phenology. Here we quantified SIF and GPP during a short-term intense heat wave at a Mediterranean pine forest, during which changes in APAR were negligible. GPP decreased linearly during the course of the heat wave, while SIF declined slightly initially and then dropped dramatically during the peak of the heat wave, temporally coinciding with a biochemical impairment of photosynthesis inferred from the increase in the uptake ratio of carbonyl sulfide to carbon dioxide. SIF thus accounted for less than 35% of the variability in GPP and, even though it responded to the impairment of photosynthesis, appears to offer limited potential for quantitatively monitoring GPP during heat waves in the absence of large changes in APAR.