Chamber series and space-scale analysis of CO2 gas-exchange in grassland vegetation: A novel approach

Significant part of our work was developing a new type Of CO2 and H2O gas exchange chambers fit for measuring stand patches. Ground areas of six chambers (ranged between 0.044-4.531 m(2)) constituted a logarithmic series with doubling diameters from 7.5 to 240.0 cm. We demonstrate one of the first results for stand net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) rates and temporal variability for two characteristic Central European grassland types: loess and sand. The measured mean NEE rates and their ranges in these grasslands were similar to values reported in other studies on temperate grasslands. We also dealt with the spatial scale dependence from ecophysiological point of view. Our chamber-series measurement was performed in a perennial ruderal weed association. The variability Of CO2-assimilation of this weed vegetation showed clear spatial scale-dependence. We found the lowest variability of the vegetation photosynthesis at the small-middle scales. The results of spatial variability suggest the 0.2832 m(2) patch size is the characteristic unit of the investigated weed association and there is a kind of synphysiological minimi-area with characteristic size for each vegetation type.