High leaf area index inhibits net primary production in global temperate forest ecosystems

Within limited growth age in some regions, forest production, including gross primary production (GPP) and net primary production (NPP), was linearly correlated with leaf area index (LAI). However, over wide range of growth age in the global scale, LAI patterns of forest production are unclear. Here, we compiled a subset from the Global Soil Respiration Database (SRDB) for global temperate forest ecosystems. The subset database mainly included forest production, soil respiration, and LAI data in 493 study sites over wide range of forest growth age (0-500 years). The results showed that LAI initially increased rapidly, reached a peak at juvenility, decreased slowly until maturity, and again increased possibly with further forest aging (R-2 = 0.21, P < 0.001). We found that the dynamics of both GPP and NPP across global temperate forest ecosystems were driven by LAI. GPP initially increased and subsequently stabilized with increasing LAI. NPP peaked at LAI of about 5.6 m(2) m(-2), and subsequently decreased. The decrease in NPP resulted from the asymptotic increase in GPP and the continuing decrease in the NPP/GPP ratio with increasing LAI. The decline in the NPP/GPP ratio resulted from the significant increase in autotrophic respiration (R-a), and especially after canopy closure, R-a increased more quickly with increasing LAI than GPP. These results will improve our understanding of the control of LAI on ecosystem production.

Automated summary

The study found that in global temperate forest ecosystems, leaf area index (LAI) drives the dynamics of both gross primary production (GPP) and net primary production (NPP). LAI shows an increasing, peaking, decreasing, and possibly increasing trend within the range of forest growth age.