Two Ultraviolet Radiation Datasets that Cover China

Ultraviolet（UV） radiation has significant effects on ecosystems, environments, and human health, as well as atmospheric processes and climate change. Two ultraviolet radiation datasets are described in this paper. One contains hourly observations of UV radiation measured at 40 Chinese Ecosystem Research Network stations from 2005 to 2015. CUV3 broadband radiometers were used to observe the UV radiation, with an accuracy of 5%, which meets the World Meteorology Organization＇s measurement standards. The extremum method was used to control the quality of the measured datasets. The other dataset contains daily cumulative UV radiation estimates that were calculated using an all-sky estimation model combined with a hybrid model. The reconstructed daily UV radiation data span from 1961 to 2014. The mean absolute bias error and root-mean-square error are smaller than 30% at most stations, and most of the mean bias error values are negative, which indicates underestimation of the UV radiation intensity. These datasets can improve our basic knowledge of the spatial and temporal variations in UV radiation. Additionally, these datasets can be used in studies of potential ozone formation and atmospheric oxidation, as well as simulations of ecological processes.

Non-structural carbohydrate levels of three co-occurring understory plants and their responses to forest thinning by gap creation in a dense pine plantation

We investigated non-structural carbohydrates（NSC） levels and components（starch,glucose,fructose and sucrose） in the leaves of three typical co-occurring forestfloor plants,moss Eurhynchium savatieri（ES）,fern Parathelypteris nipponica（PN） and forb Aruncus sylvester（AS） in a 30-year-old Chinese pine（Pinus tabulaeformis）plantation forest on the eastern Tibetan Plateau.We also explored their responses to three gap creation treatments（control and two gap creations of 80 and 110 m2） based on NSC levels.PN had the highest leaf NSC level of the three plants,with AS second and ES lowest.Starch was the predominant component of NSC and the contents of glucose were higher than those of fructose or sucrose for all three species.The NSC level of ES in intermediate gaps was significantly higher than at control sites.PN also had higher NSC levels in both small and intermediate gaps than in control sites.But the differences between treatments were not obvious for AS.Our results suggest that ES and PN benefit from gap formation while the two species have different NSC response sensitivities to gap size,but the leaf NSC level of AS is less sensitive to the disturbance.

Elevational patterns of carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus in understory bryophytes on the eastern slope of Gongga Mountain,China

Aims The nutrient uptake,requirement and releasing rates of bryophytes are very different from those of tracheophytes.However,it is diffi-cult to make a quantitative evaluation of bryophytes’roles in nu-trient cycling and their specific eco-physiological adaptations due to lack of knowledge of their concentrations and stoichiometric ratios of carbon(C),nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P).To fill this gap,the present study aims to investigate:(i)what are the elevational trends of C,N and P concentrations and stoichiometric ratios of bryophytes?(ii)whether C,N and P concentrations and stoichio-metric ratios of bryophytes differ between different bryophyte types(in terms of the growth form and living substrate)?and(iii)how do the exponent scalings of N and P of bryophytes change along the elevational gradient?Methods We measured and calculated the C,N,P concentrations and stoi-chiometric ratios of bryophytes from four elevations on the eastern slope of Gongga Mountain(22 species in total).Differences in these traits among elevations,and between different bryophyte types were compared.The log-log allometric regression parameters of N and P at each elevation were also determined and compared.Important Findings The C,N and P concentrations of bryophytes showed decreasing trends with increasing elevations.More specifically,erect bryo-phytes possessed higher C and N concentrations than those of pros-trate species,and terricolous species had higher P concentration than that of corticolous and saxicolous species.Bryophytes from different elevations had an invariant allometric regression slope for P versus N.Future research at a larger scale is in need for a more generalized law of bryophytes.

Nitrogen and phosphorus translocation of forest floor mosses as affected by a pulse of these nutrients

Aims Mosses are dominant in many ecosystems where nutrients from deposition are one of the main nutrient sources.However,it is difficult to evaluate mosses’role in nutrient cycling without knowledge of how mosses use deposited nutrient inputs.To fill this gap,the present study aims to investigate:(i)how nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P)concentrations of new-grown segments change along a gradient of N or P amount in a pulse treatment?(ii)how do a pulse of major nutrient(N or P)affect N or P translocation rate along a moss shoot?and(iii)to what extent do N or P translocation rates link to nutrient status of the new-grown segments of mosses?Methods We measured N and P concentrations of segments with different ages in two dominant forest floor mosses,Actinothuidium hookeri and Hylocomium splendens,on 8 days and 1 year after N and P pulse treatment with an in situ experiment in a subalpine fir forest in eastern Tibetan Plateau.Important Findings Both mosses were efficient in taking up nutrients from a pulse of either N or P.Nitrogen and P concentrations of new-grown segments were affected by nutrient pulse treatments.These N and P concentration changes were attributed to the initial N and P concentration of the young segments harvested 8 days after nutrient pulse treatments,suggesting that the captured nutrients were reallocated to the new-grown segments via translocation,which was largely controlled by a source-sink relationship.While no significant relationship was found between N translocation rate and N:P ratio of the new-grown segments,P translocation rate explained 21%-23%of the variance of N:P ratio of the new-grown segments,implying importance of P transport in supporting the new-grown sections.These results suggest that nutrient(N,P)translocation is a key process for mosses to utilize intermittent nutrient supply,and thus make mosses an important nutrient pool of the ecosystem.

Comparisons of photosynthesis-related traits among understory lichens,mosses and vascular plant leaves in a high-elevation subalpine forest

Many mosses and lichens thrive in high-elevation subalpine forests and even become dominant species on the forest foor.Although they play an irreplaceable ecological role in the forest,less is known about their ecophysiological status,and how their photosynthesis-related functional traits differ from those of co-occurring vascular plants.We determined the carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and stoichiometric ratios,tissue mass per area,chlorophyll concentrations and photosynthetic light–response curves of three lichens,three mosses and four vascular plants in a subalpine forest in the eastern Tibetan Plateau of China.Trait values were compared among and within each group.The lichens possessed a higher nitrogen concentration than that of mosses.In addition,the two poikilohydric groups exhibited lower concentrations of nitrogen,phosphorus and chlorophyll,light-saturated assimilation rates and photosynthetic nutrient use effciencies,and higher light compensation points than those of vascular plant leaves.Furthermore,variations in photosynthesis-related traits for lichen species refect their different adaptation strategies to their corresponding environments.In contrast,the differences were weak among the three forest-foor mosses and the three herb species.These results demonstrate that the high abundance of understory lichens and mosses in the high-elevation subalpine forest cannot be explained by the photosynthesis-related traits.