Canopy temperature variability in a tropical rainforest, subtropical evergreen forest, and savanna forest in Southwest China

doi:10.3832/ifor2223-010

Canopy temperature variability in a tropical rainforest, subtropical evergreen forest, and savanna forest in Southwest China

Qing-Hai Song^(1-2) , Yi-Ping Zhang^(1-2-4), Li-Qing Sha^(1-2), Xiao-Bao Deng^(1-3), Yun Deng^(1-3-6), Chuan-Sheng Wu^(1-2-4), Zhi-Yun Lu^(1-4), Ai-Guo Chen^(1-5), Shu-Bin Zhang^(1-5), Pei-Guang Li^(1-5), Wen-Jun Zhou^(1-2), Yun-Tong Liu^(1-2)

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 10, Issue 3, Pages 611-617 (2017)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2223-010
Published: May 17, 2017 - Copyright © 2017 SISEF

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Canopy temperature (Tc) measurements with infrared thermometry have been widely used to assess plant water status. Here, we evaluated Tc and its controlling factors in a primary tropical rainforest (TRF), subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest (STF) and valley savanna forest (SAF) in southwestern China. We found differences between Tc and air temperature (Ta) of as much as 2.2 °C between the dry and wet seasons in the TRF. However, the canopy-to-air temperature difference (Tc-Ta) was only 0.3 °C between the dry and wet seasons in the STF. Solar radiation (SR) was the dominant factor in Tc-Ta variations during the dry and wet seasons at the three sites. The increased heating in the canopy leaves was likely the result of low stomatal conductance leading to low transpiration cooling. Changes in Tc-Ta in the TRF were highly sensitive to the degree of stomatal closure. The change in Tc-Ta was controlled by the climate, but inherent plant traits, such as stomatal conductance, also played an important controlling role.

Keywords

Canopy Temperature, Drought Stress, Microclimate, Transpiration, Leaf Energy Balance

Authors’ address

(1)

Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun 666303 (China)

(2)

Global Change Ecology Group, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun 666303 (China)

(3)

Xishuangbanna Station for Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystem Studies, Menglun 666303 (China)

(4)

Ailaoshan Station for Subtropical Forest Ecosystem Studies, Jingdong 676209 (China)

(5)

Yuanjiang Savanna Ecosystem Research Station, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuanjiang (China)

(6)

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)

Corresponding author

Qing-Hai Song
sqh@xtbg.ac.cn

Citation

Song Q-H, Zhang Y-P, Sha L-Q, Deng X-B, Deng Y, Wu C-S, Lu Z-Y, Chen A-G, Zhang S-B, Li P-G, Zhou W-J, Liu Y-T (2017). Canopy temperature variability in a tropical rainforest, subtropical evergreen forest, and savanna forest in Southwest China. iForest 10: 611-617. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2223-010

Academic Editor

Silvano Fares

Paper history

Received: Sep 21, 2016
Accepted: Mar 26, 2017

First online: May 17, 2017
Publication Date: Jun 30, 2017
Publication Time: 1.73 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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