A remotely sensed pigment index reveals photosynthetic phenology in evergreen conifers
Gamon, John A. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies.)
Huemmrich, K. Fred (Goddard Space Flight Center)
Wong, Christopher Y. S. (University of Toronto. Department of Biology)
Ensminger, Ingo (University of Toronto. Department of Biology)
Garrity, Steven (Decagon Devices, Inc.)
Hollinger, David Y. (United States. Forest Service. Northern Research Station)
Noormets, Asko (North Carolina State University. Departament of Forestry and Environmental Resources)
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)

Date:	2016
Abstract:	In evergreen conifers, where the foliage amount changes little with season, accurate detection of the underlying "photosynthetic phenology" from satellite remote sensing has been difficult, presenting challenges for global models of ecosystem carbon uptake. Here, we report a close correspondence between seasonally changing foliar pigment levels, expressed as chlorophyll/carotenoid ratios, and evergreen photosynthetic activity, leading to a "chlorophyll/carotenoid index" (CCI) that tracks evergreen photosynthesis at multiple spatial scales. When calculated from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite sensor, the CCI closely follows the seasonal patterns of daily gross primary productivity of evergreen conifer stands measured by eddy covariance. This discovery provides a way of monitoring evergreen photosynthetic activity from optical remote sensing, and indicates an important regulatory role for carotenoid pigments in evergreen photosynthesis. Improved methods of monitoring photosynthesis from space can improve our understanding of the global carbon budget in a warming world of changing vegetation phenology.
Grants:	European Commission 610028
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Carotenoid pigments ; Evergreen conifers ; Gross primary productivity (GPP) ; Chlorophyll:Carotenoid Index (CCI)
Published in:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 113, Issue 46 (November 2016) , p. 13087-13092, ISSN 1091-6490

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1606162113
PMID: 27803333

Post-print 17 p, 1.1 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals) > Imbalance-P
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