Effect of thinning on surface fluxes in a boreal forest

Abstract

Thinning is a routine forest management operation that changes tree spacing, number, and size distribution and affects the material flows between vegetation and the atmosphere. Here, using direct micrometeorological ecosystem‐scale measurements, we show that in a boreal pine forest, thinning decreases the deposition velocities of fine particles as expected but does not reduce the carbon sink, water vapor flux, or ozone deposition. The thinning decreased the all‐sided leaf area index from 8 to 6, and we suggest that the redistribution of sources and sinks within the ecosystem compensated for this reduction in foliage area. In the case of water vapor and O 3 , changes in light penetration and among‐tree competition seem to increase individual transpiration rates and lead to larger stomatal apertures, thus enhancing also O 3 deposition. In the case of CO 2 , increased ground vegetation assimilation and decreased autotrophic respiration seem to cancel out opposite changes in canopy assimilation and heterotrophic respiration. Current soil‐vegetation‐atmosphere transfer models should be able to reproduce these observations.