Differences in leaf thermoregulation and water use strategies between three co-occurring Atlantic forest tree species.

Given anticipated climate changes, it is crucial to understand controls on leaf temperatures including variation between species in diverse ecosystems. In the first study of leaf energy balance in tropical montane forests, we observed current leaf temperature patterns on 3 tree species in the Atlantic forest, Brazil, over a 10-day period and assessed whether and why patterns may vary among species. We found large leaf-to-air temperature differences (maximum 18.

Tropical forest light regimes in a human-modified landscape.

Light is the key energy input for all vegetated systems. Forest light regimes are complex, with the vertical pattern of light within canopies influenced by forest structure. Human disturbances in tropical forests impact forest structure and hence may influence the light environment and thus competitiveness of different trees.

Vehicular particulate matter emissions in road tunnels in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In the metropolitan area of São Paulo, Brazil, ozone and particulate matter (PM) are the air pollutants that pose the greatest threat to air quality, since the PM and the ozone precursors (nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds) are the main source of air pollution from vehicular emissions. Vehicular emissions can be measured inside road tunnels, and those measurements can provide information about emission factors of in-use vehicles. Emission factors are used to estimate vehicular emissions and are described as the amount of species emitted per vehicle distance driven or per volume of fuel consumed.

Carbon in Amazon forests: unexpected seasonal fluxes and disturbance-induced losses.

The net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide was measured by eddy covariance methods for 3 years in two old-growth forest sites near Santarém, Brazil. Carbon was lost in the wet season and gained in the dry season, which was opposite to the seasonal cycles of both tree growth and model predictions. The 3-year average carbon loss was 1.