Net water vapour exchange over a mixed needle and broad-leaved forest in Changbai Mountain during autumn

Water vapour and CO2 fluxes were measured by the eddy-covariance technique above a mixed needle and broad-leaved forest with affiliated meteorological measurements in Changbai Mountain as part of China's FLUX projects since late August in 2002. Net water vapour exchange and environmental control over the forest were examined from September 1 to October 31 in 2002. To quantify the seasonal dynamics, the transition period was separated into leafed, leaf falling and leafless stages according to the development of leaf area. The results showed that (a) seasonal variation of water vapour exchange was mainly controlled by net radiation (Rn) which could account for 78.5%, 63.4% and 56.6% for leafed, leaf falling and leafless stages, respectively, while other environmental factors' effects varied evidently; (b) magnitude of water vapour flux decreased remarkably during autumn and daily mean of water vapour exchange was 24.2 mg m-2 s-1 (100%), 14.8 mg m-2 s-1 (61.2%) and 10.3 mg m-2 s-1 (42.6%) for leafed, leaf falling and leafless stage, respectively; and (c) the budget of water vapour exchange during autumn was estimated to be 87.1 kg H2O m-2, with a mean of 1427.2 g H2O d-1 varying markedly from 3104.0 to 227.5 g H2O m-2 d-1.