Aim The mechanisms of plant trait adaptation and acclimation are still poorly understood and, consequently, lack a consistent representation in terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs). Despite the increasing availability of geo‐referenced trait observations, current databases are still insufficient to cover all vegetation types and environmental conditions. In parallel, the growing number of continuous eddy‐covariance observations...

In the Mediterranean basin, precipitation is expected to decline as a consequence of climate change. The response of a Quercus ilex forest in southern France to such a decline in water availability was studied using a 4‐year throughfall exclusion experiment. Seasonal courses of sap flow and leaf water potential were obtained from 2004 to 2007 and used to characterize tree water relations in a control and a dry treatment. The e...

We present 9 years of eddy covariance measurements made over an evergreen Mediterranean forest in southern France. The goal of this study was to quantify the different components of the carbon (C) cycle, gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration ( R eco ), and to assess the effects of climatic variables on these fluxes and on the net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide. The Puéchabon forest acted as a net C sin...

Ecosystem respiration, arising from soil decomposition as well as from plant maintenance and growth, has been shown to be the most important component of carbon exchange in most terrestrial ecosystems. The goal of this study was to estimate the growth component of whole‐ecosystem respiration in a Mediterranean evergreen oak ( Quercus ilex ) forest over the course of 3 years. Ecosystem respiration ( R eco ) was determined from...

We studied carbon‐based secondary and structural compounds (CBSSCs) in Myrtus communis, Erica arborea, and Juniperus communis co‐occurring in a natural CO 2 spring site and in a nearby control site in a Mediterranean environment. Leaf concentrations of phenolics and CBSSCs, such as lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose, total nonstructural carbohydrates (TNCs), and lipids were measured monthly (phenolics) and every two months (...