Low-cost chamber design for simultaneous CO(2) and O(2) flux measurements between tree stems and the atmosphere

Tree stem CO(2) efflux is an important component of ecosystem carbon fluxes and has been the focus of many studies. While CO(2) efflux can easily be measured, a growing number of studies have shown that it is not identical with actual in situ respiration. Complementing measurements of CO(2) flux with simultaneous measurements of O(2) flux provides an additional proxy for respiration, and the combination of both fluxes can potentially help getting closer to actual measures of respiratory fluxes. To date, however, the technical challenge to measure relatively small changes in O(2) concentration against its high atmospheric background has prevented routine O(2) measurements in field applications. Here, we present a new and low-cost field-tested device for autonomous real-time and quasi-continuous long-term measurements of stem respiration by combining CO(2) (NDIR-based) and O(2) (quenching-based) sensors in a tree stem chamber. Our device operates as a cyclic-closed system and measures changes in both CO(2) and O(2) concentration within the chamber over time. The device is battery powered with a >1-week power independence, and data acquisition is conveniently achieved by an internal logger. Results from both field and laboratory tests document that our sensors provide reproducible measurements of CO(2) and O(2) exchange fluxes under varying environmental conditions.