Midday Depression and Legacy Effect Disrupt SIF-GPP Coupling in Northern Peatlands During Combined Heat and Drought Stress

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Peatlands, critical global carbon sinks, are facing increasing threats from climate change-driven heatwaves and droughts. These threats can cause a midday depression in carbon uptake through photosynthetic inhibition. Using high-temporal-resolution solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF; ~30 s) and chamber-based CO2 flux measurements, we investigated the coupling between SIF and gross primary production (GPP) during extreme events (air temperature > 25 °C and vapour pressure deficit > 15 hPa) in a northern peatland. Our results show that SIF tracks GPP closely under non-stress conditions (daily R2 = 0.86–0.96). However, during combined heat and drought stress, midday correlations collapsed (Case A: R2 = 0.04 on 27 June; Case B: R2 = 0.15 and 0.01 on 29 and 30 June, respectively), indicating severe decoupling. Importantly, we discovered legacy effects from multi-day heat exposure: on 26 June, vegetation with prior cumulative stress (Case A) showed weak morning coupling (R2 = 0.07), while vegetation without prior stress history (Case B) maintained strong coupling (R2 = 0.93). This suggests that cumulative stress alters baseline physiology and can exacerbate midday mismatches; therefore, not just current condition controls photosynthetic regulation. These findings highlight limitations of SIF-based GPP estimation at sub-daily timescales during stress, particularly in heterogeneous peatland systems where canopy composition and physiological responses could vary among plant functional types.

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