高寒草甸植物群落不同根序根系特征对降雨量变化的响应

根系是草原生态系统中最重要的碳库之一,分析高寒草甸植物群落生物量和地下不同径级根系碳分配特征及根系的生长特征对降雨变化的响应,有利于了解全球变化背景下高寒草甸植物根系、土壤碳氮循环及其过程。采用微根管技术原位监测5种降雨处理下(增雨50%:1.5P、自然降雨:1.0P、减雨30%:0.7P、减雨50%:0.5P、减雨90%:0.1P)高寒草甸植物群落和根系属性(现存量、生产量、死亡量、根系寿命和周转速率)的变化特征,结果表明:(1)降雨变化对地上植物群落生物量无显著影响,但0.5P和0.1P显著增加禾本科生物量(P<0.05)。(2)总根系现存量在处理间无显著差异,但随着降雨量减少呈先增加后降低的趋势。土层间不同径级根系现存量差异显著,0-10 cm土层1.5P和0.7P1级根现存量显著增加,2级和3级根现存量显著降低;在10-20 cm土层,1.0P2级根系现存量显著高于其余处理(P<0.05)。(3)总根生产量与死亡量随降雨减少而降低,在0-10 cm土层,1.0P总根生产量和死亡量最高,0.1P显著降低了1级根生产量(P<0.05)。(4)0.1P显著增加10-20 cm土层1级根和总根寿命(P<0.05)。(5)根系周转随降雨量减少呈降低趋势,但无显著差异(P>0.05)。(6)结构方程模型进一步表明:根系现存量和生产量受土层和水分的直接影响,土层和养分对根系周转有负效应。综上所述,降雨量的变化并未显著改变地下总根系生物量,但少量降雨变化(0.7P、1.5P)会降低植物对2、3级根生物量的分配,投入更多资源以促进1级根的生长;而水分下降至轻度水分胁迫(0.1P),植物会减少地下各径级根系生物量的分配,保持低根系生物量消耗和低根系生长来维持其正常的生长状态,完成其正常的生态功能。     

增温增水对草地生态系统碳循环关键过程的影响

生态系统碳循环是生态系统过程的重要组成部分,对碳循环关键过程机理的研究有助于更好地理解生态系统过程。目前,气候变化（全球变暖、降水时空格局变化）对草地生态系统过程产生了重要的影响。综述了气候变化（温度和降水变化）对草地生态系统碳循环关键过程（植物生产力、植物物候、植物根系周转、生态系统呼吸和生态系统净碳交换）的影响,在此基础上指出了目前气候变化（温度和降水变化）控制试验研究的不足,并进一步提出了今后应该加强研究的方向。     

Fine Root Growth and Vertical Distribution in Response to Elevated CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>, Warming and Drought in a Mixed Heathland–Grassland

Belowground plant responses have received much less attention in climate change experiments than aboveground plant responses, thus hampering a holistic understanding of climate change effects on plants and ecosystems. In addition, responses of plant roots to climate change have mostly been studied in single-factor experiments. In a Danish heathland ecosystem, we investigated both individual and combined effects of elevated CO₂, warming and drought on fine root length, net production and standing biomass by the use of minirhizotrons, ingrowth cores and soil coring. Warming increased the net root production from ingrowth cores, but decreased fine root number and length in minirhizotrons, whereas there were no significant main effects of drought. Across all treatments and soil depths, CO₂ stimulated both the total fine root length (+44%) and the number of roots observed (+39%), with highest relative increase in root length in the deeper soil layers. Our results suggest that under future climate, plants may allocate considerable resources into roots compared to aboveground biomass. Increased carbon (C) allocation to roots may have a great impact on the overall ecosystem C balance and must be considered in modelling of future ecosystem responses to climate change. To provide models with necessary validation data, more studies are needed to investigate if higher C allocation to roots will lead to long-term C storage in more recalcitrant soil C pools or if this potential increase in soil carbon storage may be offset by increased priming activity and turnover rates for soil organic matter.     

树木根系碳分配格局及其影响因子

根系作为树木提供养分和水分的“源”和消耗C的“汇”,在陆地生态系统C平衡研究中具有重要的理论意义。尽管20多年来的研究已经认识到根系消耗净初级生产力占总净初级生产力较大的比例,但是,根系（尤其是细根）消耗C的机理以及C分配的去向一直没有研究清楚。主要原因是细根消耗光合产物的生理生态过程相当复杂,准确估计各个组分消耗的C具有很大的不确定性,常常受树种和环境空间和时间异质性、以及研究方法的限制。综述了分配到地下的C主要去向,即细根生产和周转、呼吸及养分吸收与同化、分泌有机物、土壤植食动物,及有关林木地下碳分配机理的几种假说,分析了地下碳分配估计中存在的不确定性。目的是在全球变化C循环研究中对生态系统地下部分根系消耗的C以及分配格局引起重视。     

Predominant role of water in regulating soil and microbial respiration and their responses to climate change in a semiarid grassland

Climate change can profoundly impact carbon (C) cycling of terrestrial ecosystems. A field experiment was conducted to examine responses of total soil and microbial respiration, and microbial biomass to experimental warming and increased precipitation in a semiarid temperate steppe in northern China since April 2005. We measured soil respiration twice a month over the growing seasons, soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN), microbial respiration (MR) once a year in the middle growing season from 2005 to 2007. The results showed that interannual variations in soil respiration, MR, and microbial biomass were positively related to interannual fluctuations in precipitation. Laboratory incubation with a soil moisture gradient revealed a constraint of the temperature responses of MR by low soil moisture contents. Across the 3 years, experimental warming decreased soil moisture, and consequently caused significant reductions in total and microbial respiration, and microbial biomass, suggesting stronger negatively indirect effects through warming‐induced water stress than the positively direct effects of elevated temperature. Increased evapotranspiration under experimental warming could have reduced soil water availability below a stress threshold, thus leading to suppression of plant growth, root and microbial activities. Increased precipitation significantly stimulated total soil and microbial respiration and all other microbial parameters and the positive precipitation effects increased over time. Our results suggest that soil water availability is more important than temperature in regulating soil and microbial respiratory processes, microbial biomass and their responses to climate change in the semiarid temperate steppe. Experimental warming caused greater reductions in soil respiration than in gross ecosystem productivity (GEP). In contrast, increased precipitation stimulated GEP more than soil respiration. Our observations suggest that climate warming may cause net C losses, whereas increased precipitation may lead to net C gains in the semiarid temperate steppe. Our findings highlight that unless there is concurrent increase in precipitation, the temperate steppe in the arid and semiarid regions of northern China may act as a net C source under climate warming.     

Responses of terrestrial ecosystems to temperature and precipitation change: a meta‐analysis of experimental manipulation

Global mean temperature is predicted to increase by 2–7 °C and precipitation to change across the globe by the end of this century. To quantify climate effects on ecosystem processes, a number of climate change experiments have been established around the world in various ecosystems. Despite these efforts, general responses of terrestrial ecosystems to changes in temperature and precipitation, and especially to their combined effects, remain unclear. We used meta‐analysis to synthesize ecosystem‐level responses to warming, altered precipitation, and their combination. We focused on plant growth and ecosystem carbon (C) balance, including biomass, net primary production (NPP), respiration, net ecosystem exchange (NEE), and ecosystem photosynthesis, synthesizing results from 85 studies. We found that experimental warming and increased precipitation generally stimulated plant growth and ecosystem C fluxes, whereas decreased precipitation had the opposite effects. For example, warming significantly stimulated total NPP, increased ecosystem photosynthesis, and ecosystem respiration. Experimentally reduced precipitation suppressed aboveground NPP (ANPP) and NEE, whereas supplemental precipitation enhanced ANPP and NEE. Plant productivity and ecosystem C fluxes generally showed higher sensitivities to increased precipitation than to decreased precipitation. Interactive effects of warming and altered precipitation tended to be smaller than expected from additive, single‐factor effects, though low statistical power limits the strength of these conclusions. New experiments with combined temperature and precipitation manipulations are needed to conclusively determine the importance of temperature–precipitation interactions on the C balance of terrestrial ecosystems under future climate conditions.     

Biomass, Litter, and Soil Respiration Along a Precipitation Gradient in Southern Great Plains, USA

Knowledge of how ecosystem carbon (C) processes respond to variations in precipitation is crucial for assessing impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we examined variations of shoot and root biomass, standing and surface litter, soil respiration, and soil C content along a natural precipitation gradient from 430 to 1200 mm in the southern Great Plains, USA. Our results show that shoot biomass and soil respiration increased linearly with mean annual precipitation (MAP), whereas root biomass and soil C content remained relatively constant along the precipitation gradient. Consequently, the root/shoot ratio linearly decreased with MAP. However, patterns of standing, surface, and total litter mass followed quadratic relationships with MAP along the gradient, likely resulting from counterbalance between litter production and decomposition. Those linear/quadratic equations describing variations of ecosystem C processes with precipitation could be useful for model development, parameterization, and validation at landscape and regional scales to improve predictions of C dynamics in grasslands in response to climate change. Our results indicated that precipitation is an important driver in shaping ecosystem functioning as reflected in vegetation production, litter mass, and soil respiration in grassland ecosystems.     

落叶松和水曲柳人工林细根生长、死亡和周转

 细根周转是陆地生态系统碳分配格局与过程的核心环节,而细根周转估计的关键是了解细根的生长和死亡动态。该研究以18年生落叶松(Larix gmelinii)和水曲柳(Fraxi nus mandshurica)人工林为对象,采用微根管（Minirhizotron）技术对两树种0～40 cm深度的细根生长和死亡动态进行了为期1年的观测,研究了两树种细根在不同土层深度的生长与死亡动态、细根周转以及与土壤有效氮含量、土壤温度、大气温度和降水的关系。结果表明：1） 落叶松平均细根生长（Root length density production, RLDP）0.0045 mm•cm^－2•d^－1）明显低于水曲柳RLDP（0.0077 mm•cm^－2•d^－1）。两个树种细根平均RLDP在表层（0～10 cm）最大,而底层（30～40 cm）最小 ,两树种平均细根死亡（Root length density mortality, RLDM）也表现同样规律 。水曲柳春季生长的细根占41.7%,夏季占39.7%,而落叶松细根生长分别是24.0%和51.2%,水曲柳细根死亡主要发生在春季（34.3%） 和夏季（34.0%）,而落叶松细根死亡主要发生在夏季和秋季（分别占28.5%和32.3%）,两 树种细根生长与死亡在冬季均较小;2）落叶松细根年生长量（0.94 mm•cm^－2•a^－1）和年死亡量（0.72 mm•cm^－2•a^－1）明显低于水曲柳（1.52和1.21 mm•cm^－2•a^－1）,两树种细根表层年生长量和年死亡量均最高,底层最低。落叶松细根年周转为3.1次•a^－1（按年生长量计算）和2.4次•a^－1（按年死亡量计算）,相比较,水曲柳细根年周转分别为2.7次•a^－1和2.2次•a^－1;3）土壤有效氮含量、土壤温度、大气温度和降水综合作用影响细根生长和死亡动态,可以解释细根生长80%的变异和细根死亡95%以上的变异。     

Estimation of fine root production, mortality and turnover with Minirhizotron in Larix gmelinii and Fraxinus mandshurica plantations

Fine root turnover is a major pathway for car-bon and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. However, to estimate fine root turnover, it is important to first understand the fine root dynamic processes associated with soil resource availability and climate factors. The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine patterns of fine root production and mortality in different seasons and soil depths in the Larix gmelinii and Fraxinus man-dshurica plantations, (2) to analyze the correlation of fine root production and mortality with environmental factors such as air temperature, precipitation, soil temperature and available nitrogen, and (3) to estimate fine root turn-over. We installed 36 Minirhizotron tubes in six mono-specific plots of each species in September 2003 in the Mao'ershan Experimental Forest Station. Minirhizotron sampling was conducted every two weeks from April 2004 to April 2005. We calculated the average fine root length, annual fine root length production and mortality using image data of Minirhizotrons, and estimated fine root turnover using three approaches. Results show that the average growth rate and mortality rate in L. melinii were markedly smaller than in F. mandshurica, and were high-est in the surface soil and lowest at the bottom among all the four soil layers. The annual fine root production and mortality in F. mandshurica were significantly higher than in L. gmelinii. The fine root production in spring and summer accounted for 41.7% and 39.7% of the total annual production in F. mandshurica and 24.0% and 51.2% in L. gmelinii. The majority of fine root mortality occurred in spring and summer for F. mandshurica and in summer and autumn for L. gmelinii. The turnover rate was 3.1 a-1 for L. gmelinii and 2.7 a-1 for F. mandshurica. Multiple regression analysis indicates that climate and soil resource factors together could explain 80% of the varia-tions of the fine root seasonal growth and 95% of the seasonal mortality. In conclusion, fine root production and mortality in L. gmelinii and F. mandshurica have dif-ferent patterns in different seasons and at different soil depths. Air temperature, precipitation, soil temperature and soil available nitrogen integratively control the dynamics of fine root production, mortality and turnover in both species.     

青藏高原高寒草原根系动态对氮添加的响应及其调控因素

本研究于2015—2016年进行野外控制试验,分析了不同施氮(N)水平(0、1、2、4、8、16 g N·m^-2·a^-1)对青藏高原高寒草原根系生产、周转速率和现存量的影响及其调控因素。结果表明: 随着施N量的增加,根系生产量和现存量呈线性或指数下降的趋势。与对照相比,16 g N·m^-2·a^-1处理根系生产量和现存量2年平均下降43.0%和45.7%。根系周转速率呈先上升后下降的趋势,2015年和2016年分别在2和4 g N·m^-2·a^-1处理达到峰值。线性混合模型结果显示,根系淀粉含量是调控根系生产量和周转速率的主要因素,分别解释二者变异的21.7%和25.4%;而根系现存量则受根系蛋白含量的影响,其解释率为20.8%。N富集对根系生产和现存量表现出抑制作用,低N促进而高N抑制根系周转速率,根系碳氮代谢指标是调控根系动态对N添加响应的主要因素。     

Light and heavy fractions of soil organic matter in response to climate warming and increased precipitation in a temperate steppe

Soil is one of the most important carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools and plays a crucial role in ecosystem C and N cycling. Climate change profoundly affects soil C and N storage via changing C and N inputs and outputs. However, the influences of climate warming and changing precipitation regime on labile and recalcitrant fractions of soil organic C and N remain unclear. Here, we investigated soil labile and recalcitrant C and N under 6 years' treatments of experimental warming and increased precipitation in a temperate steppe in Northern China. We measured soil light fraction C (LFC) and N (LFN), microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN), dissolved organic C (DOC) and heavy fraction C (HFC) and N (HFN). The results showed that increased precipitation significantly stimulated soil LFC and LFN by 16.1% and 18.5%, respectively, and increased LFC:HFC ratio and LFN:HFN ratio, suggesting that increased precipitation transferred more soil organic carbon into the quick-decayed carbon pool. Experimental warming reduced soil labile C (LFC, MBC, and DOC). In contrast, soil heavy fraction C and N, and total C and N were not significantly impacted by increased precipitation or warming. Soil labile C significantly correlated with gross ecosystem productivity, ecosystem respiration and soil respiration, but not with soil moisture and temperature, suggesting that biotic processes rather than abiotic factors determine variations in soil labile C. Our results indicate that certain soil carbon fraction is sensitive to climate change in the temperate steppe, which may in turn impact ecosystem carbon fluxes in response and feedback to climate change.     

Allometric constraints on,and trade‐offs in,belowground carbon allocation and their control of soil respiration across global forest ecosystems

To fully understand how soil respiration is partitioned among its component fluxes and responds to climate, it is essential to relate it to belowground carbon allocation, the ultimate carbon source for soil respiration. This remains one of the largest gaps in knowledge of terrestrial carbon cycling. Here, we synthesize data on gross and net primary production and their components, and soil respiration and its components, from a global forest database, to determine mechanisms governing belowground carbon allocation and their relationship with soil respiration partitioning and soil respiration responses to climatic factors across global forest ecosystems. Our results revealed that there are three independent mechanisms controlling belowground carbon allocation and which influence soil respiration and its partitioning: an allometric constraint; a fine‐root production vs. root respiration trade‐off; and an above‐ vs. belowground trade‐off in plant carbon. Global patterns in soil respiration and its partitioning are constrained primarily by the allometric allocation, which explains some of the previously ambiguous results reported in the literature. Responses of soil respiration and its components to mean annual temperature, precipitation, and nitrogen deposition can be mediated by changes in belowground carbon allocation. Soil respiration responds to mean annual temperature overwhelmingly through an increasing belowground carbon input as a result of extending total day length of growing season, but not by temperature‐driven acceleration of soil carbon decomposition, which argues against the possibility of a strong positive feedback between global warming and soil carbon loss. Different nitrogen loads can trigger distinct belowground carbon allocation mechanisms, which are responsible for different responses of soil respiration to nitrogen addition that have been observed. These results provide new insights into belowground carbon allocation, partitioning of soil respiration, and its responses to climate in forest ecosystems and are, therefore, valuable for terrestrial carbon simulations and projections.     

Warming and drought reduce temperature sensitivity of nitrogen transformations

Shifts in nitrogen (N) mineralization and nitrification rates due to global changes can influence nutrient availability, which can affect terrestrial productivity and climate change feedbacks. While many single‐factor studies have examined the effects of environmental changes on N mineralization and nitrification, few have examined these effects in a multifactor context or recorded how these effects vary seasonally. In an old‐field ecosystem in Massachusetts, USA, we investigated the combined effects of four levels of warming (up to 4 °C) and three levels of precipitation (drought, ambient, and wet) on net N mineralization, net nitrification, and potential nitrification. We also examined the treatment effects on the temperature sensitivity of net N mineralization and net nitrification and on the ratio of C mineralization to net N mineralization. During winter, freeze–thaw events, snow depth, and soil freezing depth explained little of the variation in net nitrification and N mineralization rates among treatments. During two years of treatments, warming and altered precipitation rarely influenced the rates of N cycling, and there was no evidence of a seasonal pattern in the responses. In contrast, warming and drought dramatically decreased the apparent Q₁₀ of net N mineralization and net nitrification, and the warming‐induced decrease in apparent Q₁₀ was more pronounced in ambient and wet treatments than the drought treatment. The ratio of C mineralization to net N mineralization varied over time and was sensitive to the interactive effects of warming and altered precipitation. Although many studies have found that warming tends to accelerate N cycling, our results suggest that warming can have little to no effect on N cycling in some ecosystems. Thus, ecosystem models that assume that warming will consistently increase N mineralization rates and inputs of plant‐available N may overestimate the increase in terrestrial productivity and the magnitude of an important negative feedback to climate change.     

臭氧污染与陆地生态系统生产力

空气污染的严重性、普遍性和不断发展的趋势及其对陆地生态系统生产力造成的重大影响已引起科学工作者的高度重视,成为一个急需解决的重要课题。对流层臭氧(O₃)在空气污染现状与未来发展趋势中占据重要角色,该文重点探讨了O₃对陆地生态系统生产力的光合、分配、生长和产量形成等主要过程的影响及其对整个生态系统的长期效应,并评述了相关研究方法进展。主要结论包括:O₃在生产力形成过程中的每个环节中都有着不同程度的负面影响,通过影响光合作用和气孔导度,减少根冠比改变碳分配量,而最终导致粮食生产和森林生物量损失率高达30%;气候变化、CO₂和O₃协同作用对植物影响较为复杂,有促进也有抑制;生态系统模拟已成为研究O₃污染影响陆地生态系统生产力的主要方法之一,在区域评估和未来气候预测方面都具有重要作用。     

Temperature and Microtopography Interact to Control Carbon Cycling in a High Arctic Fen

High arctic wetlands hold large stores of soil carbon (C). The fate of these C stores in a changing climate is uncertain, as rising air temperatures may differentially affect photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration (ER). In this study, open-top warming chambers were used to increase air and soil temperatures in contrasting microtopographic positions of a high arctic fen in NW Greenland. CO₂ exchange between the ecosystem and the atmosphere was measured on 28 dates over a 3-year period. Measurements of the normalized difference vegetation index, leaf and stem growth, leaf-level gas exchange, leaf nitrogen, leaf δ¹³C, and fine root production were made to investigate the mechanisms and consequences of observed changes in CO₂ exchange. Gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP) increased with chamber warming in hollows, which are characterized by standing water, and in hummocks, which extend above the water table. ER, however, increased only in hummocks, such that net ecosystem exchange (NEE) increased in hollows, but did not change in hummocks with chamber warming. Complementary measurements of plant growth revealed that increases in GEP corresponded with increases in C allocation to aboveground biomass in hummocks and belowground biomass in hollows. Our results and those of several recent studies clearly demonstrate that effects of climate change on the C balance of northern wetlands will depend upon microtopography which, in turn, may be sensitive to climate change.     

The influence of elevated atmospheric CO2 on fine root dynamics in an intact temperate forest

Root dynamics are important for plant, ecosystem and global carbon cycling. Changes in root dynamics caused by rising atmospheric CO₂ not only have the potential to moderate further CO₂ increases, but will likely affect forest function. We used FACE (Free‐Air CO₂ Enrichment) to expose three 30‐m diameter plots in a 13‐year‐old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) forest to elevated (ambient + 200 µL L^?1) atmospheric CO₂. Three identical fully instrumented plots were implemented as controls (ambient air only). We quantified root dynamics from October 1998 to October 1999 using minirhizotrons. In spite of 16% greater root lengths and 24% more roots per minirhizotron tube, the effects of elevated atmospheric CO₂ on root lengths and numbers were not statistically significant. Similarly, production and mortality were also unaffected by the CO₂ treatment, even though annual root production and mortality were 26% and 46% greater in elevated compared to ambient CO₂ plots. Average diameters of live roots present at the shallowest soil depth were, however, significantly enhanced in CO₂‐enriched plots. Mortality decreased with increasing soil depth and the slopes of linear regression lines (mortality vs. depth) differed between elevated and ambient CO₂ treatments, reflecting the significant CO₂ by depth interaction. Relative root turnover (root flux/live root pool) was unchanged by exposure to elevated atmospheric CO₂. Results from this study suggest modest, if any, increases in ecosystem‐level root productivity in CO₂‐enriched environments.     

实验增温对陆地生态系统根系生物量的影响

根系是植物吸收土壤水分和养分的重要器官, 驱动着多个生态系统过程, 该研究揭示了实验增温对根系生物量的影响及机制, 可为气候变暖背景下土壤碳动态和生态系统过程的变化提供理论依据。该研究从已发表的151篇国内外研究论文中收集到611组数据, 通过整合分析(meta-analysis)方法研究了实验增温对根系生物量(根系总生物量、粗根生物量、细根生物量、根冠比)的影响, 并探讨了增温幅度、增温年限、增温方式的影响, 以及根系生物量对增温的响应与本底环境条件(生态系统类型、年平均气温、年降水量、干旱指数)的关系。结果表明: (1)模拟增温使细根生物量显著增加8.87%, 而对根系总生物量、粗根生物量、根冠比没有显著影响; (2)中等强度增温(1-2 ℃)使得细根生物量和根冠比分别提高14.57%和23.63%; 中短期增温实验(<5年)对细根生物量具有促进影响, 而长期增温实验(≥5年)使细根生物量有降低的趋势; 开顶箱增温和红外辐射增温分别使细根生物量显著提高了17.50%和12.16%, 而电缆加热增温使细根生物量和粗根生物量显著降低了23.44%和43.23%; (3)不同生态系统类型对于增温响应不一致, 模拟增温使苔原生态系统细根生物量显著提高了21.03%, 细根生物量对增温的响应与本底年平均气温、年降水量、干旱指数均呈显著负相关关系。     

The sensitivity of annual grassland carbon cycling to the quantity and timing of rainfall

Global climate models predict significant changes to the rainfall regimes of the grassland biome, where C cycling is particularly sensitive to the amount and timing of precipitation. We explored the effects of both natural interannual rainfall variability and experimental rainfall additions on net C storage and loss in annual grasslands. Soil respiration and net primary productivity (NPP) were measured in treatment and control plots over four growing seasons (water years, or WYs) that varied in wet‐season length and the quantity of rainfall. In treatment plots, we increased total rainfall by 50% above ambient levels and simulated one early‐ and one late‐season storm. The early‐ and late‐season rain events significantly increased soil respiration for 2–4 weeks after wetting, while augmentation of wet‐season rainfall had no significant effect. Interannual variability in precipitation had large and significant effects on C cycling. We observed a significant positive relationship between annual rainfall and aboveground NPP across the study (P=0.01, r²=0.69). Changes in the seasonal timing of rainfall significantly affected soil respiration. Abundant rainfall late in the wet season in WY 2004, a year with average total rainfall, led to greater net ecosystem C losses due to a ～50% increase in soil respiration relative to other years. Our results suggest that C cycling in annual grasslands will be less sensitive to changes in rainfall quantity and more affected by altered seasonal timing of rainfall, with a longer or later wet season resulting in significant C losses from annual grasslands.     

Soil respiration, root biomass, and root turnover following long-term exposure of northern forests to elevated atmospheric CO2 and tropospheric O3

The Rhinelander free-air CO(2) enrichment (FACE) experiment is designed to understand ecosystem response to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (+CO(2)) and elevated tropospheric ozone (+O(3)). The objectives of this study were: to understand how soil respiration responded to the experimental treatments; to determine whether fine-root biomass was correlated to rates of soil respiration; and to measure rates of fine-root turnover in aspen (Populus tremuloides) forests and determine whether root turnover might be driving patterns in soil respiration. Soil respiration was measured, root biomass was determined, and estimates of root production, mortality and biomass turnover were made. Soil respiration was greatest in the +CO(2) and +CO(2) +O(3) treatments across all three plant communities. Soil respiration was correlated with increases in fine-root biomass. In the aspen community, annual fine-root production and mortality (g m(-2)) were positively affected by +O(3). After 10 yr of exposure, +CO(2) +O(3)-induced increases in belowground carbon allocation suggest that the positive effects of elevated CO(2) on belowground net primary productivity (NPP) may not be offset by negative effects of O(3). For the aspen community, fine-root biomass is actually stimulated by +O(3), and especially +CO(2) +O(3).     

Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2, cutting frequency, and differential day/night atmospheric warming on root growth and turnover of Phalaris swards

We investigated seasonal root production and root turnover of fertilized and well‐watered monocultures of Phalaris for 2 years using minirhizotrons installed in six newly designed temperature gradient tunnels, combined with sequential soil coring. Elevated atmospheric CO₂ treatments were combined with two cutting frequencies and three warming scenarios: no warming, +3.0/+3.0 and +2.2/+4.0°C (day/night) atmospheric warming. The elevated CO₂ treatment increased both new and net root length production primarily when combined with atmospheric warming, where the constant warming treatment had a greater positive effect than the increased night‐time warming treatment. Responses to elevated CO₂ were greater when the swards were cut more frequently and responsiveness varied with season. For Phalaris swards, 17% of total net primary productivity went belowground. On account of root turnover, only one‐third of the new roots produced in the year following establishment could be expected, on average, to be recovered from soil cores. The interaction between the effects of CO₂ and warming, combined with the differential effects of the two warming treatments, has important implications for modelling belowground responses to projected climate change.