Winter CO2 flux from soil and snow surfaces in a cool-temperate deciduous forest, Japan

We measured diurnal and wintertime changes in CO₂ fluxes from soil and snow surfaces in a Japanese cool-temperate Quercus/Betula forest between December 1994 and May 1995. To evaluate the relationship between these winter fluxes and temperature, flux measurements were made with the open-flow infrared gas analyzer (IRGA) method rather than with the more commonly used closed chamber method or the snow CO₂ profile method. The open-flow IRGA method proved to be more successful in measurements of winter CO₂ fluxes than the two standard methods. Despite colder air temperatures, soil temperature profiles were greater than 0°C because of the thermal insulation effect of deep snowpack. This reveals that soil temperature is satisfactory for microbial respiration throughout the winter. Unfrozen soils under the snowpack showed neither diurnal nor wintertime trends in CO₂ fluxes or in soil surface temperature, although there was a daily snow surface CO₂ flux of 0.18–0.32 g m^–2. By combining this with other reference data, Japanese cool-temperate forest soils in snowy regions can be estimated to emit < 100 g m^–2 carbon over an entire winter, and this value accounts for < 15% of the annual emission. In the present study, when data for all winter fluxes were taken together, fluxes were most highly correlated with deep soil temperatures rather than the soil surface temperature. Such a high correlation can be attributed to the relatively increased respiration of the deep soil where the temperature was higher than the soil surface temperature. Thus, deeper soil temperature is a better predictor of winter CO₂ fluxes in cold and snowy ecosystems.     

Temperature and substrate controls on intra-annual variation in ecosystem respiration in two subarctic vegetation types

Arctic ecosystems are important in the context of climate change because they are expected to undergo the most rapid temperature increases, and could provide a globally significant release of CO₂ to the atmosphere from their extensive bulk soil organic carbon reserves. Understanding the relative contributions of bulk soil organic matter and plant‐associated carbon pools to ecosystem respiration is critical to predicting the response of arctic ecosystem net carbon balance to climate change. In this study, we determined the variation in ecosystem respiration rates from birch forest understory and heath tundra vegetation types in northern Sweden through a full annual cycle. We used a plant biomass removal treatment to differentiate bulk soil organic matter respiration from total ecosystem respiration in each vegetation type. Plant‐associated and bulk soil organic matter carbon pools each contributed significantly to ecosystem respiration during most phases of winter and summer in the two vegetation types. Ecosystem respiration rates through the year did not differ significantly between vegetation types despite substantial differences in biomass pools, soil depth and temperature regime. Most (76–92%) of the intra‐annual variation in ecosystem respiration rates from these two common mesic subarctic ecosystems was explained using a first‐order exponential equation relating respiration to substrate chemical quality and soil temperature. Removal of plants and their current year's litter significantly reduced the sensitivity of ecosystem respiration to intra‐annual variations in soil temperature for both vegetation types, indicating that respiration derived from recent plant carbon fixation was more temperature sensitive than respiration from bulk soil organic matter carbon stores. Accurate assessment of the potential for positive feedbacks from high‐latitude ecosystems to CO₂‐induced climate change will require the development of ecosystem‐level physiological models of net carbon exchange that differentiate the responses of major C pools, that account for effects of vegetation type, and that integrate over summer and winter seasons.     

Interannual variation in seasonal drivers of soil respiration in a semi-arid Rocky Mountain meadow

Semi-arid ecosystems with annual moisture inputs dominated by snowmelt cover much of the western United States, and a better understanding of their seasonal drivers of soil respiration is needed to predict consequences of climatic change on soil CO₂ efflux. We assessed the relative importance of temperature, moisture, and plant phenology on soil respiration during seasonal shifts between cold, wet winters and hot, dry summers in a Rocky Mountain meadow over 3.5 separate growing seasons. We found a consistent, unique pattern of seasonal hysteresis in the annual relationship between soil respiration and temperature, likely representative for this ecosystem type, and driven by (1) continued increase in soil T after summer senescence of vegetation, and (2) reduced soil respiration during cold, wet periods at the beginning versus end of the growing season. The timing of meadow senescence varied between years with amount of cold season precipitation, but on average occurred 45 days before soil temperature peaked in late-summer. Autumn soil respiration was greatest when substantial autumn precipitation events occurred early. Surface CO₂ efflux was temporarily decoupled from respiratory production during winter 2006/2007, due to effects of winter surface snow and ice on mediating the diffusion of CO₂ from deep soil horizons to the atmosphere. Upon melt of a capping surface ice layer, release of soil-stored CO₂ was determined to be 65 g C, or ~10 % of the total growing season soil respiration for that year. The shift between soil respiration sources arising from moisture-limited spring plant growth and autumn decomposition indicates that annual mineralization of soil carbon will be less dependent on projected changes in temperature than on future variations in amount and timing of precipitation for this site and similar semi-arid ecosystems.     

The turnover of carbon pools contributing to soil CO2 and soil respiration in a temperate forest exposed to elevated CO2 concentration

Soil carbon is returned to the atmosphere through the process of soil respiration, which represents one of the largest fluxes in the terrestrial C cycle. The effects of climate change on the components of soil respiration can affect the sink or source capacity of ecosystems for atmospheric carbon, but no current techniques can unambiguously separate soil respiration into its components. Long‐term free air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) experiments provide a unique opportunity to study soil C dynamics because the CO₂ used for fumigation has a distinct isotopic signature and serves as a continuous label at the ecosystem level. We used the ¹³C tracer at the Duke Forest FACE site to follow the disappearance of C fixed before fumigation began in 1996 (pretreatment C) from soil CO₂ and soil‐respired CO₂, as an index of belowground C dynamics during the first 8 years of the experiment. The decay of pretreatment C as detected in the isotopic composition of soil‐respired CO₂ and soil CO₂ at 15, 30, 70, and 200 cm soil depth was best described by a model having one to three exponential pools within the soil system. The majority of soil‐respired CO₂ (71%) originated in soil C pools with a turnover time of about 35 days. About 55%, 50%, and 68% of soil CO₂ at 15, 30, and 70 cm, respectively, originated in soil pools with turnover times of less than 1 year. The rest of soil CO₂ and soil‐respired CO₂ originated in soil pools that turn over at decadal time scales. Our results suggest that a large fraction of the C returned to the atmosphere through soil respiration results from dynamic soil C pools that cannot be easily detected in traditionally defined soil organic matter standing stocks. Fast oxidation of labile C substrates may prevent increases in soil C accumulation in forests exposed to elevated [CO₂] and may consequently result in shorter ecosystem C residence times.     

CO2 flux from soil in pastures and forests in southwestern Amazonia

Stocks of carbon in Amazonian forest biomass and soils have received considerable research attention because of their potential as sources and sinks of atmospheric CO₂. Fluxes of CO₂ from soil to the atmosphere, on the other hand, have not been addressed comprehensively in regard to temporal and spatial variations and to land cover change, and have been measured directly only in a few locations in Amazonia. Considerable variation exists across the Amazon Basin in soil properties, climate, and management practices in forests and cattle pastures that might affect soil CO₂ fluxes. Here we report soil CO₂ fluxes from an area of rapid deforestation in the southwestern Amazonian state of Acre. Specifically we addressed (1) the seasonal variation of soil CO₂ fluxes, soil moisture, and soil temperature; (2) the effects of land cover (pastures, mature, and secondary forests) on these fluxes; (3) annual estimates of soil respiration; and (4) the relative contributions of grass‐derived and forest‐derived C as indicated by δ¹³CO₂. Fluxes were greatest during the wet season and declined during the dry season in all land covers. Soil respiration was significantly correlated with soil water‐filled pore space but not correlated with temperature. Annual fluxes were higher in pastures compared with mature and secondary forests, and some of the pastures also had higher soil C stocks. The δ¹³C of CO₂ respired in pasture soils showed that high respiration rates in pastures were derived almost entirely from grass root respiration and decomposition of grass residues. These results indicate that the pastures are very productive and that the larger flux of C cycling through pasture soils compared with forest soils is probably due to greater allocation of C belowground. Secondary forests had soil respiration rates similar to mature forests, and there was no correlation between soil respiration and either forest age or forest biomass. Hence, belowground allocation of C does not appear to be directly related to the stature of vegetation in this region. Variation in seasonal and annual rates of soil respiration of these forests and pastures is more indicative of flux of C through the soil rather than major net changes in ecosystem C stocks.     

Deeper Snow Enhances Winter Respiration from Both Plant-associated and Bulk Soil Carbon Pools in Birch Hummock Tundra

It has only recently become apparent that biological activity during winter in seasonally snow-covered ecosystems may exert a significant influence on biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function. One-seventh of the global soil carbon pool is stored in the bulk soil component of arctic ecosystems. Consistent climate change predictions of substantial increases in winter air temperatures and snow depths for the Arctic indicate that this region may become a significant net annual source of CO₂ to the atmosphere if its bulk soil carbon is decomposed. We used snow fences to investigate the influence of a moderate increase in snow depth from approximately 0.3 m (ambient) to approximately 1 m on winter carbon dioxide fluxes from mesic birch hummock tundra in northern Canada. We differentiated fluxes derived from the bulk soil and plant-associated carbon pools using an experimental ‘weeding’ manipulation. Increased snow depth enhanced the wintertime carbon flux from both pools, strongly suggesting that respiration from each was sensitive to warmer soil temperatures. Furthermore, deepened snow resulted in cooler and relatively stable soil temperatures during the spring-thaw period, as well as delayed and fewer freeze–thaw cycles. The snow fence treatment increased mean total winter efflux from 27 to 43 g CO₂-C m⁻². Because total 2004 growing season net ecosystem exchange for this site is estimated at 29–37 g CO₂-C m⁻², our results strongly suggest that a moderate increase in snow depth can enhance winter respiration sufficiently to switch the ecosystem annual net carbon exchange from a sink to source, resulting in net CO₂ release to the atmosphere.     

Warming Reduces Carbon Losses from Grassland Exposed to Elevated Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

The flux of carbon dioxide (CO₂) between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere may ameliorate or exacerbate climate change, depending on the relative responses of ecosystem photosynthesis and respiration to warming temperatures, rising atmospheric CO₂, and altered precipitation. The combined effect of these global change factors is especially uncertain because of their potential for interactions and indirectly mediated conditions such as soil moisture. Here, we present observations of CO₂ fluxes from a multi-factor experiment in semi-arid grassland that suggests a potentially strong climate – carbon cycle feedback under combined elevated [CO₂] and warming. Elevated [CO₂] alone, and in combination with warming, enhanced ecosystem respiration to a greater extent than photosynthesis, resulting in net C loss over four years. The effect of warming was to reduce respiration especially during years of below-average precipitation, by partially offsetting the effect of elevated [CO₂] on soil moisture and C cycling. Carbon losses were explained partly by stimulated decomposition of soil organic matter with elevated [CO₂]. The climate – carbon cycle feedback observed in this semiarid grassland was mediated by soil water content, which was reduced by warming and increased by elevated [CO₂]. Ecosystem models should incorporate direct and indirect effects of climate change on soil water content in order to accurately predict terrestrial feedbacks and long-term storage of C in soil.     

Precipitation pulses and soil CO2 flux in a Sonoran Desert ecosystem

Precipitation is a major driver of biological processes in arid and semiarid ecosystems. Soil biogeochemical processes in these water‐limited systems are closely linked to episodic rainfall events, and the relationship between microbial activity and the amount and timing of rainfall has implications for the whole‐system carbon (C) balance. Here, the influences of storm size and time between events on pulses of soil respiration were explored in an upper Sonoran Desert ecosystem. Immediately following experimental rewetting in the field, CO₂ efflux increased up to 30‐fold, but generally returned to background levels within 48 h. CO₂ production integrated over 48 h ranged from 2.5 to 19.3 g C m⁻² and was greater beneath shrubs than in interplant spaces. When water was applied on sequential days, postwetting losses of CO₂ were only half a large as initial fluxes, and the size of the second pulse increased with time between consecutive events. Soil respiration was more closely linked to the organic matter content of surface soils than to rainfall amount. Beneath shrubs, rates increased nonlinearly with storm size, reaching an asymptote at approximately 0.5 cm simulated storms. This nonlinear relationship stems from (1) resource limitation of microbial activity that is manifest at small time scales, and (2) greatly reduced process rates in deeper soil strata. Thus, beyond some threshold in storm size, increasing the duration or depth of soil moisture has little consequence for short‐term losses of CO₂. In addition, laboratory rewetting across a broad range in soil water content suggest that microbial activity and CO₂ efflux following rainfall may be further modified by the routing and redistribution of water along hillslopes. Finally, analysis of long‐term precipitation data suggests that half the monsoon storms in this system are sufficient to induce soil heterotrophic activity and C losses, but are not large enough to elicit autotrophic activity and C accrual by desert shrubs.     

Experimental fire increases soil carbon dioxide efflux in a grassland long‐term multifactor global change experiment

Numerous studies have demonstrated that soil respiration rates increase under experimental warming, although the long‐term, multiyear dynamics of this feedback are not well constrained. Less is known about the effects of single, punctuated events in combination with other longer‐duration anthropogenic influences on the dynamics of soil carbon (C) loss. In 2012 and 2013, we assessed the effects of decadal‐scale anthropogenic global change – warming, increased nitrogen (N) deposition, elevated carbon dioxide (CO₂), and increased precipitation – on soil respiration rates in an annual‐dominated Mediterranean grassland. We also investigated how controlled fire and an artificial wet‐up event, in combination with exposure to the longer‐duration anthropogenic global change factors, influenced the dynamics of C cycling in this system. Decade‐duration surface soil warming (1–2 °C) had no effect on soil respiration rates, while +N addition and elevated CO₂ concentrations increased growing‐season soil CO₂ efflux rates by increasing annual aboveground net primary production (NPP) and belowground fine root production, respectively. Low‐intensity experimental fire significantly elevated soil CO₂ efflux rates in the next growing season. Based on mixed‐effects modeling and structural equation modeling, low‐intensity fire increased growing‐season soil respiration rates through a combination of three mechanisms: large increases in soil temperature (3–5 °C), significant increases in fine root production, and elevated aboveground NPP. Our study shows that in ecosystems where soil respiration has acclimated to moderate warming, further increases in soil temperature can stimulate greater soil CO₂ efflux. We also demonstrate that punctuated short‐duration events such as fire can influence soil C dynamics with implications for both the parameterization of earth system models (ESMs) and the implementation of climate change mitigation policies that involve land‐sector C accounting.     

降雨对旱作春玉米农田土壤呼吸动态的影响

土壤呼吸是调控全球碳平衡和气候变化的关键过程之一,降雨作为重要的扰动因子,在不同区域和不同环境条件下,对土壤呼吸具有复杂的影响.研究降雨对农田土壤呼吸及其分量的影响,对准确预测未来气候变化下陆地生态系统碳平衡具有重要意义.对黄土高原东部典型春玉米农田生态系统生长季内3次降雨前后土壤呼吸及其分量进行了原位连续观测,结果表明:在土壤湿润的条件下,降雨对春玉米农田土壤呼吸及其分量具有明显的抑制作用,在土壤湿度大于27％后土壤呼吸及其分量随土壤湿度上升呈明显下降,且对温度的敏感性降低.土壤呼吸及其分量在降雨前后的变化受土壤温度和土壤湿度的共同影响.降雨量、降雨历时和雨前土壤含水量决定了土壤呼吸及其分量对降雨响应的程度和时长.土壤呼吸及其分量对土壤温度的敏感性各不相同,微生物呼吸对温度的敏感性最高,Q10为5.14;其次是土壤呼吸,Q10为3.86;根呼吸的温度敏感性相对最低,Q10为3.24.由于土壤呼吸分量对温度和湿度的敏感性不同,降雨后根呼吸的比例有所升高.     

Potential carbon release from permafrost soils of Northeastern Siberia

Permafrost soils are an important reservoir of carbon (C) in boreal and arctic ecosystems. Rising global temperature is expected to enhance decomposition of organic matter frozen in permafrost, and may cause positive feedback to warming as CO₂ is released to the atmosphere. Significant amounts of organic matter remain frozen in thick mineral soil (loess) deposits in northeastern Siberia, but the quantity and lability of this deep organic C is poorly known. Soils from four tundra and boreal forest locations in northeastern Siberia that have been continuously frozen since the Pleistocene were incubated at controlled temperatures (5, 10 and 15°C) to determine their potential to release C to the atmosphere when thawed. Across all sites, CO₂ with radiocarbon (¹⁴C) ages ranging between～21 and 24 ka bp was respired when these permafrost soils were thawed. The amount of C released in the first several months was strongly correlated to C concentration in the bulk soil in the different sites, and this correlation remained the same for fluxes up to 1 year later. Fluxes were initially strongly related to temperature with a mean Q₁₀ value of 1.9±0.3 across all sites, and later were unrelated to temperature but still correlated with bulk soil C concentration. Modeled inversions of Δ¹⁴CO₂ values in respiration CO₂ and soil C components revealed mean contribution of 70% and 26% from dissolved organic C to respiration CO₂ in case of two permafrost soils, while organic matter fragments dominated respiration (mean 68%) from a surface mineral soil that served as modern reference sample. Our results suggest that if 10% of the total Siberian permafrost C pool was thawed to a temperature of 5°C, about 1 Pg C will be initially released from labile C pools, followed by respiration of～40 Pg C to the atmosphere over a period of four decades.     

亚热带沟叶结缕草草坪土壤呼吸

随城市化进程加速,城市草坪生态系统释放CO2将对区域碳循环产生重要影响。采用LI-8100开路式土壤碳通量测量系统对亚热带沟叶结缕草草坪（Zoysia matrella）土壤呼吸进行为期1a的定位研究,结果表明：草坪土壤呼吸季节动态呈现为单峰曲线,全年土壤呼吸速率的变化范围在38.99—368.50 mg C?m-2?h-1之间,年通量为1684 g C?m-2?a-1。土壤温度、总生物量、以及二者的交互作用对土壤呼吸季节变化的解释程度接近,分别为89%、88%和90%,但仅二者的交互作用进入土壤呼吸的逐步回归方程,表明草坪土壤呼吸的季节变化主要受土壤温度与总生物量共同驱动。春末修剪草坪对土壤呼吸速率没有显著影响。在秋末无雨时期,浇水后1—2d土壤湿度对土壤呼吸的促进作用可掩盖同期降温的影响,使土壤呼吸速率显著升高。     

Effects of soil phosphorus availability,temperature and moisture on soil respiration in Eucalyptus pauciflora forest

Rates of soil respiration (CO₂ efflux) were measured for a year in a mature Eucalyptus pauciflora forest in unfertilized and phosphorus-fertilized plots. Soil CO₂ efflux showed a distinct seasonal trend, and average daily rates ranged from 124 to 574 mg CO₂ m^–2 hr^–1. Temperature and moisture are the main variables that cause variation in soil CO₂ efflux; hence their effects were investigated over a year so as to then differentiate the treatment effect of phosphorus (P) nutrition.Soil temperature had the greatest effect on CO₂ efflux and exhibited a highly significant logarithmic relationship (r² = 0.81). Periods of low soil and litter moisture occurred during summer when temperatures were greater than 10 °C, and this resulted in depression of soil CO₂ efflux. During winter, when temperatures were less than 10 °C, soil and litter moisture were consistently high and thus their variation had little effect on soil CO₂ efflux. A multiple regression model including soil temperature, and soil and litter moisture accounted for 97% of the variance in rates of CO₂ efflux, and thus can be used to predict soil CO₂ efflux at this site with high accuracy. Total annual efflux of carbon from soil was estimated to be 7.11 t C ha^–1 yr^–1. The model was used to predict changes in this annual flux if temperature and moisture conditions were altered. The extent to which coefficients of the model differ among sites and forest types requires testing.Increased soil P availability resulted in a large increase in stem growth of trees but a reduction in the rate of soil CO₂ efflux by approximately 8%. This reduction is suggested to be due to lower root activity resulting from reduced allocation of assimilate belowground. Root activity changed when P was added to microsites within plots, and via the whole tree root system at the plot level. These relationships of belowground carbon fluxes with temperature, moisture and nutrient availability provide essential information for understanding and predicting potential changes in forest ecosystems in response to land use management or climate change.     

Impact of drought and increasing temperatures on soil CO2 emissions in a Mediterranean shrubland (gariga)

In arid and semiarid shrubland ecosystems of the Mediterranean basin, soil moisture is a key factor controlling biogeochemical cycles and the release of CO₂ via soil respiration. This is influenced by increasing temperatures. We manipulated the microclimate in a Mediterranean shrubland to increase the soil and air night-time temperatures and to reduce water input from precipitation. The objective was to analyze the extent to which higher temperatures and a drier climate influence soil CO₂ emissions in the short term and on an annual basis. The microclimate was manipulated in field plots (about 25 m²) by covering the vegetation during the night (Warming treatment) and during rain events (Drought treatment). Soil CO₂ effluxes were monitored in the treatments and compared to a control over a 3-year period. Along with soil respiration measurements, we recorded soil temperature at 5 cm depth by a soil temperature probe. The seasonal pattern of soil CO₂ efflux was characterized by higher rates during the wet vegetative season and lower rates during the dry non-vegetative season (summer). The Warming treatment did not change SR fluxes at any sampling date. The Drought treatment decreased soil CO₂ emissions on only three of 10 occasions during 2004. The variation of soil respiration with temperature and soil water content did not differ significantly among the treatments, but was affected by the season. The annual CO₂ emissions were not significantly affected by the treatments. In the semi-arid Mediterranean shrubland, an increase of soil CO₂ efflux in response to a moderate increase of daily minimum temperature is unlikely, whereas less precipitation can strongly affect the soil processes mainly limited by water availability.     

Partitioning sources of soil respiration in boreal black spruce forest using radiocarbon

Separating ecosystem and soil respiration into autotrophic and heterotrophic component sources is necessary for understanding how the net ecosystem exchange of carbon (C) will respond to current and future changes in climate and vegetation. Here, we use an isotope mass balance method based on radiocarbon to partition respiration sources in three mature black spruce forest stands in Alaska. Radiocarbon (Δ¹⁴C) signatures of respired C reflect the age of substrate C and can be used to differentiate source pools within ecosystems. Recently‐fixed C that fuels plant or microbial metabolism has Δ¹⁴C values close to that of current atmospheric CO₂, while C respired from litter and soil organic matter decomposition will reflect the longer residence time of C in plant and soil C pools. Contrary to our expectations, the Δ¹⁴C of C respired by recently excised black spruce roots averaged 14‰ greater than expected for recently fixed photosynthetic products, indicating that some portion of the C fueling root metabolism was derived from C storage pools with turnover times of at least several years. The Δ¹⁴C values of C respired by heterotrophs in laboratory incubations of soil organic matter averaged 60‰ higher than the contemporary atmosphere Δ¹⁴CO₂, indicating that the major contributors to decomposition are derived from a combination of sources consistent with a mean residence time of up to a decade. Comparing autotrophic and heterotrophic Δ¹⁴C end members with measurements of the Δ¹⁴C of total soil respiration, we calculated that 47–63% of soil CO₂ emissions were derived from heterotrophic respiration across all three sites. Our limited temporal sampling also observed no significant differences in the partitioning of soil respiration in the early season compared with the late season. Future work is needed to address the reasons for high Δ¹⁴C values in root respiration and issues of whether this method fully captures the contribution of rhizosphere respiration.     

Interannual variability in global soil respiration, 1980–94

We used a climate‐driven regression model to develop spatially resolved estimates of soil‐CO₂ emissions from the terrestrial land surface for each month from January 1980 to December 1994, to evaluate the effects of interannual variations in climate on global soil‐to‐atmosphere CO₂ fluxes. The mean annual global soil‐CO₂ flux over this 15‐y period was estimated to be 80.4 (range 79.3–81.8) Pg C. Monthly variations in global soil‐CO₂ emissions followed closely the mean temperature cycle of the Northern Hemisphere. Globally, soil‐CO₂ emissions reached their minima in February and peaked in July and August. Tropical and subtropical evergreen broad‐leaved forests contributed more soil‐derived CO₂ to the atmosphere than did any other vegetation type (～30% of the total) and exhibited a biannual cycle in their emissions. Soil‐CO₂ emissions in other biomes exhibited a single annual cycle that paralleled the seasonal temperature cycle. Interannual variability in estimated global soil‐CO₂ production is substantially less than is variability in net carbon uptake by plants (i.e., net primary productivity). Thus, soils appear to buffer atmospheric CO₂ concentrations against far more dramatic seasonal and interannual differences in plant growth. Within seasonally dry biomes (savannas, bushlands and deserts), interannual variability in soil‐CO₂ emissions correlated significantly with interannual differences in precipitation. At the global scale, however, annual soil‐CO₂ fluxes correlated with mean annual temperature, with a slope of 3.3 Pg C y^?1 per °C. Although the distribution of precipitation influences seasonal and spatial patterns of soil‐CO₂ emissions, global warming is likely to stimulate CO₂ emissions from soils.     

Inter-annual Variability of Soil Respiration in Wet Shrublands: Do Plants Modulate Its Sensitivity to Climate?

Understanding the response of soil respiration to climate variability is critical to formulate realistic predictions of future carbon (C) fluxes under different climate change scenarios. There is growing evidence that the influence of long-term climate variability in C fluxes from terrestrial ecosystems is modulated by adjustments in the aboveground–belowground links. Here, we studied the inter-annual variability in soil respiration from a wet shrubland going through successional change in North Wales (UK) during 13 years. We hypothesised that the decline in plant productivity observed over a decade would result in a decrease in the apparent sensitivity of soil respiration to soil temperature, and that rainfall variability would explain a significant fraction of the inter-annual variability in plant productivity, and consequently, in soil respiration, due to excess-water constraining nutrient availability for plants. As hypothesised, there were parallel decreases between plant productivity and annual and summer CO₂ emissions over the 13-year period. Soil temperatures did not follow a similar trend, which resulted in a decline in the apparent sensitivity of soil respiration to soil temperature (apparent Q₁₀ values decreased from 9.4 to 2.8). Contrary to our second hypothesis, summer maximum air temperature rather than rainfall was the climate variable with the greatest influence on aboveground biomass and annual cumulative respiration. Since summer air temperature and rainfall were positively associated, the greatest annual respiration values were recorded during years of high rainfall. The results suggest that adjustments in plant productivity might have a critical role in determining the long-term-sensitivity of soil respiration to changing climate conditions.     

气候过渡带锐齿栎林土壤呼吸对降雨改变的响应

作为大气与陆地生态系统之间的第二大碳通量,土壤呼吸是评价陆地生态系统碳循环及碳汇能力的不确定性来源之一。降雨格局改变及其导致的土壤水分变化是调节土壤呼吸的重要驱动。气候过渡带的水热状况受全球降雨格局改变的影响更为明显,揭示该区域森林土壤呼吸对降雨改变的响应规律有助于改善碳循环模型的预测精度。然而,气候过渡区的土壤碳排放过程如何响应降雨格局改变尚不清楚。通过在亚热带-暖温带的过渡区(宝天曼)开展降雨改变实验,以阐明锐齿栎林土壤呼吸及其温度敏感性对降雨增加(50%)和减少(50%)的响应规律。结果表明,降雨增加显著提高土壤湿度(+8.92%)而不影响土壤温度。与对照相比,降雨增加导致土壤呼吸显著提高80.5%,其土壤呼吸的温度敏感性(4.07)显著高于对照样地(2.66)。增雨处理下的土壤呼吸与土壤湿度呈负相关。降雨减少则显著降低土壤湿度(-10.25%),并对土壤呼吸有促进趋势,然而,对土壤呼吸的温度敏感性(2.64)无显著影响。减雨处理下的土壤呼吸强度与土壤湿度呈正相关。这意味着在我国亚热带—暖温带过渡区,降雨增加或减少均对土壤呼吸有不同程度的刺激作用,进而很可能减弱该区域森林生态系统土壤的固碳潜力。     

Site and temporal variation of soil respiration in European beech, Norway spruce, and Scots pine forests

Global warming and changes in rainfall amount and distribution may affect soil respiration as a major carbon flux between the biosphere and the atmosphere. The objectives of this study were to investigate the site to site and interannual variation in soil respiration of six temperate forest sites. Soil respiration was measured using closed chambers over 2 years under mature beech, spruce and pine stands at both Solling and Unterlüß, Germany, which have distinct climates and soils. Cumulative annual CO₂ fluxes varied from 4.9 to 5.4 Mg C ha^?1 yr^?1 at Solling with silty soils and from 4.0 to 5.9 Mg C ha^?1 yr^?1 at Unterlüß with sandy soils. With one exception soil respiration rates were not significantly different among the six forest sites (site to site variation) and between the years within the same forest site (interannual variation). Only the respiration rate in the spruce stand at Unterlüß was significant lower than the beech stand at Unterlüß in both years. Soil respiration rates of the sandy sites at Unterlüß were limited by soil moisture during the rather dry and warm summer 1999 while soil respiration at the silty Solling site tended to increase. We found a threshold of ?80 kPa at 10 cm depth below which soil respiration decreased with increasing drought. Subsequent wetting of sandy soils revealed high CO₂ effluxes in the stands at Unterlüß. However, dry periods were infrequent, and our results suggest that temporal variation in soil moisture generally had little effect on annual soil respiration rates. Soil temperature at 5 cm and 10 cm depth explained 83% of the temporal variation in soil respiration using the Arrhenius function. The correlations were weaker using temperature at 0 cm (r² = 0.63) and 2.5 cm depth (r² = 0.81). Mean Q₁₀ values for the range from 5 to 15 °C increased asymptotically with soil depth from 1.87 at 0 cm to 3.46 at 10 cm depth, indicating a large uncertainty in the prediction of the temperature dependency of soil respiration. Comparing the fitted Arrhenius curves for same tree species from Solling and Unterlüß revealed higher soil respiration rates for the stands at Solling than in the respective stands at Unterlüß at the same temperature. A significant positive correlation across all sites between predicted soil respiration rates at 10 °C and total phosphorus content and C‐to‐N ratio of the upper mineral soil indicate a possible effect of nutrients on soil respiration.     

Responses of soil respiration to elevated CO2, air warming, and changing soil water availability in a model old-field grassland

Responses of soil respiration to atmospheric and climatic change will have profound impacts on ecosystem and global carbon (C) cycling in the future. This study was conducted to examine effects on soil respiration of the concurrent driving factors of elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration, air warming, and changing precipitation in a constructed old‐field grassland in eastern Tennessee, USA. Model ecosystems of seven old‐field species were established in open‐top chambers and treated with factorial combinations of ambient or elevated (+300 ppm) CO₂ concentration, ambient or elevated (+3 °C) air temperature, and high or low soil moisture content. During the 19‐month experimental period from June 2003 to December 2004, higher CO₂ concentration and soil water availability significantly increased mean soil respiration by 35.8% and 15.7%, respectively. The effects of air warming on soil respiration varied seasonally from small reductions to significant increases to no response, and there was no significant main effect. In the wet side of elevated CO₂ chambers, air warming consistently caused increases in soil respiration, whereas in the other three combinations of CO₂ and water treatments, warming tended to decrease soil respiration over the growing season but increase it over the winter. There were no interactive effects on soil respiration among any two or three treatment factors irrespective of time period. Treatment‐induced changes in soil temperature and moisture together explained 49%, 44%, and 56% of the seasonal variations of soil respiration responses to elevated CO₂, air warming, and changing precipitation, respectively. Additional indirect effects of seasonal dynamics and responses of plant growth on C substrate supply were indicated. Given the importance of indirect effects of the forcing factors and plant community dynamics on soil temperature, moisture, and C substrate, soil respiration response to climatic warming should not be represented in models as a simple temperature response function, and a more mechanistic representation including vegetation dynamics and substrate supply is needed.