森林土壤呼吸及其对全球变化的响应

森林土壤呼吸是全球碳循环的重要流通途径之一 ,其动态变化将直接影响全球 C平衡。森林土壤呼吸由自养呼吸和异养呼吸组成 ,不同森林类型、测定季节和测定方法等直接影响其所占比例。土壤温度和湿度是影响森林土壤呼吸的最主要因素 ,共同解释了森林土壤呼吸变化的大部分。因树种组成、生产力和枯落物数量等不同而使不同森林类型土壤呼吸速率表现出明显差异。采伐对森林土壤呼吸的影响结果有增加、降低或无影响 ,因采伐方式、森林类型、采伐迹地上植被恢复进程和气候条件等而异。火烧一般导致土壤呼吸速率降低。因肥料种类、施用剂量和立地条件不同 ,施肥对森林土壤呼吸的影响出现增加、降低或无影响等不同结果。大气 CO2 浓度升高和升温均可促进森林土壤呼吸。 N沉降有可能刺激了土壤呼吸 ,而酸沉降则可能降低了土壤呼吸。臭氧浓度和 UV-B辐射强度亦会在一定程度上影响森林土壤呼吸。但目前全球变化对森林土壤呼吸的综合影响尚不清楚 ,深入探讨森林土壤呼吸的调控因素及其对全球变化和营林措施的响应等仍是今后努力的主要方向。     

Climate change and its impact on the forests of Kilimanjaro

Cloud forests are of great importance in the hydrological functioning of watersheds in subhumid East Africa. However, the montane forests of Mt. Kilimanjaro are heavily threatened by global change impacts. Based on an evaluation of over 1500 vegetation plots and interpretation of satellite imagery from 1976 and 2000, land-cover changes on Kilimanjaro were evaluated and their impact on the water balance estimated. While the vanishing glaciers of Kilimanjaro attract broad interest, the associated increase of frequency and intensity of fires on the slopes of Kilimanjaro is less conspicuous but ecologically far more significant. These climate change-induced fires have lead to changes in species composition and structure of the forests and to a downward shift of the upper forest line by several hundred metres. During the last 70 years, Kilimanjaro has lost nearly one-third of its forest cover, in the upper areas caused by fire, on the lower forest border mainly caused by clearing. The loss of 150 km² of cloud forest – the most effective source in the upper montane and subalpine fog interception zone – caused by fire during the last three decades means a considerable reduction in water yield. In contrast to common belief, global warming does not necessarily cause upward migration of plants and animals. On Kilimanjaro the opposite trend is under way, with consequences more harmful than those due to the loss of the showy ice cap of Africa's highest mountain.     

Soil respiration in six temperate forests in China

Scaling soil respiration (R_S), the major CO₂ source to the atmosphere from terrestrial ecosystems, from chamber‐based measurements to ecosystems requires studies on variations and correlations of R_S from various biomes and across geographic regions. However, few studies on R_S are available for Chinese temperate forest despite the importance of this forest in the national and global carbon budgets. In this study, we conducted 18‐month R_S measurements during 2004–2005 in six temperate forest types, representing the typical secondary forest ecosystems across various site conditions in northeastern China: Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica Fisch.), aspen‐birch (Populous davidiana Dode and Betula platyphylla Suk.), mixed deciduous (no dominant tree species), hardwood (dominated by Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr., Juglans mandshurica Maxim., and Phellodendron amurense Rupr.) forests, Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc.) and Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii Rupr.) plantations. Our specific objectives were to: (1) explore relationships of R_S against soil temperature and water content for the six forest ecosystems, (2) quantify annual soil surface CO₂ flux and its relations to belowground carbon storage, (3) examine seasonal variations in R_S and related environmental factors, and (4) quantify among‐ and within‐ecosystem variations in R_S. The R_S was positively correlated to soil temperature in all forest types, and was significantly influenced by the interactions of soil temperature and water content in the pine, larch, and mixed deciduous forests. The sensitivity of R_S to soil temperature at 10 cm depth (Q₁₀) ranged from 2.61 in the oak forest to 3.75 in the aspen‐birch forests. The Q₁₀ tended to increase with soil water content until reaching a threshold, and then decline. The annual R_S for the larch, pine, hardwood, oak, mixed deciduous, and aspen‐birch forests averaged 403, 514, 781, 785, 786, and 813 g C m^?2 yr^?1, respectively. The annual R_S of the broadleaved forests was 72% greater than that of the coniferous forests. The annual R_S was positively correlated to soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration at O horizon (R²=0.868) and total biomass of roots <0.5 cm in diameter (R²=0.748). The coefficient of variation (CV) of R_S among forest types averaged 25% across the 18‐month measurements. The CV of R_S within plots varied from 20% to 27%, significantly (P<0.001) greater than those among plots (9–15%), indicating the importance of the fine‐scaled heterogeneity in R_S. This study emphasized that variations in soil respiration and potential sampling bias should be appropriately tackled for accurate soil CO₂ flux estimates.     

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.     

基于文献计量分析土壤微生物对气候变暖的响应

【背景】面对全球气候变暖,土壤微生物在陆地生态系统对全球变暖反馈中起到了至关重要的作用。【目的】了解土壤微生物对气候变暖响应研究的发展现状、研究热点及前沿动态,厘清当前该研究领域的知识结构关系。【方法】以1999-2021年Web of Science核心数据库中土壤微生物对气候变暖响应研究已发表的3 189篇论文为数据源,利用Vosviewer和CiteSpace软件对年发文量、文献被引频次、作者、机构、国家、学科和关键词等进行可视化分析。【结果】研究总体呈逐步增长趋势,经历缓慢增长、稳步增长和高速增长3个阶段;高被引论文均发表在国际顶级期刊上,研究成果具有较高的学术影响力。在学科融合与合作交流方面,环境科学、生态学和土壤学是该研究领域的主要学科,而多学科交叉学在该领域占有重要地位;作者骆亦其、Schuur和周集中是该领域核心学者,作者之间的合作关系主要以同一研究团队内部合作为主;主要的科研机构有中国科学院、加利福尼亚大学和美国能源部,各科研机构之间合作较为紧密;中国、美国和欧洲是土壤微生物对气候变暖响应研究领域的主要力量,国家之间相互合作程度高。该领域的主要研究热点是气候变暖改变了土壤微生物的群落结构组成、多样性和生理生化功能,进而对地球化学物质循环产生影响;土壤微生物在土壤碳库释放中的作用机理和调控机制是该领域研究前沿。【结论】目前,不同生态系统研究中土壤微生物对增温的响应与适应机制存在着差异,而且对微生物碳功能基因和多环境交互因子的研究较少。因此,建议后期应更加聚焦特定生态系统的细化研究,开展大范围、大尺度、长时期的定位研究,加强对微生物碳降解和碳固定功能基因的研究,多关注环境因子变化的交互作用对土壤微生物生态过程的影响。     

Net greenhouse gas fluxes in Brazilian ethanol production systems

Biofuels are both a promising solution to global warming mitigation and a potential contributor to the problem. Several life cycle assessments of bioethanol have been conducted to address these questions. We performed a synthesis of the available data on Brazilian ethanol production focusing on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon (C) sinks in the agricultural and industrial phases. Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from fossil fuels, methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) from sources commonly included in C footprints, such as fossil fuel usage, biomass burning, nitrogen fertilizer application, liming and litter decomposition were accounted for. In addition, black carbon (BC) emissions from burning biomass and soil C sequestration were included in the balance. Most of the annual emissions per hectare are in the agricultural phase, both in the burned system (2209 out of a total of 2398 kg C_eq), and in the unburned system (559 out of 748 kg C_eq). Although nitrogen fertilizer emissions are large, 111 kg C_eq ha^?1 yr^?1, the largest single source of emissions is biomass burning in the manual harvest system, with a large amount of both GHG (196 kg C_eq ha^?1 yr^?1). and BC (1536 kg C_eq ha^?1 yr^?1). Besides avoiding emissions from biomass burning, harvesting sugarcane mechanically without burning tends to increase soil C stocks, providing a C sink of 1500 kg C ha^?1 yr^?1 in the 30 cm layer. The data show a C output: input ratio of 1.4 for ethanol produced under the conventionally burned and manual harvest compared with 6.5 for the mechanized harvest without burning, signifying the importance of conservation agricultural systems in bioethanol feedstock production.     

Global response of terrestrial ecosystem structure and function to CO2 and climate change: results from six dynamic global vegetation models

The possible responses of ecosystem processes to rising atmospheric CO₂ concentration and climate change are illustrated using six dynamic global vegetation models that explicitly represent the interactions of ecosystem carbon and water exchanges with vegetation dynamics. The models are driven by the IPCC IS92a scenario of rising CO₂ ( Wigley et al. 1991 ), and by climate changes resulting from effective CO₂ concentrations corresponding to IS92a, simulated by the coupled ocean atmosphere model HadCM2‐SUL. Simulations with changing CO₂ alone show a widely distributed terrestrial carbon sink of 1.4–3.8 Pg C y^?1 during the 1990s, rising to 3.7–8.6 Pg C y^?1 a century later. Simulations including climate change show a reduced sink both today (0.6–3.0 Pg C y^?1) and a century later (0.3–6.6 Pg C y^?1) as a result of the impacts of climate change on NEP of tropical and southern hemisphere ecosystems. In all models, the rate of increase of NEP begins to level off around 2030 as a consequence of the ‘diminishing return’ of physiological CO₂ effects at high CO₂ concentrations. Four out of the six models show a further, climate‐induced decline in NEP resulting from increased heterotrophic respiration and declining tropical NPP after 2050. Changes in vegetation structure influence the magnitude and spatial pattern of the carbon sink and, in combination with changing climate, also freshwater availability (runoff). It is shown that these changes, once set in motion, would continue to evolve for at least a century even if atmospheric CO₂ concentration and climate could be instantaneously stabilized. The results should be considered illustrative in the sense that the choice of CO₂ concentration scenario was arbitrary and only one climate model scenario was used. However, the results serve to indicate a range of possible biospheric responses to CO₂ and climate change. They reveal major uncertainties about the response of NEP to climate change resulting, primarily, from differences in the way that modelled global NPP responds to a changing climate. The simulations illustrate, however, that the magnitude of possible biospheric influences on the carbon balance requires that this factor is taken into account for future scenarios of atmospheric CO₂ and climate change.