Methane consumption by montane soils: implications for positive and negative feedback with climatic change

We report here three years of field observations of methane uptake, averaging 1.2 mg CH₄ m^–2 d^–1 in montane meadow soils. Surface soil moisture influenced diffusion of substrate while in deeper soil, where methane oxidation was maximum, moisture influenced both diffusion and microbial activity. Microbial oxidation of methane was maximum at an intermediate level of soil moisture, at this site at about 25% moisture by weight (50% water holding capacity). Laboratory incubations also showed inhibition below 20% moisture. These results provide in situ characterization of moisture limitation of methanotroph activity and evidence that soil drying may diminish the methane sink strength. The microbial limitation to methane consumption at low soil moisture provides a mechanism for positive feedback between methane flux and climate warming, as suggested by ice core data (Blunier et al. 1993; Chappellaz et al. 1990; Stauffer et al. 1985).     

Effects of experimental warming on net ecosystem CO2 exchange in Northern Xizang alpine meadow

AimsGlobal warming could have profound effects on ecosystem carbon (C) fluxes in alpine ecosystems. The aim of our study is to examine the effects of gradient warming on net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE).MethodsIn the Northern Tibetan Grassland Ecosystem Research Station (Nagqu station), Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, we conducted various levels of temperature increasing experiments (i.e., 2 °C and 4 °C increments). The warming was achieved using open-top chambers (OTCs). In total, there were three levels of temperature treatments (control, 2 °C and 4 °C increment), and four replicates for each treatment. The ecosystem NEE was monitored every five days during the growing season in 2015.Important findings Our findings highlight the importance of soil moisture in mediating the responses of NEE to climatic warming in alpine meadow ecosystem. The 4 °C warming significantly stimulated NEE,except for July measurements. The 2 °C warming had no effects on NEE during the growing season. Compared to the 2 °C warming, the 4 °C warming significantly stimulated NEE. The results showed that our targeted ecosystem acts as a carbon sink under 2 °C warming, whereas will act as a net carbon source under 4 °C warming in the future. This study provides basic data and theoretical basis for evaluating the alpine ecosystem’s responses to climate change.     

不同幅度的实验增温对藏北高寒草甸净生态系统碳交换的影响

全球气候变暖将对陆地生态系统(尤其是高寒草甸生态系统)碳循环产生深远影响。该研究依托中国科学院地理科学与资源研究所藏北高原草地生态系统研究站(那曲站), 设置不同增温幅度实验, 模拟未来2 ℃增温和4 ℃增温的情景, 探究不同增温幅度对青藏高原高寒草甸净生态系统碳交换(NEE)的影响。研究结果显示: 1)在2015年生长季(6-9月), 不增温和2 ℃增温处理下NEE小于0, 总体表现为碳汇, 而4 ℃增温处理下NEE大于0, 总体表现为碳源; 2)在生长季的6月、8月及整个生长季, 与不增温相比, 4 ℃增温处理显著提高了NEE, 而2 ℃增温处理没有显著改变NEE; 7月, 2 ℃和4 ℃增温处理均显著提高了NEE; 3)在半干旱的高寒草甸生态系统, 土壤水分是决定NEE的关键因素, 增温通过降低土壤水分而导致高寒草甸生态系统碳汇能力下降。该研究可为青藏高原高寒草甸生态系统应对未来气候变化提供基础数据和理论依据。     

Carbon isotopes in terrestrial ecosystem pools and CO2 fluxes

Stable carbon isotopes are used extensively to examine physiological, ecological, and biogeochemical processes related to ecosystem, regional, and global carbon cycles and provide information at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. Much is known about the processes that regulate the carbon isotopic composition (delta(13)C) of leaf, plant, and ecosystem carbon pools and of photosynthetic and respiratory carbon dioxide (CO(2)) fluxes. In this review, systematic patterns and mechanisms underlying variation in delta(13)C of plant and ecosystem carbon pools and fluxes are described. We examine the hypothesis that the delta(13)C of leaf biomass can be used as a reference point for other carbon pools and fluxes, which differ from the leaf in delta(13)C in a systematic fashion. Plant organs are typically enriched in (13)C relative to leaves, and most ecosystem pools and respiratory fluxes are enriched relative to sun leaves of dominant plants, with the notable exception of root respiration. Analysis of the chemical and isotopic composition of leaves and leaf respiration suggests that growth respiration has the potential to contribute substantially to the observed offset between the delta(13)C values of ecosystem respiration and the bulk leaf. We discuss the implications of systematic variations in delta(13)C of ecosystem pools and CO(2) fluxes for studies of carbon cycling within ecosystems, as well as for studies that use the delta(13)C of atmospheric CO(2) to diagnose changes in the terrestrial biosphere over annual to millennial time scales.     

Carbon limitation of soil respiration under winter snowpacks: potential feedbacks between growing season and winter carbon fluxes

A reduction in the length of the snow‐covered season in response to a warming of high‐latitude and high‐elevation ecosystems may increase soil carbon availability both through increased litter fall following longer growing seasons and by allowing early winter soil frosts that lyse plant and microbial cells. To evaluate how an increase in labile carbon during winter may affect ecosystem carbon balance we investigated the relationship between carbon availability and winter CO₂ fluxes at several locations in the Colorado Rockies. Landscape‐scale surveys of winter CO₂ fluxes from sites with different soil carbon content indicated that winter CO₂ fluxes were positively related to carbon availability and experimental additions of glucose to soil confirmed that CO₂ fluxes from snow‐covered soil at temperatures between 0 and ?3°C were carbon limited. Glucose added to snow‐covered soil increased CO₂ fluxes by 52–160% relative to control sites within 24 h and remained 62–70% higher after 30 days. Concurrently a shift in the δ¹³C values of emitted CO₂ toward the glucose value indicated preferential utilization of the added carbon confirming the presence of active heterotrophic respiration in soils at temperatures below 0°C. The sensitivity of these winter fluxes to substrate availability, coupled with predicted changes in winter snow cover, suggests that feedbacks between growing season carbon uptake and winter heterotrophic activity may have unforeseen consequences for carbon and nutrient cycling in northern forests. For example, published winter CO₂ fluxes indicate that on average 50% of growing season carbon uptake currently is respired during the winter; changes in winter CO₂ flux in response to climate change have the potential to reduce substantially the net carbon sink in these ecosystems.     

长白山温带混交林林冠下层CO2通量对生态系统碳收支的贡献

作为ChinaFLUX的重要组成部分,从2002年年底开始利用涡度协方差技术在长白山温带混交林林冠上层和下层进行连续通量观测,这为量化林冠下层CO2通量对整个森林生态系统碳收支的贡献提供了一条有效途径.利用2003年林冠上层和林冠下层的观测数据,研究表明林冠下层夜间的CO2通量与5 cm深度的土壤温度存在明显的指数正相关关系.林冠下层的呼吸通量与箱式法观测的土壤呼吸通量之间具有很好的一致性(R2=0.77),二者在全年都与整个森林的光合产物量相耦合,且都在7～8月份达到最大值.林冠下层的呼吸量和土壤呼吸量分别为770 g Cm-2a-1和703 g Cm-2a-1,占整个森林生态系统呼吸年总量的比重高达59.88%和54.69%.林冠下层的光合作用呈双峰型季节变化,两个峰值分别出现在5月中旬和8月下旬.尽管全年林冠下层光合产物量为87 g Cm-2a-1,对整个森林光合产物量的贡献率仅为5.69%,但林冠郁闭度低的4、5月和10月份,林冠下层的光合产物贡献率也分别达到19.99%、21.06%和14.53%.林冠下层净初级生产力的季节动态受该层呼吸作用的季节变异控制,林冠下层在全年都表现为碳源,其净碳排放速率在8月份达到最大.     

Individual and interactive effects of warming and nitrogen supply on CO2 fluxes and carbon allocation in subarctic grassland

Climate warming has been suggested to impact high latitude grasslands severely, potentially causing considerable carbon (C) losses from soil. Warming can also stimulate nitrogen (N) turnover, but it is largely unclear whether and how altered N availability impacts belowground C dynamics. Even less is known about the individual and interactive effects of warming and N availability on the fate of recently photosynthesized C in soil. On a 10-year geothermal warming gradient in Iceland, we studied the effects of soil warming and N addition on CO₂ fluxes and the fate of recently photosynthesized C through CO₂ flux measurements and a ¹³CO₂ pulse-labeling experiment. Under warming, ecosystem respiration exceeded maximum gross primary productivity, causing increased net CO₂ emissions. N addition treatments revealed that, surprisingly, the plants in the warmed soil were N limited, which constrained primary productivity and decreased recently assimilated C in shoots and roots. In soil, microbes were increasingly C limited under warming and increased microbial uptake of recent C. Soil respiration was increased by warming and was fueled by increased belowground inputs and turnover of recently photosynthesized C. Our findings suggest that a decade of warming seemed to have induced a N limitation in plants and a C limitation by soil microbes. This caused a decrease in net ecosystem CO₂ uptake and accelerated the respiratory release of photosynthesized C, which decreased the C sequestration potential of the grassland. Our study highlights the importance of belowground C allocation and C-N interactions in the C dynamics of subarctic ecosystems in a warmer world.     

Response of soil surface CO2 flux in a boreal forest to ecosystem warming

Soil surface carbon dioxide (CO₂) flux (R_S) was measured for 2 years at the Boreal Soil and Air Warming Experiment site near Thompson, MB, Canada. The experimental design was a complete random block design that consisted of four replicate blocks, with each block containing a 15 m × 15 m control and heated plot. Black spruce [Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP] was the overstory species and Epilobium angustifolium was the dominant understory. Soil temperature was maintained (～5 °C) above the control soil temperature using electric cables inside water filled polyethylene tubing for each heated plot. Air inside a 7.3‐m‐diameter chamber, centered in the soil warming plot, contained approximately nine black spruce trees was heated ～5 °C above control ambient air temperature allowing for the testing of soil‐only warming and soil+air warming. Soil surface CO₂ flux (R_S) was positively correlated (P < 0.0001) to soil temperature at 10 cm depth. Soil surface CO₂ flux (R_S) was 24% greater in the soil‐only warming than the control in 2004, but was only 11% greater in 2005, while R_S in the soil+air warming treatments was 31% less than the control in 2004 and 23% less in 2005. Live fine root mass (< 2 mm diameter) was less in the heated than control treatments in 2004 and statistically less (P < 0.01) in 2005. Similar root mass between the two heated treatments suggests that different heating methods (soil‐only vs. soil+air warming) can affect the rate of decomposition.     

The role of shrub (Potentilla fruticosa) on ecosystem CO2 fluxes in an alpine shrub meadow

Aims Recent studies have shown that alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau act as significant CO₂ sinks. On the plateau, alpine shrub meadow is one of typical grassland ecosystems. The major alpine shrub on the plateau is Potentilla fruticosa L. (Rosaceae), which is distributed widely from 3 200 to 4 000 m. Shrub species play an important role on carbon sequestration in grassland ecosystems. In addition, alpine shrubs are sensitive to climate change such as global warming. Considering global warming, the biomass and productivity of P. fruticosa will increase on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Thus, understanding the carbon dynamics in alpine shrub meadow and the role of shrubs around the upper distribution limit at present is essential to predict the change in carbon sequestration on the plateau. However, the role of shrubs on the carbon dynamics in alpine shrub meadow remains unclear. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the magnitude of CO₂ exchange of P. fruticosa shrub patches around the upper distribution limit and to elucidate the role of P. fruticosa on ecosystem CO₂ fluxes in an alpine meadow.Methods We used the static acrylic chamber technique to measure and estimate the net ecosystem productivity (NEP), ecosystem respiration (R e), and gross primary productivity (GPP) of P. fruticosa shrub patches at three elevations around the species' upper distribution limit. Ecosystem CO₂ fluxes and environmental factors were measured from 17 to 20 July 2008 at 3 400, 3 600, and 3 800 m a.s.l. We examined the maximum GPP at infinite light (GPP max) and maximum R e (R emax) during the experimental time at each elevation in relation to aboveground biomass and environmental factors, including air and soil temperature, and soil water content.Important findings Patches of P. fruticosa around the species' upper distribution limit absorbed CO₂, at least during the daytime. Maximum NEP at infinite light (NEP max) and GPP max of shrub patches in the alpine meadow varied among the three elevations, with the highest values at 3 400 m and the lowest at 3 800 m. GPP max was positively correlated with the green biomass of P. fruticosa more strongly than with total green biomass, suggesting that P. fruticosa is the major contributor to CO₂ uptake in the alpine shrub meadow. Air temperature influenced the potential GPP at the shrub-patch scale. R emax was correlated with aboveground biomass and R emax normalized by aboveground biomass was influenced by soil water content. Potentilla fruticosa height (biomass) and frequency increased clearly as elevation decreased, which promotes the large-scale spatial variation of carbon uptake and the strength of the carbon sink at lower elevations.     

Contrasting responses of heterotrophic and autotrophic respiration to experimental warming in a winter annual‐dominated prairie

Understanding how soil respiration (Rs) and its source components respond to climate warming is crucial to improve model prediction of climate‐carbon (C) feedback. We conducted a manipulation experiment by warming and clipping in a prairie dominated by invasive winter annual Bromus japonicas in Southern Great Plains, USA. Infrared radiators were used to simulate climate warming by 3 °C and clipping was used to mimic yearly hay mowing. Heterotrophic respiration (Rh) was measured inside deep collars (70 cm deep) that excluded root growth, while total soil respiration (Rs) was measured inside surface collars (2–3 cm deep). Autotrophic respiration (Ra) was calculated by subtracting Rh from Rs. During 3 years of experiment from January 2010 to December 2012, warming had no significant effect on Rs. The neutral response of Rs to warming was due to compensatory effects of warming on Rh and Ra. Warming significantly (P < 0.05) stimulated Rh but decreased Ra. Clipping only marginally (P < 0.1) increased Ra in 2010 but had no effect on Rh. There were no significant interactive effects of warming and clipping on Rs or its components. Warming stimulated annual Rh by 22.0%, but decreased annual Ra by 29.0% across the 3 years. The decreased Ra was primarily associated with the warming‐induced decline of the winter annual productivity. Across the 3 years, warming increased Rh/Rs by 29.1% but clipping did not affect Rh/Rs. Our study highlights that climate warming may have contrasting effects on Rh and Ra in association with responses of plant productivity to warming.     

Soil carbon fluxes and stocks in a Great Lakes forest chronosequence

We measured soil respiration and soil carbon stocks, as well as micrometeorological variables in a chronosequence of deciduous forests in Wisconsin and Michigan. The chronosequence consisted of (1) four recently disturbed stands, including a clearcut and repeatedly burned stand (burn), a blowdown and partial salvage stand (blowdown), a clearcut with sparse residual overstory (residual), and a regenerated stand from a complete clearcut (regenerated); (2) four young aspen ( Populus tremuloides ) stands in average age of 10 years; (3) four intermediate aspen stands in average age of 26 years; (4) four mature northern hardwood stands in average age of 73 years; and (5) an old-growth stand approximately 350-years old. We fitted site-based models and used continuous measurements of soil temperature to estimate cumulative soil respiration for the growing season of 2005 (days 133–295). Cumulative soil respiration in the growing season was estimated to be 513, 680, 747, 747, 794, 802, 690, and 571 g C m⁻² in the burn, blowdown, residual, regenerated, young, intermediate, mature, and old-growth stands, respectively. The measured apparent temperature sensitivity of soil respiration was the highest in the regenerated stand, and declined from the young stands to the old-growth. Both, cumulative soil respiration and basal soil respiration at 10 °C, increased during stand establishment, peaked at intermediate age, and then decreased with age. Total soil carbon at 0–60 cm initially decreased after harvest, and increased after stands established. The old-growth stand accumulated carbon in deep layers of soils, but not in the surface soils. Our study suggests a complexity of long-term soil carbon dynamics, both in vertical depth and temporal scale.     

Antecedent moisture and temperature conditions modulate the response of ecosystem respiration to elevated CO2 and warming

Terrestrial plant and soil respiration, or ecosystem respiration (R_eco), represents a major CO₂ flux in the global carbon cycle. However, there is disagreement in how R_eco will respond to future global changes, such as elevated atmosphere CO₂ and warming. To address this, we synthesized six years (2007–2012) of R_eco data from the Prairie Heating And CO₂ Enrichment (PHACE) experiment. We applied a semi‐mechanistic temperature–response model to simultaneously evaluate the response of R_eco to three treatment factors (elevated CO₂, warming, and soil water manipulation) and their interactions with antecedent soil conditions [e.g., past soil water content (SWC) and temperature (SoilT)] and aboveground factors (e.g., vapor pressure deficit, photosynthetically active radiation, vegetation greenness). The model fits the observed R_eco well (R² = 0.77). We applied the model to estimate annual (March–October) R_eco, which was stimulated under elevated CO₂ in most years, likely due to the indirect effect of elevated CO₂ on SWC. When aggregated from 2007 to 2012, total six‐year R_eco was stimulated by elevated CO₂ singly (24%) or in combination with warming (28%). Warming had little effect on annual R_eco under ambient CO₂, but stimulated it under elevated CO₂ (32% across all years) when precipitation was high (e.g., 44% in 2009, a ‘wet’ year). Treatment‐level differences in R_eco can be partly attributed to the effects of antecedent SoilT and vegetation greenness on the apparent temperature sensitivity of R_eco and to the effects of antecedent and current SWC and vegetation activity (greenness modulated by VPD) on R_eco base rates. Thus, this study indicates that the incorporation of both antecedent environmental conditions and aboveground vegetation activity are critical to predicting R_eco at multiple timescales (subdaily to annual) and under a future climate of elevated CO₂ and warming.     

Characterization of CO2 flux in three Kobresia meadows differing in dominant species

Aims Kobresia meadows, the dominant species of which differ in different habitats, cover a large area of alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and act as potential CO₂ sinks. Kobresia meadows with different dominant species may differ in carbon sink strength. We aimed to test the hypothesis and to clarify the differences in CO₂ sink strength among three major Kobresia meadows on the plateau and the mechanisms underlying these differences.Methods We measured the net ecosystem exchange flux (NEE), ecosystem respiration flux (ER), aboveground biomass (AGB) and environmental variables in three Kobresia meadows, dominated by K. pygmaea, K. humilis, or K. tibetica, respectively, in Haibei, Qinghai. NEE and ER were measured by a closed-chamber method. Environmental variables, including photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), air and soil temperature and air and soil moisture, were monitored during the above flux measurements.Important findings The measured peak AGB increased with soil water content and was 365, 402 and 434 g dry weight m^{-2<-sup> for K. pygmaea, K. humilis and K. tibetica meadow, respectively. From the maximum ecosystem photosynthetic rate in relation to PPFD measured during the growing season, we estimated gross ecosystem photosynthetic potential (GEP max) as 22.2, 29.9 and 37.8 μmol CO₂ m-2<-sup> s-1 for K. pygmaea, K. humilis and K. tibetica meadow, respectively. We estimated the respective gross primary production (GPP) values as 799, 1-063 and 1?158 g C m-2<-sup> year-1 and ER as 722, 914 and 1-011 g C m-2<-sup> year-1. Average net ecosystem production (NEP) was estimated to be 76.9, 149.4 and 147.6 g C m-2<-sup> year-1 in K. pygmaea, K. humilis and K. tibetica meadows, respectively. The results indicate that (i) the three meadows were CO₂ sinks during the study period and (ii) Kobresia meadows dominated by different species can differ considerably in carbon sink strength even under the same climatic conditions, which suggests the importance of characterizing spatial heterogeneity of carbon dynamics in the future.}     

Accumulation of soil carbon under elevated CO2 unaffected by warming and drought

Elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration and climate change may substantially alter soil carbon (C) dynamics, which in turn may impact future climate through feedback cycles. However, only very few field experiments worldwide have combined elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) with both warming and changes in precipitation in order to study the potential combined effects of changes in these fundamental drivers of C cycling in ecosystems. We exposed a temperate heath/grassland to eCO₂, warming, and drought, in all combinations for 8 years. At the end of the study, soil C stocks were on average 0.927 kg C/m² higher across all treatment combinations with eCO₂ compared to ambient CO₂ treatments (equal to an increase of 0.120 ± 0.043 kg C m^?2 year^?1), and showed no sign of slowed accumulation over time. However, if observed pretreatment differences in soil C are taken into account, the annual rate of increase caused by eCO₂ may be as high as 0.177 ± 0.070 kg C m^?2 year^?1. Furthermore, the response to eCO₂ was not affected by simultaneous exposure to warming and drought. The robust increase in soil C under eCO₂ observed here, even when combined with other climate change factors, suggests that there is continued and strong potential for enhanced soil carbon sequestration in some ecosystems to mitigate increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations under future climate conditions. The feedback between land C and climate remains one of the largest sources of uncertainty in future climate projections, yet experimental data under simulated future climate, and especially including combined changes, are still scarce. Globally coordinated and distributed experiments with long‐term measurements of changes in soil C in response to the three major climate change‐related global changes, eCO₂, warming, and changes in precipitation patterns, are, therefore, urgently needed.     

Climate warming alters the relative importance of plant root and microbial community in regulating the accumulation of soil microbial necromass carbon in a Tibetan alpine meadow

Climate warming is predicted to considerably affect variations in soil organic carbon (SOC), especially in alpine ecosystems. Microbial necromass carbon (MNC) is an important contributor to stable soil organic carbon pools. However, accumulation and persistence of soil MNC across a gradient of warming are still poorly understood. An 8-year field experiment with four levels of warming was conducted in a Tibetan meadow. We found that low-level (+0–1.5°C) warming mostly enhanced bacterial necromass carbon (BNC), fungal necromass carbon (FNC), and total MNC compared with control treatment across soil layers, while no significant effect was caused between high-level (+1.5–2.5°C) treatments and control treatments. The contributions of both MNC and BNC to soil organic carbon were not significantly affected by warming treatments across depths. Structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that the effect of plant root traits on MNC persistence strengthened with warming intensity, while the influence of microbial community characteristics waned along strengthened warming. Overall, our study provides novel evidence that the major determinants of MNC production and stabilization may vary with warming magnitude in alpine meadows. This finding is critical for updating our knowledge on soil carbon storage in response to climate warming.     

Soil respiration is stimulated by elevated CO2 and reduced by summer drought: three years of measurements in a multifactor ecosystem manipulation experiment in a temperate heathland (CLIMAITE)

This study investigated the impact of predicted future climatic and atmospheric conditions on soil respiration (R_S) in a Danish Calluna‐Deschampsia‐heathland. A fully factorial in situ experiment with treatments of elevated atmospheric CO₂ (+130 ppm), raised soil temperature (+0.4 °C) and extended summer drought (5–8% precipitation exclusion) was established in 2005. The average R_S, observed in the control over 3 years of measurements (1.7 μmol CO₂ m^?2 sec^?1), increased 38% under elevated CO₂, irrespective of combination with the drought or temperature treatments. In contrast, extended summer drought decreased R_S by 14%, while elevated soil temperature did not affect R_S overall. A significant interaction between elevated temperature and drought resulted in further reduction of R_S when these treatments were combined. A detailed analysis of short‐term R_S dynamics associated with drought periods showed that R_S was reduced by ~50% and was strongly correlated with soil moisture during these events. Recovery of R_S to pre‐drought levels occurred within 2 weeks of rewetting; however, unexpected drought effects were observed several months after summer drought treatment in 2 of the 3 years, possibly due to reduced plant growth or changes in soil water holding capacity. An empirical model that predicts R_S from soil temperature, soil moisture and plant biomass was developed and accounted for 55% of the observed variability in R_S. The model predicted annual sums of R_S in 2006 and 2007, in the control, were 672 and 719 g C m^?2 y^?1, respectively. For the full treatment combination, i.e. the future climate scenario, the model predicted that soil respiratory C losses would increase by ~21% (140–150 g C m^?2 y^?1). Therefore, in the future climate, stimulation of C storage in plant biomass and litter must be in excess of 21% for this ecosystem to not suffer a reduction in net ecosystem exchange.     

Long‐term enhanced winter soil frost alters growing season CO2 fluxes through its impact on vegetation development in a boreal peatland

At high latitudes, winter climate change alters snow cover and, consequently, may cause a sustained change in soil frost dynamics. Altered winter soil conditions could influence the ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and, in turn, provide feedbacks to ongoing climate change. To investigate the mechanisms that modify the peatland CO₂ exchange in response to altered winter soil frost, we conducted a snow exclusion experiment to enhance winter soil frost and to evaluate its short‐term (1–3 years) and long‐term (11 years) effects on CO₂ fluxes during subsequent growing seasons in a boreal peatland. In the first 3 years after initiating the treatment, no significant effects were observed on either gross primary production (GPP) or ecosystem respiration (ER). However, after 11 years, the temperature sensitivity of ER was reduced in the treatment plots relative to the control, resulting in an overall lower ER in the former. Furthermore, early growing season GPP was also lower in the treatment plots than in the controls during periods with photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) ≥800 μmol m^?2 s^?1, corresponding to lower sedge leaf biomass in the treatment plots during the same period. During the peak growing season, a higher GPP was observed in the treatment plots under the low light condition (i.e. PPFD 400 μmol m^?2 s^?1) compared to the control. As Sphagnum moss maximizes photosynthesis at low light levels, this GPP difference between the plots may have been due to greater moss photosynthesis, as indicated by greater moss biomass production, in the treatment plots relative to the controls. Our study highlights the different responses to enhanced winter soil frost among plant functional types which regulate CO₂ fluxes, suggesting that winter climate change could considerably alter the growing season CO₂ exchange in boreal peatlands through its effect on vegetation development.     

青藏高原高寒草甸生长期CO2排放对气温升高的响应

采用高度分别为0.4 m(OTC-1)和0.8 m(OTC-2)的开顶式增温小室(open top champers,OTCs),对青藏高原高寒草甸生态系统进行模拟增温处理,研究了高寒草甸生态系统的CO2排放强度及过程对气温升高的响应.结果表明:在平均气温分别提高1.25℃(OTC-1)和3.68℃(OTC-2)的条件下,对照及2种不同幅度增温处理高寒草甸生态系统CO2排放通量表现出明显的季节变化特征,并同时在植被生长旺盛期(7-8月)达到峰值,分别为2.31、2.35和6.38μmol·m-2·s-1;CO2排放通量在不同季节都表现出随增温幅度的升高而逐渐增大的趋势,表明随着气温升高,CO2排放通量逐渐增大;不同处理CO2排放通量与气温、5 cm土壤温度和5 cm土壤含水量之间表现出显著的相关关系,CO2排放通量与气温及5 cm土壤温度之间均符合指数关系,而与5 cm土壤含水量之间则符合二次多项式关系.     

Enhanced CO2 uptake is marginally offset by altered fluxes of non-CO2 greenhouse gases in global forests and grasslands under N deposition

Despite the increasing impact of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on terrestrial greenhouse gas (GHG) budget, through driving both the net atmospheric CO₂ exchange and the emission or uptake of non-CO₂ GHGs (CH₄ and N₂O), few studies have assessed the climatic impact of forests and grasslands under N deposition globally based on different bottom-up approaches. Here, we quantify the effects of N deposition on biomass C increment, soil organic C (SOC), CH₄ and N₂O fluxes and, ultimately, the net ecosystem GHG balance of forests and grasslands using a global comprehensive dataset. We showed that N addition significantly increased plant C uptake (net primary production) in forests and grasslands, to a larger extent for the aboveground C (aboveground net primary production), whereas it only caused a small or insignificant enhancement of SOC pool in both upland systems. Nitrogen addition had no significant effect on soil heterotrophic respiration (R_H) in both forests and grasslands, while a significant N-induced increase in soil CO₂ fluxes (R_S, soil respiration) was observed in grasslands. Nitrogen addition significantly stimulated soil N₂O fluxes in forests (76%), to a larger extent in grasslands (87%), but showed a consistent trend to decrease soil uptake of CH₄, suggesting a declined sink capacity of forests and grasslands for atmospheric CH₄ under N enrichment. Overall, the net GHG balance estimated by the net ecosystem production-based method (forest, 1.28 Pg CO₂-eq year⁻¹ vs. grassland, 0.58 Pg CO₂-eq year⁻¹) was greater than those estimated using the SOC-based method (forest, 0.32 Pg CO₂-eq year⁻¹ vs. grassland, 0.18 Pg CO₂-eq year⁻¹) caused by N addition. Our findings revealed that the enhanced soil C sequestration by N addition in global forests and grasslands could be only marginally offset (1.5%–4.8%) by the combined effects of its stimulation of N₂O emissions together with the reduced soil uptake of CH₄.     

Decreased mass specific respiration under experimental warming is robust to the microbial biomass method employed

Hartley et al. question whether reduction in R _mass, under experimental warming, arises because of the biomass method. We show the method they treat as independent yields the same result. We describe why the substrate-depletion hypothesis may not solely explain observed responses, and urge caution in interpretation of the seasonal data.