Mineral control of organic carbon mineralization in a range of temperate conifer forest soils

Coupled climate–ecosystem models predict significant alteration of temperate forest biome distribution in response to climate warming. Temperate forest biomes contain approximately 10% of global soil carbon (C) stocks and therefore any change in their distribution may have significant impacts on terrestrial C budgets. Using the Sierra Nevada as a model system for temperate forest soils, we examined the effects of temperature and soil mineralogy on soil C mineralization. We incubated soils from three conifer biomes dominated by ponderosa pine (PP), white fir (WF), and red fir (RF) tree species, on granite (GR), basalt (BS), and andesite (AN) parent materials, at three temperatures (12.5°C, 7.5°C, 5.0°C). AN soils were dominated by noncrystalline materials (allophane, Al‐humus complexes), GR soils by crystalline minerals (kaolinite, vermiculite), and BS soils by a mix of crystalline and noncrystalline materials. Soil C mineralization (ranging from 1.9 to 34.6 [mg C (g soil C)^?1] or 0.1 to 2.3 [mg C (g soil)^?1]) differed significantly between parent materials in all biomes with a general pattern of ANδ¹³C values of respired CO₂ suggest greater decomposition of recalcitrant soil C compounds with increasing temperature, indicating a shift in primary C source utilization with temperature. Our results demonstrate that soil mineralogy moderates soil C mineralization and that soil C response to temperature includes shifts in decomposition rates, mineralizable pool size, and primary C source utilization.     

东北东部森林生态系统土壤碳贮量和碳通量

土壤碳是高纬度地区森林生态系统最大的碳库,是森林生态系统碳循环的极其重要组分。研究了东北东部典型的6种次生林生态系统(天然蒙古栎林、杨桦林、杂木林、硬阔叶林、红松人工林和落叶松人工林)的土壤碳动态,包括(1)量化土壤有机碳(SOC)含量、碳密度及周转时间,(2)比较不同森林生态系统的土壤表面CO2通量(RS)年通量差异,(3)建立RS年通量及其分量与SOC的量化关系。研究结果表明:阔叶天然次生林和针叶人工林的SOC含量变化范围分别为52.63~66.29 g.kg-1和42.15~49.15 g.kg-1;平均SOC密度分别为15.57和17.16 kg.m-2;平均SOC周转时间分别为32a和48a。各个生态系统的RS依次为杂木林951 gC.m-2.a-1、硬阔叶林892 gC.m-2.-a 1、杨桦林812 gC.m-2.-a 1、蒙古栎林678gC.m-2.-a 1、红松林596 gC.m-2.-a 1和落叶松林451 gC.m-2.a-1。RS年通量及其分量(土壤异养呼吸和自养呼吸)与SOC含量呈显著的正相关,但其相关程度因土层不同而异(R2=0.747~0.933)。同一生态系统中,SOC含量随土深增加而降低,而SOC密度和SOC周转时间随深度增加而增大。采用统一规范的研究方法,获取大量有代表性的森林生态系统土壤碳贮量和RS的实测数据,是减少区域尺度碳平衡研究中不确定性的不可缺少的研究内容。     

气候和林分类型对土壤团聚体有机碳的影响

该研究选择我国分布于亚热带、暖温带和寒温带的三个样点8种林分(包括阔叶林、混交林和针叶林)下表层0~20 cm的土壤为研究对象,利用干筛法进行大团聚体和微团聚体分级,测定了各团聚体组分的有机碳量和有机碳百分比,并分析他们与气候、植被和土壤环境变量之间的关系。结果表明:土壤大团聚体和微团聚体有机碳量都受到气候的显著影响,表现为土壤大团聚体和微团聚体有机碳量随年均温的增高而降低,经分析这与低温抑制土壤微生物分解活动有关。土壤团聚体有机碳百分比受到林分类型的影响显著,表现为阔叶林土壤团聚体有机碳百分比高于针叶林,这与林分凋落物的质量有关。此外,土壤pH值和土壤质地也影响土壤团聚体有机碳百分比。这表明气温上升和人为干扰导致的林分类型改变都可能引起土壤团聚体有机碳的下降,加剧气候变化。该研究结果有助于了解土壤团聚体有机碳的变异规律,为预测全球变化下土壤有机碳响应提供数据支持。     

Impact of climate change on grassland production and soil carbon worldwide

The impact of climate change and increasing atmospheric CO₂ was modelled for 31 temperate and tropical grassland sites, using the CENTURY model. Climate change increased net primary production, except in cold desert steppe regions, and CO₂ increased production everywhere. Climate change caused soil carbon to decrease overall, with a loss of 4 Pg from global grasslands after 50 years. Combined climate change and elevated CO₂ increased production and reduced global grassland C losses to 2 Pg, with tropical savannas becoming small sinks for soil C. Detection of statistically significant change in plant production would require a 16% change in measured plant production because of high year to year variability in plant production. Most of the predicted changes in plant production are less than 10%.     

气候变化对陆地生态系统土壤有机碳储量变化的影响

通过研究气候变化对土壤有机碳储藏的影响,对预测未来气候变化下土壤有机碳动态变化与深入理解陆地生态系统变化和气候变化之间的相互作用有着极其重要的意义。本文归纳了土壤类型法、模型模拟法等途径对土壤有机碳储量估算的结果并分析它们各自的不确定性,综述了气候变化对土壤碳贮藏影响机理的研究与相应过程模拟的模型研究进展,并综合分析了当前研究中还存在的问题与不足。     

Living roots magnify the response of soil organic carbon decomposition to temperature in temperate grassland

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration is both a strong driver of primary productivity and widely believed to be the principal cause of recent increases in global temperature. Soils are the largest store of the world's terrestrial C. Consequently, many investigations have attempted to mechanistically understand how microbial mineralisation of soil organic carbon (SOC) to CO₂ will be affected by projected increases in temperature. Most have attempted this in the absence of plants as the flux of CO₂ from root and rhizomicrobial respiration in intact plant‐soil systems confounds interpretation of measurements. We compared the effect of a small increase in temperature on respiration from soils without recent plant C with the effect on intact grass swards. We found that for 48 weeks, before acclimation occurred, an experimental 3 °C increase in sward temperature gave rise to a 50% increase in below ground respiration (ca. 0.4 kg C m^?2; Q₁₀ = 3.5), whereas mineralisation of older SOC without plants increased with a Q₁₀ of only 1.7 when subject to increases in ambient soil temperature. Subsequent ¹⁴C dating of respired CO₂ indicated that the presence of plants in swards more than doubled the effect of warming on the rate of mineralisation of SOC with an estimated mean C age of ca. 8 years or older relative to incubated soils without recent plant inputs. These results not only illustrate the formidable complexity of mechanisms controlling C fluxes in soils but also suggest that the dual biological and physical effects of CO₂ on primary productivity and global temperature have the potential to synergistically increase the mineralisation of existing soil C.     

Litter type control on soil C and N stabilization dynamics in a temperate forest

While plant litters are the main source of soil organic matter (SOM) in forests, the controllers and pathways to stable SOM formation remain unclear. Here, we address how litter type (¹³C/¹⁵N‐labeled needles vs. fine roots) and placement‐depth (O vs. A horizon) affect in situ C and N dynamics in a temperate forest soil after 5 years. Litter type rather than placement‐depth controlled soil C and N retention after 5 years in situ, with belowground fine root inputs greatly enhancing soil C (x1.4) and N (x1.2) retention compared with aboveground needles. While the proportions of added needle and fine root‐derived C and N recovered into stable SOM fractions were similar, they followed different transformation pathways into stable SOM fractions: fine root transfer was slower than for needles, but proportionally more of the remaining needle‐derived C and N was transferred into stable SOM fractions. The stoichiometry of litter‐derived C vs. N within individual SOM fractions revealed the presence at least two pools of different turnover times (per SOM fraction) and emphasized the role of N‐rich compounds for long‐term persistence. Finally, a regression approach suggested that models may underestimate soil C retention from litter with fast decomposition rates.     

Temporal dynamics of soil organic carbon after land‐use change in the temperate zone – carbon response functions as a model approach

Land‐use change (LUC) is a major driving factor for the balance of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and the global carbon cycle. The temporal dynamic of SOC after LUC is especially important in temperate systems with a long reaction time. On the basis of 95 compiled studies covering 322 sites in the temperate zone, carbon response functions (CRFs) were derived to model the temporal dynamic of SOC after five different LUC types (mean soil depth of 30±6 cm). Grassland establishment caused a long lasting carbon sink with a relative stock change of 128±23% and afforestation on former cropland a sink of 116±54%, 100 years after LUC (mean±95% confidence interval). No new equilibrium was reached within 120 years. In contrast, there was no SOC sink following afforestation of grasslands and 75% of all observations showed SOC losses, even after 100 years. Only in the forest floor, there was carbon accumulation of 0.38±0.04 Mg ha^?1 yr^?1 in afforestations adding up to 38±4 Mg ha^?1 labile carbon after 100 years. Carbon loss after deforestation (?32±20%) and grassland conversion to cropland (?36±5%), was rapid with a new SOC equilibrium being reached after 23 and 17 years, respectively. The change rate of SOC increased with temperature and precipitation but decreased with soil depth and clay content. Subsoil SOC changes followed the trend of the topsoil SOC changes but were smaller (25±5% of the total SOC changes) and with a high uncertainty due to a limited number of datasets. As a simple and robust model approach, the developed CRFs provide an easily applicable tool to estimate SOC stock changes after LUC to improve greenhouse gas reporting in the framework of UNFCCC.     

Distinct responses of soil respiration to experimental litter manipulation in temperate woodland and tropical forest

Global change is affecting primary productivity in forests worldwide, and this, in turn, will alter long‐term carbon (C) sequestration in wooded ecosystems. On one hand, increased primary productivity, for example, in response to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), can result in greater inputs of organic matter to the soil, which could increase C sequestration belowground. On other hand, many of the interactions between plants and microorganisms that determine soil C dynamics are poorly characterized, and additional inputs of plant material, such as leaf litter, can result in the mineralization of soil organic matter, and the release of soil C as CO₂ during so‐called “priming effects”. Until now, very few studies made direct comparison of changes in soil C dynamics in response to altered plant inputs in different wooded ecosystems. We addressed this with a cross‐continental study with litter removal and addition treatments in a temperate woodland (Wytham Woods) and lowland tropical forest (Gigante forest) to compare the consequences of increased litterfall on soil respiration in two distinct wooded ecosystems. Mean soil respiration was almost twice as high at Gigante (5.0 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1) than at Wytham (2.7 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1) but surprisingly, litter manipulation treatments had a greater and more immediate effect on soil respiration at Wytham. We measured a 30% increase in soil respiration in response to litter addition treatments at Wytham, compared to a 10% increase at Gigante. Importantly, despite higher soil respiration rates at Gigante, priming effects were stronger and more consistent at Wytham. Our results suggest that in situ priming effects in wooded ecosystems track seasonality in litterfall and soil respiration but the amount of soil C released by priming is not proportional to rates of soil respiration. Instead, priming effects may be promoted by larger inputs of organic matter combined with slower turnover rates.     

Differences in leaf gas exchange strategies explain Quercus rubra and Liriodendron tulipifera intrinsic water use efficiency responses to air pollution and climate change

Trees continuously regulate leaf physiology to acquire CO₂ while simultaneously avoiding excessive water loss. The balance between these two processes, or water use efficiency (WUE), is fundamentally important to understanding changes in carbon uptake and transpiration from the leaf to the globe under environmental change. While increasing atmospheric CO₂ (iCO₂) is known to increase tree intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE), less clear are the additional impacts of climate and acidic air pollution and how they vary by tree species. Here, we couple annually resolved long-term records of tree-ring carbon isotope signatures with leaf physiological measurements of Quercus rubra (Quru) and Liriodendron tulipifera (Litu) at four study locations spanning nearly 100 km in the eastern United States to reconstruct historical iWUE, net photosynthesis (A_net), and stomatal conductance to water (g_s) since 1940. We first show 16%–25% increases in tree iWUE since the mid-20th century, primarily driven by iCO₂, but also document the individual and interactive effects of nitrogen (NO_x) and sulfur (SO₂) air pollution overwhelming climate. We find evidence for Quru leaf gas exchange being less tightly regulated than Litu through an analysis of isotope-derived leaf internal CO₂ (C_i), particularly in wetter, recent years. Modeled estimates of seasonally integrated A_net and g_s revealed a 43%–50% stimulation of A_net was responsible for increasing iWUE in both tree species throughout 79%–86% of the chronologies with reductions in g_s attributable to the remaining 14%–21%, building upon a growing body of literature documenting stimulated A_net overwhelming reductions in g_s as a primary mechanism of increasing iWUE of trees. Finally, our results underscore the importance of considering air pollution, which remains a major environmental issue in many areas of the world, alongside climate in the interpretation of leaf physiology derived from tree rings.     

Global climate change and soil carbon stocks; predictions from two contrasting models for the turnover of organic carbon in soil

Enhanced release of CO₂ to the atmosphere from soil organic carbon as a result of increased temperatures may lead to a positive feedback between climate change and the carbon cycle, resulting in much higher CO₂ levels and accelerated global warming. However, the magnitude of this effect is uncertain and critically dependent on how the decomposition of soil organic C (heterotrophic respiration) responds to changes in climate. Previous studies with the Hadley Centre's coupled climate–carbon cycle general circulation model (GCM) (HadCM3LC) used a simple, single‐pool soil carbon model to simulate the response. Here we present results from numerical simulations that use the more sophisticated ‘RothC’ multipool soil carbon model, driven with the same climate data. The results show strong similarities in the behaviour of the two models, although RothC tends to simulate slightly smaller changes in global soil carbon stocks for the same forcing. RothC simulates global soil carbon stocks decreasing by 54 Gt C by 2100 in a climate change simulation compared with an 80 Gt C decrease in HadCM3LC. The multipool carbon dynamics of RothC cause it to exhibit a slower magnitude of transient response to both increased organic carbon inputs and changes in climate. We conclude that the projection of a positive feedback between climate and carbon cycle is robust, but the magnitude of the feedback is dependent on the structure of the soil carbon model.     

Response of vegetation and soil carbon accumulation rate for China’s mature forest on climate change

Aims
This study aims to evaluate the impacts of future climate change on vegetation and soil carbon accumulation rate in China’s forests.
Methods
The vegetation and soil carbon storage were predicted by the atmosphere-vegetation interaction model (AVIM2) based on B2 climate change scenario during the period of 1981-2040. This study focused on mature forests in China and the forested area maintained constant over the study period. The carbon accumulation rate in year t is defined as the carbon storage of year t minus that of year t-1.
Important findings
Under B2 climate change scenario, mean air temperature in China’s forested area was projected to rise from 7.8 °C in 1981 to 9.0 °C in 2040. The total vegetation carbon storage was then estimated to increase from 8.56 Pg C in 1981 to 9.79 Pg C in 2040, meanwhile total vegetation carbon accumulation rate was estimated to fluctuate between -0.054-0.076 Pg C·a^-1, with the average of 0.022 Pg C·a^-1. The total soil carbon storage was estimated to increase from 30.2 Pg C in 1981 to 30.72 Pg C in 2040, and total soil carbon accumulation rate was estimated to vary in the range of -0.035-0.072 Pg C·a^-1, with the mean of 0.010 Pg C·a^-1. The response of vegetation and soil carbon accumulation rate to climate change had significant spatial difference in China although the two time series did not show significant trend over the study period. Our results also showed warming was not in favor of forest carbon accumulation, so in the northeastern and southeastern forested area, especially in the Changbai Mountain, with highest temperature increase in the future, the vegetation and soil carbon accumulation rate were estimated to decrease greatly. However, in the southern of southwestern forested area and other forested area, with relatively less temperature increase, the vegetation and soil carbon accumulation rate was estimated to increase in the future.     

Late Quaternary climate change explains soil fungal community composition rather than fungal richness in forest ecosystems

The dramatic climate fluctuations of the late Quaternary have influenced the diversity and composition of macroorganism communities, but how they structure belowground microbial communities is less well known. Fungi constitute an important component of soil microorganism communities. They play an important role in biodiversity maintenance, community assembly, and ecosystem functioning, and differ from many macroorganisms in many traits. Here, we examined soil fungal communities in Chinese temperate, subtropical, and tropic forests using Illumina MiSeq sequencing of the fungal ITS1 region. The relative effect of late Quaternary climate change and contemporary environment (plant, soil, current climate, and geographic distance) on the soil fungal community was analyzed. The richness of the total fungal community, along with saprotrophic, ectomycorrhizal (EM), and pathogenic fungal communities, was influenced primarily by the contemporary environment (plant and/or soil) but not by late Quaternary climate change. Late Quaternary climate change acted in concert with the contemporary environment to shape total, saprotrophic, EM, and pathogenic fungal community compositions and with a stronger effect in temperate forest than in tropic–subtropical forest ecosystems. Some contemporary environmental factors influencing total, saprotrophic, EM, and pathogenic fungal communities in temperate and tropic–subtropical forests were different. We demonstrate that late Quaternary climate change can help to explain current soil fungal community composition and argue that climatic legacies can help to predict soil fungal responses to climate change.     

China's wetland soil organic carbon pool: New estimation on pool size,change, and trajectory

Robust estimates of wetland soil organic carbon (SOC) pools are critical to understanding wetland carbon dynamics in the global carbon cycle. However, previous estimates were highly variable and uncertain, due likely to the data sources and method used. Here we used machine learning method to estimate SOC storage and their changes over time in China's wetlands based on wetland SOC density database, associated geospatial environmental data, and recently published wetland maps. We built a database of wetland SOC density in China that contains 809 samples from 181 published studies collected over the last 20 years as presented in the published literature. All samples were extended and standardized to a 1-m depth, on the basis of the relationship between SOC density data from soil profiles of different depths. We used three different machine learning methods to evaluate their robustness in estimating wetland SOC storage and changes in China. The results indicated that random forest model achieved accurate wetland SOC estimation with R² being .65. The results showed that average SOC density of top 1 m in China's wetlands was 25.03 ± 3.11 kg C m⁻² in 2000 and 26.57 ± 3.73 kg C m⁻² in 2020, an increase of 6.15%. SOC storage change from 4.73 ± 0.58 Pg in 2000 to 4.35 ± 0.61 Pg in 2020, a decrease of 8.03%, due to 13.6% decreased in wetland area from 189.12 × 10³ to 162.8 × 10³ km² in 2020, despite the increase in SOC density during the same time period. The carbon accumulation rate was 107.5 ± 12.4 g C m⁻² year⁻¹ since 2000 in wetlands with no area changes. Climate change caused variations in wetland SOC density, and a future warming and drying climate would lead to decreases in wetland SOC storage. Estimates under Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 1-2.6 (low-carbon emissions) suggested that wetland SOC storage in China would not change significantly by 2100, but under Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 5-8.5 (high-carbon emissions), it would decrease significantly by approximately 5.77%. In this study, estimates of wetland SOC storage were optimized from three aspects, including sample database, wetland extent, and estimation method. Our study indicates the importance of using consistent SOC density and extent data in estimating and projecting wetland SOC storage.     

中国成熟林植被和土壤固碳速率对气候变化的响应

基于B2气候变化情景数据, 利用大气-植被相互作用模式AVIM2, 模拟预测了1981-2040年中国成熟林植被和土壤固碳速率的时空变化特征及其对气候变化的响应。结果表明, 中国森林区域平均气温从1981年的7.8 ℃增加到2040年的9.0 ℃, 森林区域降水量略有增加。成熟林植被碳总量从8.56 Pg C增加到9.7 Pg C, 植被固碳速率在-0.054-0.076 Pg C·a^-1之间波动, 平均值为0.022 Pg C·a^-1。成熟林土壤碳总量从30.2 Pg C增加到30.72 Pg C, 土壤固碳速率在-0.035-0.072 Pg C·a^-1之间波动, 平均值为0.010 Pg C·a^-1。虽然研究时段内中国植被和土壤固碳总量均没有显著变化趋势, 但区域植被和土壤固碳速率对气候变化的响应具有显著空间差异。未来在气温增幅较大的东北和东南林区, 特别是在东北的长白山林区, 森林植被和土壤固碳速率将大大降低; 而在气温增幅不大的西南林区南部和其他林区, 植被和土壤固碳速率将提高。统计结果表明未来气候变暖不利于成熟林固碳。     

Soil carbon storage under simulated climate change is mediated by plant functional type

The stability of soil organic matter (SOM) pools exposed to elevated CO₂ and warming has not been evaluated adequately in long‐term experiments and represents a substantial source of uncertainty in predicting ecosystem feedbacks to climate change. We conducted a 6‐year experiment combining free‐air CO₂ enrichment (FACE, 550 ppm) and warming (+2 °C) to evaluate changes in SOM accumulation in native Australian grassland. In this system, competitive interactions appear to favor C₄ over C₃ species under FACE and warming. We therefore investigated the role of plant functional type (FT) on biomass and SOM responses to the long‐term treatments by carefully sampling soil under patches of C₃‐ and C₄‐dominated vegetation. We used physical fractionation to quantify particulate organic matter (POM) and long‐term incubation to assess potential decomposition rates. Aboveground production of C₄ grasses increased in response to FACE, but total root biomass declined. Across treatments, C : N ratios were higher in leaves, roots and POM of C₄ vegetation. CO₂ and temperature treatments interacted with FT to influence SOM, and especially POM, such that soil carbon was increased by warming under C₄ vegetation, but not in combination with elevated CO₂. Potential decomposition rates increased in response to FACE and decreased with warming, possibly owing to treatment effects on soil moisture and microbial community composition. Decomposition was also inversely correlated with root N concentration, suggesting increased microbial demand for older, N‐rich SOM in treatments with low root N inputs. This research suggests that C₃–C₄ vegetation responses to future climate conditions will strongly influence SOM storage in temperate grasslands.     

Predicting soil carbon changes in switchgrass grown on marginal lands under climate change and adaptation strategies

The United States Great Lakes Region (USGLR) is a critical geographic area for future bioenergy production. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is widely considered a carbon (C)‐neutral or C‐negative bioenergy production system, but projected increases in air temperature and precipitation due to climate change might substantially alter soil organic C (SOC) dynamics and storage in soils. This study examined long‐term SOC changes in switchgrass grown on marginal land in the USGLR under current and projected climate, predicted using a process‐based model (Systems Approach to Land‐Use Sustainability) extensively calibrated with a wealth of plant and soil measurements at nine experimental sites. Simulations indicate that these soils are likely a net C sink under switchgrass (average gain 0.87 Mg C ha^?1 year^?1), although substantial variation in the rate of SOC accumulation was predicted (range: 0.2–1.3 Mg C ha^?1 year^?1). Principal component analysis revealed that the predicted intersite variability in SOC sequestration was related in part to differences in climatic characteristics, and to a lesser extent, to heterogeneous soils. Although climate change impacts on switchgrass plant growth were predicted to be small (4%–6% decrease on average), the increased soil respiration was predicted to partially negate SOC accumulations down to 70% below historical rates in the most extreme scenarios. Increasing N fertilizer rate and decreasing harvest intensity both had modest SOC sequestration benefits under projected climate, whereas introducing genotypes better adapted to the longer growing seasons was a much more effective strategy. Best‐performing adaptation scenarios were able to offset >60% of the climate change impacts, leading to SOC sequestration 0.7 Mg C ha^?1 year^?1 under projected climate. On average, this was 0.3 Mg C ha^?1 year^?1 more C sequestered than the no adaptation baseline. These findings provide crucial knowledge needed to guide policy and operational management for maximizing SOC sequestration of future bioenergy production on marginal lands in the USGLR.     

Changes in carbon storage in temperate humic loamy soils after forest clearing and continuous corn cropping in France

Soil samples from forest and agricultural sites in three areas of southwest France were collected to determine the effect of forest conversion to continuous intensive corn cropping with no organic matter management on soil organic carbon (C) content. Soils were humic loamy soils and site characteristics that may affect soil C were as uniform as possible (slope, elevation, texture, soil type, vegetation). Three areas were selected, with adjacent sites of various ages of cultivation (3 to 35 yr), and paired control forest sites. The ploughed horizon (0-Dt cm) and the Dt-50 cm layer were collected at each agricultural site. In forest sites, each 10 cm layer was collected systematically down to 1 meter depth. Carbon concentrations were converted to total content to a given depth as the product of concentration, depth of sample and bulk density, and expressed in units of kg m^-2. For each site and each sampled layer, the mineral mass of soil was calculated, in order to base comparisons on the same soil mass rather than the same depth. The pattern of C accumulation in forest soils showed an exponential decrease with depth. Results suggested that soil organic carbon declined rapidly during the first years of cultivation, and at a slower rate thereafter. This pattern of decrease can be fitted by a bi-exponential model assuming that initial soil organic carbon can be separated into two parts, a very labile pool reduced during the first rapid decline and more refractory fractions oxidizing at a slower rate. Sampling to shallow depths (0-Dt cm) resulted in over-estimation of the rate of carbon release in proportion to the initial amount of C, and in under-estimation of the total loss of C with age. The results for the 0–50 cm horizon indicated that losses of total carbon average about 50% in these soils, ranging in initial carbon content from 19 to 32.5 kg m^-2. Carbon release to the atmosphere averaged 0.8 kg m^-2 yr^-1 to 50 cm depth during the first 10 years of cultivation. The results demonstrate that temperate soils may also be an important source of atmospheric carbon, when they are initially high in carbon content and then cultivated intensively with no organic matter management.     

Divergent carbon cycle response of forest and grass‐dominated northern temperate ecosystems to record winter warming

Northern temperate ecosystems are experiencing warmer and more variable winters, trends that are expected to continue into the foreseeable future. Despite this, most studies have focused on climate change impacts during the growing season, particularly when comparing responses across different vegetation cover types. Here we examined how a perennial grassland and adjacent mixed forest ecosystem in New Hampshire, United States, responded to a period of highly variable winters from 2014 through 2017 that included the warmest winter on record to date. In the grassland, record‐breaking temperatures in the winter of 2015/2016 led to a February onset of plant growth and the ecosystem became a sustained carbon sink well before winter ended, taking up roughly 90 g/m² more carbon during the winter to spring transition than in other recorded years. The forest was an unusually large carbon source during the same period. While forest photosynthesis was restricted by leaf‐out phenology, warm winter temperatures caused large pulses of ecosystem respiration that released nearly 230 g C/m² from February through April, more than double the carbon losses during that period in cooler years. These findings suggest that, as winters continue to warm, increases in ecosystem respiration outside the growing season could outpace increases in carbon uptake during a longer growing season, particularly in forests that depend on leaf‐out timing to initiate carbon uptake. In ecosystems with a perennial leaf habit, warming winter temperatures are more likely to increase ecosystem carbon uptake through extension of the active growing season. Our results highlight the importance of understanding relationships among antecedent winter conditions and carbon exchange across land‐cover types to understand how landscape carbon exchange will change under projected climate warming.     

Wood production response to climate change will depend critically on forest composition and structure

Established forests currently function as a major carbon sink, sequestering as woody biomass about 26% of global fossil fuel emissions. Whether forests continue to act as a global sink will depend on many factors, including the response of aboveground wood production (AWP; MgC ha^?1 yr^?1) to climate change. Here, we explore how AWP in New Zealand's natural forests is likely to change. We start by statistically modelling the present‐day growth of 97 199 individual trees within 1070 permanently marked inventory plots as a function of tree size, competitive neighbourhood and climate. We then use these growth models to identify the factors that most influence present‐day AWP and to predict responses to medium‐term climate change under different assumptions. We find that if the composition and structure of New Zealand's forests were to remain unchanged over the next 30 years, then AWP would increase by 6–23%, primarily as a result of physiological responses to warmer temperatures (with no appreciable effect of changing rainfall). However, if warmth‐requiring trees were able to migrate into currently cooler areas and if denser canopies were able to form, then a different AWP response is likely: forests growing in the cool mountain environments would show a 30% increase in AWP, while those in the lowland would hardly respond (on average, ?3% when mean annual temperature exceeds 8.0 °C). We conclude that response of wood production to anthropogenic climate change is not only dependent on the physiological responses of individual trees, but is highly contingent on whether forests adjust in composition and structure.