Decadal warming causes a consistent and persistent shift from heterotrophic to autotrophic respiration in contrasting permafrost ecosystems

Soil carbon in permafrost ecosystems has the potential to become a major positive feedback to climate change if permafrost thaw increases heterotrophic decomposition. However, warming can also stimulate autotrophic production leading to increased ecosystem carbon storage—a negative climate change feedback. Few studies partitioning ecosystem respiration examine decadal warming effects or compare responses among ecosystems. Here, we first examined how 11 years of warming during different seasons affected autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration in a bryophyte‐dominated peatland in Abisko, Sweden. We used natural abundance radiocarbon to partition ecosystem respiration into autotrophic respiration, associated with production, and heterotrophic decomposition. Summertime warming decreased the age of carbon respired by the ecosystem due to increased proportional contributions from autotrophic and young soil respiration and decreased proportional contributions from old soil. Summertime warming's large effect was due to not only warmer air temperatures during the growing season, but also to warmer deep soils year‐round. Second, we compared ecosystem respiration responses between two contrasting ecosystems, the Abisko peatland and a tussock‐dominated tundra in Healy, Alaska. Each ecosystem had two different timescales of warming (<5 years and over a decade). Despite the Abisko peatland having greater ecosystem respiration and larger contributions from heterotrophic respiration than the Healy tundra, both systems responded consistently to short‐ and long‐term warming with increased respiration, increased autotrophic contributions to ecosystem respiration, and increased ratios of autotrophic to heterotrophic respiration. We did not detect an increase in old soil carbon losses with warming at either site. If increased autotrophic respiration is balanced by increased primary production, as is the case in the Healy tundra, warming will not cause these ecosystems to become growing season carbon sources. Warming instead causes a persistent shift from heterotrophic to more autotrophic control of the growing season carbon cycle in these carbon‐rich permafrost ecosystems.     

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.     

Changing sources of soil respiration with time since fire in a boreal forest

Radiocarbon signatures (Δ¹⁴C) of carbon dioxide (CO₂) provide a measure of the age of C being decomposed by microbes or respired by living plants. Over a 2‐year period, we measured Δ¹⁴C of soil respiration and soil CO₂ in boreal forest sites in Canada, which varied primarily in the amount of time since the last stand‐replacing fire. Comparing bulk respiration Δ¹⁴C with Δ¹⁴C of CO₂ evolved in incubations of heterotrophic (decomposing organic horizons) and autotrophic (root and moss) components allowed us to estimate the relative contributions of O horizon decomposition vs. plant sources. Although soil respiration fluxes did not vary greatly, differences in Δ¹⁴C of respired CO₂ indicated marked variation in respiration sources in space and time. The ¹⁴C signature of respired CO₂ respired from O horizon decomposition depended on the age of C substrates. These varied with time since fire, but consistently had Δ¹⁴C greater (averaging ～120‰) than autotrophic respiration. The Δ¹⁴C of autotrophically respired CO₂ in young stands equaled those expected for recent photosynthetic products (70‰ in 2003, 64‰ in 2004). CO₂ respired by black spruce roots in stands >40 years old had Δ¹⁴C up to 30‰ higher than recent photosynthates, indicating a significant contribution of C stored at least several years in plants. Decomposition of O horizon organic matter made up 20% or less of soil respiration in the younger (<40 years since fire) stands, increasing to ～50% in mature stands. This is a minimum for total heterotrophic contribution, since mineral soil CO₂ had Δ¹⁴C close to or less than those we have assigned to autotrophic respiration. Decomposition of old organic matter in mineral soils clearly contributed to soil respiration in younger stands in 2003, a very dry year, when Δ¹⁴C of soil respiration in younger successional stands dropped below those of the atmospheric CO₂.     

Drainage enhances modern soil carbon contribution but reduces old soil carbon contribution to ecosystem respiration in tundra ecosystems

Warming temperatures are likely to accelerate permafrost thaw in the Arctic, potentially leading to the release of old carbon previously stored in deep frozen soil layers. Deeper thaw depths in combination with geomorphological changes due to the loss of ice structures in permafrost, may modify soil water distribution, creating wetter or drier soil conditions. Previous studies revealed higher ecosystem respiration rates under drier conditions, and this study investigated the cause of the increased ecosystem respiration rates using radiocarbon signatures of respired CO₂ from two drying manipulation experiments: one in moist and the other in wet tundra. We demonstrate that higher contributions of CO₂ from shallow soil layers (0–15 cm; modern soil carbon) drive the increased ecosystem respiration rates, while contributions from deeper soil (below 15 cm from surface and down to the permafrost table; old soil carbon) decreased. These changes can be attributed to more aerobic conditions in shallow soil layers, but also the soil temperature increases in shallow layers but decreases in deep layers, due to the altered thermal properties of organic soils. Decreased abundance of aerenchymatous plant species following drainage in wet tundra reduced old carbon release but increased aboveground plant biomass elevated contributions of autotrophic respiration to ecosystem respiration. The results of this study suggest that drier soils following drainage may accelerate decomposition of modern soil carbon in shallow layers but slow down decomposition of old soil carbon in deep layers, which may offset some of the old soil carbon loss from thawing permafrost.     

Nonlinear CO2 flux response to 7 years of experimentally induced permafrost thaw

Rapid Arctic warming is expected to increase global greenhouse gas concentrations as permafrost thaw exposes immense stores of frozen carbon (C) to microbial decomposition. Permafrost thaw also stimulates plant growth, which could offset C loss. Using data from 7 years of experimental Air and Soil warming in moist acidic tundra, we show that Soil warming had a much stronger effect on CO₂ flux than Air warming. Soil warming caused rapid permafrost thaw and increased ecosystem respiration (R_eco), gross primary productivity (GPP), and net summer CO₂ storage (NEE). Over 7 years R_eco, GPP, and NEE also increased in Control (i.e., ambient plots), but this change could be explained by slow thaw in Control areas. In the initial stages of thaw, R_eco, GPP, and NEE increased linearly with thaw across all treatments, despite different rates of thaw. As thaw in Soil warming continued to increase linearly, ground surface subsidence created saturated microsites and suppressed R_eco, GPP, and NEE. However R_eco and GPP remained high in areas with large Eriophorum vaginatum biomass. In general NEE increased with thaw, but was more strongly correlated with plant biomass than thaw, indicating that higher R_eco in deeply thawed areas during summer months was balanced by GPP. Summer CO₂ flux across treatments fit a single quadratic relationship that captured the functional response of CO₂ flux to thaw, water table depth, and plant biomass. These results demonstrate the importance of indirect thaw effects on CO₂ flux: plant growth and water table dynamics. Nonsummer R_eco models estimated that the area was an annual CO₂ source during all years of observation. Nonsummer CO₂ loss in warmer, more deeply thawed soils exceeded the increases in summer GPP, and thawed tundra was a net annual CO₂ source.     

Indirect partitioning of soil respiration in a series of evergreen forest ecosystems

A simple estimation of heterotrophic respiration can be obtained analytically as the y-intercept of the linear regression between soil-surface CO₂ efflux and root biomass. In the present study, a development of this indirect methodology is presented by taking into consideration both the temporal variation and the spatial heterogeneity of heterotrophic respiration. For this purpose, soil CO₂ efflux, soil carbon content and main stand characteristics were estimated in seven evergreen forest ecosystems along an elevation gradient ranging from 250 to 1740 m. For each site and for each sampling date the measured soil CO₂ efflux (R _S) was predicted with the model R _S = a × S _C + b × R _D ± ε, where S _C is soil carbon content per unit area to a depth of 30 cm and R _D is the root density of the 2–5 mm root class. Regressions with statistically significant a and b coefficients allowed the indirect separation of the two components of soil CO₂ efflux. Considering that the different sampling dates were characterized by different soil temperature, it was possible to investigate the temporal and thermal dependency of autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration. It was estimated that annual autotrophic respiration accounts for 16–58% of total soil CO₂ efflux in the seven different evergreen ecosystems. In addition, our observations show a decrease of annual autotrophic respiration at increasing availability of soil nitrogen. Section Editor: A. Hodge     

Pathways regulating decreased soil respiration with warming in a biocrust‐dominated dryland

A positive soil carbon (C)‐climate feedback is embedded into the climatic models of the IPCC. However, recent global syntheses indicate that the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (R_S) in drylands, the largest biome on Earth, is actually lower in warmed than in control plots. Consequently, soil C losses with future warming are expected to be low compared with other biomes. Nevertheless, the empirical basis for these global extrapolations is still poor in drylands, due to the low number of field experiments testing the pathways behind the long‐term responses of soil respiration (R_S) to warming. Importantly, global drylands are covered with biocrusts (communities formed by bryophytes, lichens, cyanobacteria, fungi, and bacteria), and thus, R_S responses to warming may be driven by both autotrophic and heterotrophic pathways. Here, we evaluated the effects of 8‐year experimental warming on R_S, and the different pathways involved, in a biocrust‐dominated dryland in southern Spain. We also assessed the overall impacts on soil organic C (SOC) accumulation over time. Across the years and biocrust cover levels, warming reduced R_S by 0.30 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1 (95% CI = ?0.24 to 0.84), although the negative warming effects were only significant after 3 years of elevated temperatures in areas with low initial biocrust cover. We found support for different pathways regulating the warming‐induced reduction in R_S at areas with low (microbial thermal acclimation via reduced soil mass‐specific respiration and β‐glucosidase enzymatic activity) vs. high (microbial thermal acclimation jointly with a reduction in autotrophic respiration from decreased lichen cover) initial biocrust cover. Our 8‐year experimental study shows a reduction in soil respiration with warming and highlights that biocrusts should be explicitly included in modeling efforts aimed to quantify the soil C–climate feedback in drylands.     

Carbon losses due to soil warming: Do autotrophic and heterotrophic soil respiration respond equally?

Global warming has the potential to increase soil respiration (R_S), one of the major fluxes in the global carbon (C) cycle. R_S consists of an autotrophic (R_A) and a heterotrophic (R_H) component. We combined a soil warming experiment with a trenching experiment to assess how R_S, R_A, and R_H are affected. The experiment was conducted in a mature forest dominated by Norway spruce. The site is located in the Austrian Alps on dolomitic bedrock. We warmed the soil of undisturbed and trenched plots by means of heating cables 4 °C above ambient during the snow‐free seasons of 2005 and 2006. Soil warming increased the CO₂ efflux from control plots (R_S) by ∼45% during 2005 and ∼47% during 2006. The CO₂ efflux from trenched plots (R_H) increased by ∼39% during 2005 and ∼45% during 2006. Similar responses of R_S and R_H indicated that the autotrophic and heterotrophic components of R_S responded equally to the temperature increase. Thirty‐five to forty percent or 1 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ of the overall annual increase in R_S (2.8 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) was autotrophic. The remaining, heterotrophic part of soil respiration (1.8 t C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), represented the warming‐induced C loss from the soil. The autotrophic component showed a distinct seasonal pattern. Contribution of R_A to R_S was highest during summer. Seasonally derived Q₁₀ values reflected this pattern and were correspondingly high (5.3–9.3). The autotrophic CO₂ efflux increase due to the 4 °C warming implied a Q₁₀ of 2.9. Hence, seasonally derived Q₁₀ of R_A did not solely reflect the seasonal soil temperature development.     

Effects of soil moisture on the temperature sensitivity of heterotrophic respiration vary seasonally in an old‐field climate change experiment

Microbial decomposition of soil organic matter produces a major flux of CO₂ from terrestrial ecosystems and can act as a feedback to climate change. Although climate‐carbon models suggest that warming will accelerate the release of CO₂ from soils, the magnitude of this feedback is uncertain, mostly due to uncertainty in the temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition. We examined how warming and altered precipitation affected the rate and temperature sensitivity of heterotrophic respiration (R_h) at the Boston‐Area Climate Experiment, in Massachusetts, USA. We measured R_h inside deep collars that excluded plant roots and litter inputs. In this mesic ecosystem, R_h responded strongly to precipitation. Drought reduced R_h, both annually and during the growing season. Warming increased R_h only in early spring. During the summer, when R_h was highest, we found evidence of threshold, hysteretic responses to soil moisture: R_h decreased sharply when volumetric soil moisture dropped below ~15% or exceeded ~26%, but R_h increased more gradually when soil moisture rose from the lower threshold. The effect of climate treatments on the temperature sensitivity of R_h depended on the season. Apparent Q₁₀ decreased with high warming (~3.5 °C) in spring and fall. Presumably due to limiting soil moisture, warming and precipitation treatments did not affect apparent Q₁₀ in summer. Drought decreased apparent Q₁₀ in fall compared to ambient and wet precipitation treatments. To our knowledge, this is the first field study to examine the response of R_h and its temperature sensitivity to the combined effects of warming and altered precipitation. Our results highlight the complex responses of R_h to soil moisture, and to our knowledge identify for the first time the seasonal variation in the temperature sensitivity of microbial respiration in the field. We emphasize the importance of adequately simulating responses such as these when modeling trajectories of soil carbon stocks under climate change scenarios.     

The growth respiration component in eddy CO2 flux from a Quercus ilex mediterranean forest

Ecosystem respiration, arising from soil decomposition as well as from plant maintenance and growth, has been shown to be the most important component of carbon exchange in most terrestrial ecosystems. The goal of this study was to estimate the growth component of whole‐ecosystem respiration in a Mediterranean evergreen oak (Quercus ilex) forest over the course of 3 years. Ecosystem respiration (R_eco) was determined from night‐time carbon dioxide flux (F_c) using eddy correlation when friction velocity (u_*) was greater than 0.35 m s^?1 We postulated that growth respiration could be evaluated as a residual after removing modeled base R_eco from whole‐ecosystem R_eco during periods when growth was most likely occurring. We observed that the model deviated from the night‐time F_c‐based R_eco during the period from early February to early July with the largest discrepancies occurring at the end of May, coinciding with budburst when active aboveground growth and radial growth increment are greatest. The highest growth respiration rates were observed in 2001 with daily fluxes reaching up to 4 g C m^?2. The cumulative growth respiration for the entire growth period gave total carbon losses of 170, 208, and 142 g C m^?2 for 1999, 2001, and 2002, respectively. Biochemical analysis of soluble carbohydrates, starch, cellulose, hemicellulose, proteins, lignin, and lipids for leaves and stems allowed calculation of the total construction costs of the different growth components, which yielded values of 154, 200, and 150 g C for 3 years, respectively, corresponding well to estimated growth respiration. Estimates of both leaf and stem growth showed very large interannual variation, although average growth respiration coefficients and average yield of growth processes were fairly constant over the 3 years and close to literature values. The time course of the growth respiration may be explained by the growth pattern of leaves and stems and by cambial activity. This approach has potential applications for interpreting the effects of climate variation, disturbances, and management practices on growth and ecosystem respiration.     

Tree root and soil heterotrophic respiration as revealed by girdling of boreal Scots pine forest: extending observations beyond the first year

Limitations in available techniques to separate autotrophic (root) and soil heterotrophic respiration have hampered the understanding of forest C cycling. The former is here defined as respiration by roots, their associated mycorrhizal fungi and other micro‐organisms in the rhizosphere directly dependent on labile C compounds leaked from roots. In order to separate the autotrophic and heterotrophic components of soil respiration, all Scots pine trees in 900 m² plots were girdled to instantaneously terminate the supply of current photosynthates from the tree canopy to roots. Högberg et al. (Nature 411, 789–792, 2001) reported that autotrophic activity contributed up to 56% of total soil respiration during the first summer of this experiment. They also found that mobilization of stored starch (and likely also sugars) in roots after girdling caused an increased apparent heterotrophic respiration on girdled plots. Herein a transient increase in the δ¹³C of soil CO₂ efflux after girdling, thought to be due to decomposition of ¹³C‐enriched ectomycorrhizal mycelium and root starch and sugar reserves, is reported. In the second year after girdling, when starch reserves of girdled tree roots were exhausted, calculated root respiration increased up to 65% of total soil CO₂ efflux. It is suggested that this estimate of its contribution to soil respiration is more precise than the previous based on one year of observation. Heterotrophic respiration declined in response to a 20‐day‐long 6 °C decline in soil temperature during the second summer, whereas root respiration did not decline. This did not support the idea that root respiration should be more sensitive to variations in soil temperature. It is suggested that above‐ground photosynthetic activity and allocation patterns of recent photosynthates to roots should be considered in models of responses of forest C balances to global climate change.     

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.     

Decomposition of old organic matter as a result of deeper active layers in a snow depth manipulation experiment

A snow addition experiment in moist acidic tussock tundra at Toolik Lake, Alaska, increased winter snow depths 2–3 m, and resulted in a doubling of the summer active layer depth. We used radiocarbon (?¹⁴C) to (1) determine the age of C respired in the deep soils under control and deepened active layer conditions (deep snow drifts), and (2) to determine the impact of increased snow and permafrost thawing on surface CO₂ efflux by partitioning respiration into autotrophic and heterotrophic components. ?¹⁴C signatures of surface respiration were higher in the deep snow areas, reflecting a decrease in the proportion of autotrophic respiration. The radiocarbon age of soil pore CO₂ sampled near the maximum mid-July thaw depth was approximately 1,000 years in deep snow treatment plots (45–55 cm thaw depth), while CO₂ from the ambient snow areas was ~100 years old (30-cm thaw depth). Heterotrophic respiration ?¹⁴C signatures from incubations were similar between the two snow depths for the organic horizon and were extremely variable in the mineral horizon, resulting in no significant differences between treatments in either month. Radiocarbon ages of heterotrophically respired C ranged from <50 to 235 years BP in July mineral soil samples and from 1,525 to 8,300 years BP in August samples, suggesting that old soil C in permafrost soils may be metabolized upon thawing. In the surface fluxes, this old C signal is obscured by the organic horizon fluxes, which are significantly higher. Our results indicate that, as permafrost in tussock tundra ecosystems of arctic Alaska thaws, carbon buried up to several thousands of years ago will become an active component of the carbon cycle, potentially accelerating the rise of CO₂ in the atmosphere.     

施肥对油茶园土壤呼吸和异养呼吸及其温度敏感性的影响

油茶是中国南方重要的木本食用油料树种,研究施肥对油茶园土壤呼吸及其温度敏感性的影响,对于估算中国南方典型种植园林温室气体排放及其对气候变化的响应具有重要意义。设置对照(CK)、施肥(OF)、断根(CK-T)和断根施肥(OF-T)4个处理,采用静态箱-气相色谱法,通过多年观测,分析探讨施肥对油茶园土壤呼吸和异养呼吸及其温度敏感性的影响。结果表明:(1)施肥对油茶园土壤呼吸和异养呼吸无显著影响。研究期间,各处理(OF、CK、OF-T、CK-T)土壤CO_2通量依次为(77.91±2.59)、(73.71±0.97)、(66.82±1.02)mg C m~(-2)h~(-1)和(66.84±3.94)mg C m~(-2)h~(-1);(2)各处理土壤呼吸温度敏感性(Q_(10))表现为OF-T(1.96±0.01)CK-T(1.79±0.03)OF(1.77±0.01)CK(1.75±0.03),其中,OF-T处理下Q_(10)显著高于其他3个处理,即施肥显著增加了断根处理土壤呼吸Q_(10);(3)施肥显著增加了土壤表层NH_4~+-N和NO_3~--N含量,Q_(10)与土壤表层NH_4~+-N和NO_3~--N含量表现出显著的正相关关系。     

Decrease in winter respiration explains 25% of the annual northern forest carbon sink enhancement over the last 30 years

Aim Winter snow has been suggested to regulate terrestrial carbon (C) cycling by modifying microclimate, but the impacts of change in snow cover on the annual C budget at a large scale are poorly understood. Our aim is to quantify the C balance under changing snow depth. Location Non‐permafrost region of the northern forest area. Methods Here, we used site‐based eddy covariance flux data to investigate the relationship between depth of snow cover and ecosystem respiration (R_eco) during winter. We then used the Biome‐BGC model to estimate the effect of reductions in winter snow cover on the C balance of northern forests in the non‐permafrost region. Results According to site observations, winter net ecosystem C exchange (NEE) ranged from 0.028 to 1.53 gC·m^?2·day^?1, accounting for 44 ± 123% of the annual C budget. Model simulation showed that over the past 30 years, snow‐driven change in winter C fluxes reduced non‐growing season CO₂ emissions, enhancing the annual C sink of northern forests. Over the entire study area, simulated winter R_eco significantly decreased by 0.33 gC·m^?2·day^?1·year^?1 in response to decreasing depth of snow cover, which accounts for approximately 25% of the simulated annual C sink trend from 1982 to 2009. Main conclusion Soil temperature is primarily controlled by snow cover rather than by air temperature as snow serves as an insulator to prevent chilling impacts. A shallow snow cover has less insulation potential, causing colder soil temperatures and potentially lower respiration rates. Both eddy covariance analysis and model‐simulated results show that both R_eco and NEE are significantly and positively correlated with variation in soil temperature controlled by variation in snow depth. Overall, our results highlight that a decrease in winter snow cover restrains global warming as less C is emitted to the atmosphere.     

三源区分土壤呼吸组分研究

三源区分土壤呼吸组分是指将土壤呼吸区分为纯根呼吸、根际微生物呼吸和土壤有机质呼吸3个部分。土壤有机质呼吸、纯根呼吸和根际微生物呼吸是3种不同的生物学过程,这3种呼吸对环境变化具有不同的响应机制。区分土壤呼吸中由根系引起的自养和异养呼吸组分的研究对定量评价陆地生态系统碳平衡具有重要的意义。论述了三源区分土壤呼吸组分的意义、方法和应用,分析了不同条件下土壤呼吸组分区分的研究结果。实验室纯根和根际微生物呼吸占根源呼吸比重约为45%和55%;野外条件下约为60%和40%。最后对本研究未来的发展方向进行了展望。     

米槠和杉木人工林土壤呼吸及其组分分析

区分森林土壤呼吸组分是了解生态系统碳循环的重要环节。该文以福建省三明市格氏栲自然保护区米槠(Castanopsis carlesii)人工林和邻近的杉木(Cunninghamia lanceolata)人工林为研究对象, 于2012年8月至2013年7月, 采用LI-8100开路式土壤碳通量系统, 通过挖壕沟方法, 测定了土壤呼吸及异养呼吸的速率, 同时测定了5 cm深处的土壤温度和0-12 cm深处的土壤含水量。利用指数模型和双因素模型, 分析土壤呼吸及其组分与土壤温度和土壤含水量的关系, 同时计算了土壤呼吸各组分在土壤呼吸中所占的比例, 并分析了不同森林类型对土壤呼吸及其组分的影响。结果表明: 米槠人工林和杉木人工林土壤呼吸及其组分的季节变化显著, 均呈单峰型曲线, 与5 cm深处的土壤温度呈极显著正相关关系。土壤温度可以分别解释米槠人工林土壤呼吸、自养呼吸和异养呼吸变化的70.3%、73.4%和58.2%, 可以解释杉木人工林土壤呼吸、自养呼吸和异养呼吸变化的77.9%、65.7%和79.2%。土壤呼吸及其组分与土壤含水量没有相关关系。米槠和杉木人工林自养呼吸的年通量分别为4.00和2.18 t C·hm^-2·a^-1, 占土壤呼吸年通量的32.5%和24.1%; 异养呼吸年通量分别为8.32和6.88 t C·hm^-2·a^-1, 分别占土壤呼吸年通量的67.5%和75.9%, 米槠人工林土壤呼吸及其组分的年通量都大于杉木人工林。     

A spatially explicit analysis to extrapolate carbon fluxes in upland tundra where permafrost is thawing

One of the most important changes in high‐latitude ecosystems in response to climatic warming may be the thawing of permafrost soil. In upland tundra, the thawing of ice‐rich permafrost can create localized surface subsidence called thermokarst, which may change the soil environment and influence ecosystem carbon release and uptake. We established an intermediate scale (a scale in between point chamber measurements and eddy covariance footprint) ecosystem carbon flux study in Alaskan tundra where permafrost thaw and thermokarst development had been occurring for several decades. The main goal of our study was to examine how dynamic ecosystem carbon fluxes [gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (R_eco), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE)] relate to ecosystem variables that incorporate the structural and edaphic changes that co‐occur with permafrost thaw and thermokarst development. We then examined how these measured ecosystem carbon fluxes responded to upscaling. For both spatially extensive measurements made intermittently during the peak growing season and intensive measurements made over the entire growing season, ecosystem variables including degree of surface subsidence, thaw depth, and aboveground biomass were selected in a mixed model selection procedure as the ‘best’ predictors of GPP, R_eco, and NEE. Variables left out of the model (often as a result of autocorrelation) included soil temperature, moisture, and normalized difference vegetation index. These results suggest that the structural changes (surface subsidence, thaw depth, aboveground biomass) that integrate multiple effects of permafrost thaw can be useful components of models used to estimate ecosystem carbon exchange across thermokarst affected landscapes.     

Distinguishing autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration based on diel oxygen change curves: revisiting Dr. Faustus

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Annual ecosystem respiration is resistant to changes in freeze–thaw periods in semi‐arid permafrost

Warming in cold regions alters freezing and thawing (F–T) of soil in winter, exposing soil organic carbon to decomposition. Carbon‐rich permafrost is expected to release more CO₂ to the atmosphere through ecosystem respiration (Re) under future climate scenarios. However, the mechanisms of the responses of freeze – thaw periods to climate change and their coupling with Re in situ are poorly understood. Here, using 2 years of continuous data, we test how changes in F–T events relate to annual Re under four warming levels and precipitation addition in a semi‐arid grassland with discontinuous alpine permafrost. Warming shortened the entire F–T period because the frozen period shortened more than the extended freezing period. It decreased total Re during the F–T period mainly due to decrease in mean Re rate. However, warming did not alter annual Re because of reduced soil water content and the small contribution of total Re during the F–T period to annual Re. Although there were no effects of precipitation addition alone or interactions with warming on F–T events, precipitation addition increased total Re during the F–T period and the whole year. This decoupling between changes in soil freeze – thaw events and annual Re could result from their different driving factors. Our results suggest that annual Re could be mainly determined by soil water content rather than by change in freeze – thaw periods induced by warming in semi‐arid alpine permafrost.