Contribution of root to soil respiration and carbon balance in disturbed and undisturbed grassland communities, northeast China

Journal of biosciences

Wei Wang1 2³  Jixun Guo¹  Takehisa Oikawa² 

[1] Key Laboratory for Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, Jilin 130024, China$$;Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan$$;School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Jilin 130024, China$$

关键词: Grassland ecosystem;    root respiration;    soil respiration;    seasonal change;    carbon sequestration.;   

DOI  :  

来源: Indian Academy of Sciences

【 摘 要 】

Changes in the composition of plant species induced by grassland degradation may alter soil respiration rates and decrease carbon sequestration; however, few studies in this area have been conducted. We used net primary productivity (NPP), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and soil organic carbon (SOC) to examine the changes in soil respiration and carbon balance in two Chinese temperate grassland communities dominated by Leymus chinensis (undisturbed community; Community 1) and Puccinellia tenuiflora (degraded community; Community 2), respectively. Soil respiration varied from 2.5 to 11.9 g CO2 m-2 d-1 and from 1.5 to 9.3 g CO2 m-2 d-1, and the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration from 38% to 76% and from 25% to 72% in Communities 1 and 2, respectively. During the growing season (May–September), soil respiration, shoot biomass, live root biomass, MBC and SOC in Community 2 decreased by 28%, 39%, 45%, 55% and 29%, respectively, compared to those in Community 1. The considerably lower net ecosystem productivity in Community 2 than in Community 1 (104.56 vs. 224.73 g C m-2 yr-1) suggests that the degradation has significantly decreased carbon sequestration of the ecosystems.

【 授权许可】

Unknown