Fluxes of greenhouse gases between soils and the atmosphere in a temperate forest following a simulated hurricane blowdown

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Springer is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Biogeochemistry.http://www.jstor.org Abstract. Fluxes of nitrous oxide (N20), carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane (CH4) between soils and the atmosphere were measured monthly for one year in a 77-year-old temperate hardwood forest following a simulated hurricane blowdown. Emissions of CO2 and uptake of CH4 for the control plot were 4.92 MT C ha-l y-~ and 3.87 kg C ha-1 y-1, respectively, and were not significantly different from the blowdown plot. Annual N20 emissions in the control plot (0.23 kg N ha-1 y-1) were low and were reduced 78% by the blowdown. Net N mineralization was not affected by the blowdown. Net nitrification was greater in the blowdown than in the control, however, the absolute rate of net nitrification, as well as the proportion of mineralized N that was nitrified, remained low. Fluxes of CO2 and CH4 were correlated positively to soil temperature, and CH4 uptake showed a negative relationship to soil moisture. Substantial resprouting and leafing out of downed or damaged trees, and increased growth of understory vegetation following the blowdown, were probably responsible for the relatively small differences in soil temperature, moisture, N availability, and net N mineralization and net nitrification between the control and blowdown plots, thus resulting in no change in CO2 or CH4 fluxes, and no increase in N20 emissions.

Carbon dioxide and methane fluxes by a forest soil under laboratory-controlled moisture and temperature conditions

“…Addition of temperature to the model increased predictability by 5% (r 2 =0.84). This agrees with ®eld work at the Harvard Forest (Bowden et al, 1993), where a multiple linear regression of CH 4¯u xes to temperature and moisture showed that these two factors together strongly predicted CH 4 uptake (r 2 =0.80).…”

“…Crill, 1991;Fernandez et al, 1993;Yavitt et al, 1995), including work at the Harvard Forest (Bowden et al, 1993;Peterjohn et al, 1994). The Q 10 values (from 158C to 258C, at 50% of soil moisture capacity) of 2.03 for the forest¯oor and 2.39 for the mineral soil are within the range of 1.4 to 3.8 reported for a variety of temperate forest soils (Schlesinger, 1977;Dorr and Munnich, 1987;Crill, 1991;Kicklighter et al, 1994).…”

“…Carbon dioxide was analyzed with a Shimadzu GC-8A electron capture gc (Porapak Q column maintained at 458C, injector and detector temperatures at 2508C (Bowden et al, 1993)), and CH 4 concentrations were measured using a Shimadzu GC-8A¯ame ionization gc (Hayesep Q column, 91 cm long, 3 mm dia, stainless steel, 80/100 mesh, maintained at 1008C, with injector and detector at 1308C ). Fluxes were calculated using the linear portion of the gas concentration change over the 3-h time step.…”

Responses to canopy loss and debris deposition in a tropical forest ecosystem: Synthesis from an experimental manipulation simulating effects of hurricane disturbance

“…Furthermore, the CTE treatments did not reflect additional groundwater responses to past hurricanes because there were no increases in dissolved organic nitrogen, ammonium, or potassium concentrations associated with canopy opening or debris deposition (McDowell and Liptzin, 2014). Similarly, in the Harvard LTER blowdown study there were small, if any, changes to soil nutrients, including nitrogen (Bowden et al, 1993). Therefore, nitrate appears to be the most responsive nutrient to hurricane disturbance in the LEF, and its increase is generated by the opening of the canopy occurring simultaneously with the deposition of nutrient-rich debris on the forest floor.…”

“…Previous research (Walker et al, , 1996aZimmerman et al, 1996; identified canopy loss and the accumulation of debris on the forest floor as key factors that govern responses during secondary succession. Although the CTE is the first experimental study of hurricane effects conducted in a tropical forest, there was an experiment in temperate forest at the Harvard Forest LTER site in northeastern USA, where whole trees were pulled down in a single plot to simulate conditions of a previous major hurricane (Bowden et al, 1993;Carlton and Bazzaz, 1998;Cooper-Ellis et al, 1999;Barker Plotkin et al, 2013). The main effects observed in the temperate experiment were reduced basal area of trees due to the physical application of the manipulation, increased light levels, and establishment of pioneer tree species in areas of soil disturbance caused by uprooting (Carlton and Bazzaz, 1998;Cooper-Ellis et al, 1999;Barker Plotkin et al, 2013).…”