On carbon sequestration in desert ecosystems

Schlesinger, William H.; Belnap, Jayne; Marion, G. M.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01763.x

Cited by 93 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This conclusion is strengthened by the results obtained from the diffusion experiments, which showed that, in sterilized calcareous soils, the resulting CO 2 concentrations were lower than expected if diffusion was the only active process. Several previous studies arrived at the same con- clusions by noting the mismatch between the measured and modeled CO 2 fluxes or even by drawing on the results of geochemical modeling (Eshel et al, 2007;Hastings et al, 2005;Schlesinger et al, 2009;Serrano-Ortiz et al, 2010). However, to the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first confirmation and quantification of this effect by O 2 monitoring in intact soil profiles.…”

Section: Relationships Between Co 2 and Soil Respiration In Calcareoumentioning

confidence: 51%

“…Such processes have been shown to influence the temporal variation in the soil CO 2 efflux and to make it different than the biological process of respiration (Benavente et al, 2010;Cuezva et al, 2011;Emmerich, 2003;Eshel et al, 2007;Hastings et al, 2005;Kowalski et al, 2008;Roland et al, 2013;Schlesinger et al, 2009;Serrano-Ortiz et al, 2010;Tamir et al, 2011;Ma et al, 2013;Stevenson and Verburg, 2006;Wang et al, 2014). Third, processes within roots may also cause the CO 2 efflux to be different from the actual respiration rate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using O2 to study the relationships between soil CO2 efflux and soil respiration

et al. 2015

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Abstract. Soil respiration is the sum of respiration processes in the soil and is a major flux in the global carbon cycle. It is usually assumed that the CO 2 efflux is equal to the soil respiration rate. Here we challenge this assumption by combining measurements of CO 2 with high-precision measurements of O 2 . These measurements were conducted on different ecosystems and soil types and included measurements of air samples taken from the soil profile of three Mediterranean sites: a temperate forest and two alpine forests. Rootfree soils from the alpine sites were also incubated in the lab. We found that the ratio between the CO 2 efflux and the O 2 influx (defined as apparent respiratory quotient, ARQ) was in the range of 0.14 to 1.23 and considerably deviated from the value of 0.9 ± 0.1 expected from the elemental composition of average plants and soil organic matter. At the Mediterranean sites, these deviations are explained as a result of CO 2 dissolution in the soil water and transformation to bicarbonate ions in these high-pH soils, as well as by carbonate mineral dissolution and precipitation processes. Thus, a correct estimate of the short-term, chamber-based biological respiratory flux in such soils can only be made by dividing the measured soil CO 2 efflux by the average (efflux-weighted) soil profile ARQ. Applying this approach to a semiarid pine forest resulted in an estimated short-term biological respiration rate that is 3.8 times higher than the chamber-measured surface CO 2 . The ARQ values often observed in the more acidic soils were unexpectedly low (< 0.7). These values probably result from the oxidation of reduced iron, which has been formed previously during times of high soil moisture and local anaerobic conditions inside soil aggregates. The results reported here provide direct quantitative evidence of a large temporal decoupling between soil-gas exchange fluxes and biological soil respiration.

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Section: Relationships Between Co 2 and Soil Respiration In Calcareoumentioning

confidence: 51%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using O2 to study the relationships between soil CO2 efflux and soil respiration

et al. 2015

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“…The CO 2 sink reported here is not in the saline/alkaline soils themselves [Rengasamy, 2006;Schlesinger et al, 2009] but in the groundwater beneath (Figures 1 and 4b). We found that the direct flux of CO 2 into saline/alkaline soils, as proposed by Xie et al [2009], is only a transient flux and thus is not related to the carbon sink [Stone, 2008].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The findings remain controversial, however, because the carbon apparently removed from the atmosphere has not been observed in terrestrial ecosystems [Schlesinger et al, 2009]. The two known active carbon pools on land, living biomass and soil organic carbon, are unlikely to accumulate carbon at such high rates because deserts are sparsely vegetated with humus-poor soil [Schlesinger et al, 2009]. It is also impossible for carbonate accumulation to reach such high rates since it is limited by air deposition of calcium [Schlesinger et al, 2009].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The two known active carbon pools on land, living biomass and soil organic carbon, are unlikely to accumulate carbon at such high rates because deserts are sparsely vegetated with humus-poor soil [Schlesinger et al, 2009]. It is also impossible for carbonate accumulation to reach such high rates since it is limited by air deposition of calcium [Schlesinger et al, 2009]. Here we demonstrate a carbon sink that is not observable in plant or soil, with dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) leached from irrigated arid land and deposited in the saline/alkaline aquifers under bare deserts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hidden carbon sink beneath desert

Wang

Houghton

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

105

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For decades, global carbon budget accounting has identified a “missing” or “residual” terrestrial sink; i.e., carbon dioxide (CO2) released by anthropogenic activities does not match changes observed in the atmosphere and ocean. We discovered a potentially large carbon sink in the most unlikely place on earth, irrigated saline/alkaline arid land. When cultivating and irrigating arid/saline lands in arid zones, salts are leached downward. Simultaneously, dissolved inorganic carbon is washed down into the huge saline aquifers underneath vast deserts, forming a large carbon sink or pool. This finding points to a direct, rapid link between the biological and geochemical carbon cycles in arid lands which may alter the overall spatial pattern of the global carbon budget.

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Abiotic CO₂ uptake from the atmosphere by semiarid desert soil and its partitioning into soil phases

Liu

Zhang

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

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Deserts may show strong downward CO2 fluxes and thus could be a significant carbon sink. However, this hypothesis has been strongly challenged because of the failure to determine both the reliability of flux measurements and the exact location of fixed carbon. In this study, we added 13CO2 to natural (unsterilized) soil in the Mu Us Desert in northern China and quantified the partitioning of added 13CO2 into soil solid and vapor phases. Results show that natural desert soil absorbed 13CO2 at a mean rate of 0.28 g m−2 d−1. Of the absorbed 13CO2, 7.1% was released over a 48 h period after 13CO2 feeding, 72.8% was stored in the soil solid phase, 0.0007% was found in the vapor phase, while 20.0% of the absorbed 13CO2 was undetected. These results indicate that undisturbed desert soils can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, with the majority of fixed carbon conserved in the soil solid phase.

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On carbon sequestration in desert ecosystems

Cited by 93 publications

References 24 publications

Using O<sub>2</sub> to study the relationships between soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux and soil respiration

Using O<sub>2</sub> to study the relationships between soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux and soil respiration

Hidden carbon sink beneath desert

Abiotic CO₂ uptake from the atmosphere by semiarid desert soil and its partitioning into soil phases

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On carbon sequestration in desert ecosystems

Cited by 93 publications

References 24 publications

Using O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; to study the relationships between soil CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; efflux and soil respiration

Using O&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; to study the relationships between soil CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; efflux and soil respiration

Hidden carbon sink beneath desert

Abiotic CO2 uptake from the atmosphere by semiarid desert soil and its partitioning into soil phases

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Resources

About

Using O<sub>2</sub> to study the relationships between soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux and soil respiration

Using O<sub>2</sub> to study the relationships between soil CO<sub>2</sub> efflux and soil respiration

Abiotic CO₂ uptake from the atmosphere by semiarid desert soil and its partitioning into soil phases