Topographic controls on the variability of soil respiration in a humid subtropical forest

Tian, Qifeng; Wang, Dongya; Tang, Yanan; Li, Yi; Wang, Min; Liao, Chang; Liu, Feng

doi:10.1007/s10533-019-00598-x

Cited by 31 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Furthermore, the various plant communities can affect soil respiration rate through the diverse microclimate, soil and litter composition, and root distribution [ 20 , 28 , 40 – 42 ]. However, within the same plant biome, there is also high spatial heterogeneity in SR.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, within the same plant biome, there is also high spatial heterogeneity in SR. Some authors have found a possible linkage between the topography, plant community structure (e.g., forest type and speed of regeneration), and SR within the same forest ecosystem [ 20 , 40 – 42 ]. Furthermore, forest management can also play a crucial role in SR [ 43 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil respiration variation along an altitudinal gradient in the Italian Alps: Disentangling forest structure and temperature effects

et al. 2021

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On the mountains, along an elevation gradient, we generally observe an ample variation in temperature, with the associated difference in vegetation structure and composition and soil properties. With the aim of quantifying the relative importance of temperature, vegetation and edaphic properties on soil respiration (SR), we investigated changes in SR along an elevation gradient (404 to 2101 m a.s.l) in the southern slopes of the Alps in Northern Italy. We also analysed soil physicochemical properties, including soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) stocks, fine root C and N, litter C and N, soil bulk densities and soil pH at five forest sites, and also stand structural properties, including vegetation height, age and basal area. Our results indicated that SR rates increased with temperature in all sites, and 55–76% of SR variability was explained by temperature. Annual cumulative SR, ranging between 0.65–1.40 kg C m-2 yr-1, decreased along the elevation gradient, while temperature sensitivity (Q10) of SR increased with elevation. However, a high SR rate (1.27 kg C m-2 yr-1) and low Q10 were recorded in the mature conifer forest stand at 1731 m a.s.l., characterized by an uneven-aged structure and high dominant tree height, resulting in a nonlinear relationship between elevation and temperature. Reference SR at 10°C (SRref) was unrelated to elevation, but was related to tree height. A significant negative linear relationship was found between bulk density and elevation. Conversely, SOC, root C and N stock, pH, and litter mass were best fitted by nonlinear relationships with elevation. However, these parameters were not significantly correlated with SR when the effect of temperature was removed (SRref). These results demonstrate that the main factor affecting SR in forest ecosystems along this Alpine elevation gradient is temperature, but its regulating role can be strongly influenced by site biological characteristics, particularly vegetation type and structure, affecting litter quality and microclimate. This study also confirms that high elevation sites are rich in SOC and more sensitive to climate change, being prone to high C losses as CO2. Furthermore, our data indicate a positive relationship between Q10 and dominant tree height, suggesting that mature forest ecosystems characterized by an uneven-age structure, high SRref and moderate Q10, may be more resilient.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil respiration variation along an altitudinal gradient in the Italian Alps: Disentangling forest structure and temperature effects

et al. 2021

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“…Rates of soil respiration have been increasing by approximately 0.1 Pg C yr −1 since 1989 in response to global temperature increases (Ben & Allison, 2010), and small changes in soil respiration associated with climate change have the potential to influence atmospheric CO 2 concentrations due to the large amounts of C stored in soils (Ben & Allison, 2010). Although extensive work has reported that soil respiration in forest ecosystems could be greatly affected by abiotic and biotic factors, such as soil temperature and moisture, soil microorganisms, and substrate supply (Fang et al, 2015;Tian et al, 2019;Wu et al, 2017), there is still uncertainty about how substrate supply, soil microbial community, soil temperature, and soil moisture interactively affect soil respiration under field conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of soil microorganisms and labile C availability on soil respiration in response to litter inputs in forest ecosystems: A meta‐analysis

Zhang

Zou

Meng

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Besides, there is evidence that diverse plant biome types can influence SR rate differently. Therefore, the various plant communities can affect differently, microclimate, soil and litter composition, and root distribution, therefore affecting soil respiration rate [18, 26,38,39,40]. However, within the same plant biome, there is a high spatial heterogeneity of SR.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, within the same plant biome, there is a high spatial heterogeneity of SR. Some authors found a possible linkage between the topography, plant community structure (e.g., forest type and speed of regeneration), and SR within the same forest ecosystems [18,38,39,40]. Further, forest management can also play a crucial role in SR [41].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil respiration variation along an altitudinal gradient in Italian Alps: Disentangling forest structure and temperature effects

Badraghi

Ventura

Polo

et al. 2021

Preprint

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To understand the main determinants of soil respiration (SR), we investigated the changes of soil respiration and soil physicochemical properties, including soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), root C and N, litter C and N, soil bulk densities and soil pH at five forest sites, along an elevation/temperature gradient (404 to 2101 m a.s.l) in Northern Italy, where confounding factors such as aspect and soil parent material are minimized, but an ample variation in forest structure and composition is present. Our result indicated that SR rates increased with temperature in all sites, and about 55% - 76% of SR was explained by temperature. Annual cumulative SR, ranging between 0.65 and 1.40 kg C m-2 yr-1, declined along the elevation gradient, while temperature sensitivity (Q10) of SR increased with elevation. However, a high SR rate (1.27 kg C m-2 yr-1) and low Q10 were recorded in the old conifer forest stand at 1731 m a.s.l., characterized by a complex structure and high productivity, introducing nonlinearity in the relations with elevation and temperature. Reference SR at the temperature of 10°C (SRref) was not related to elevation. A significant linear negative relationship was found for bulk density with elevation. On the contrary, soil C, soil N, root C, root N, pH and litter mass were better fitted by nonlinear relations with elevation. However, it was not possible to confirm a significant correlation of SR with these parameters once the effect of temperature has been removed (SRref). These results show how the main factor affecting SR in forest ecosystems along this Alpine elevation gradient is temperature, but its regulating role can be strongly influenced by site biological characteristics, particularly vegetation type and structure. This study also confirms that high elevation sites are rich in C stored in the soil and also more sensitive to climate change, being prone to high carbon losses as CO2. Conversely, forest ecosystems with a complex structure, with high SRref and moderate Q10, can be more resilient.

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Topographic controls on the variability of soil respiration in a humid subtropical forest

Cited by 31 publications

References 59 publications

Soil respiration variation along an altitudinal gradient in the Italian Alps: Disentangling forest structure and temperature effects

Soil respiration variation along an altitudinal gradient in the Italian Alps: Disentangling forest structure and temperature effects

Effect of soil microorganisms and labile C availability on soil respiration in response to litter inputs in forest ecosystems: A meta‐analysis

Soil respiration variation along an altitudinal gradient in Italian Alps: Disentangling forest structure and temperature effects

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