Warming effects on permafrost ecosystem carbon fluxes associated with plant nutrients

Li, Fēi; Peng, Yunfeng; Natali, Susan M.; Chen, Kelong; Han, Tao; Yang, Guibiao; Ding, Jinzhi; Zhang, Dianye; Wang, Guanqin; Wang, Jun; Yu, Jianliang; Liu, Futing; Yang, Yuanhe

doi:10.1002/ecy.1975

Cited by 38 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…, Sardans and Peñuelas , Li et al. ). Plant nutrient concentrations are positively correlated with leaf area‐based photosynthetic rates in arid and semiarid grassland plants (Wright and Westoby , Liu et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Differential responses of canopy nutrients to experimental drought along a natural aridity gradient

Luo

Zuo

et al. 2018

Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The allocation and stoichiometry of plant nutrients in leaves reflect fundamental ecosystem processes, biotic interactions, and environmental drivers such as water availability. Climate change will lead to increases in drought severity and frequency, but how canopy nutrients will respond to drought, and how these responses may vary with community composition along aridity gradients is poorly understood. We experimentally addressed this issue by reducing precipitation amounts by 66% during two consecutive growing seasons at three sites located along a natural aridity gradient. This allowed us to assess drought effects on canopy nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in arid and semiarid grasslands of northern China. Along the aridity gradient, canopy nutrient concentrations were positively related to aridity, with this pattern was driven primarily by species turnover (i.e., an increase in the relative biomass of N- and P-rich species with increasing aridity). In contrast, drought imposed experimentally increased N but decreased P concentrations in plant canopies. These changes were driven by the combined effects of species turnover and intraspecific variation in leaf nutrient concentrations. In addition, the sensitivity of canopy N and P concentrations to drought varied across the three sites. Canopy nutrient concentrations were less affected by drought at drier than wetter sites, because of the opposing effects of species turnover and intraspecific variation, as well as greater drought tolerance for nutrient-rich species. These contrasting effects of long-term aridity vs. short-term drought on canopy nutrient concentrations, as well as differing sensitivities among sites in the same grassland biome, highlight the challenge of predicting ecosystem responses to future climate change.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Because nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are essential nutrients for plant growth, maintenance, and reproduction (Reich and Oleksyn , Li et al. , Sardans et al. ), understanding the effects of increasing drought on the biogeochemistry of N and P is needed (Sardans and Peñuelas ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential responses of canopy nutrients to experimental drought along a natural aridity gradient

Luo

Zuo

et al. 2018

Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although warming‐induced changes in GPP were closely correlated with LAI dynamics, it partly explained the variance of GPP, indicating that other factors may co‐regulate the response of GPP to experimental warming. Previous studies showed that soil temperature, soil moisture, and leaf N concentration were important factors in regulating GPP (Li et al, ; Luo, ; Peng, Li, et al, ), because these factors can affect the chlorophyll content and enzyme activity, which are associated with plant photosynthesis (Chapin et al, ; Shaver et al, ). Nevertheless, we did not observe significant relationships of GPP with soil temperature, soil moisture, and leaf N concentration (Figure S8 and Table S5), suggesting that these factors are not responsible for the remaining variance of GPP in our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf Area Rather Than Photosynthetic Rate Determines the Response of Ecosystem Productivity to Experimental Warming in an Alpine Steppe

Peng

Zhang

et al. 2019

JGR Biogeosciences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gross primary productivity (GPP) plays an important role in mediating the feedback between land carbon (C) cycle and climate warming. However, knowledge about the mechanisms regulating the response of GPP to warming is still limited. Based on a four‐year field manipulative experiment, we examined the warming effects on GPP and the potential mechanisms in a typical alpine steppe on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results revealed that elevated temperature significantly increased GPP over the study period. The warming‐induced increase in GPP was driven by the increased leaf area index, which was derived from the increase in aboveground biomass of forb. By contrast, warming had no significant effects on photosynthesis per leaf area, likely due to the offset of warming‐induced increase in leaf nitrogen concentration and decrease in soil moisture. These results demonstrate that leaf area rather than leaf photosynthetic rate determines the response of ecosystem productivity to climate warming in this alpine steppe. More studies in other ecosystems are called for to test the observed mechanisms responsible for warming effects on GPP, so as to improve predictions of terrestrial C cycle under changing environment.

show abstract

“…The soil active layer (the layer of seasonally thawed soil above the permafrost) is ~4.0 m deep. Mean annual temperature is −3.4°C and mean annual precipitation is 466 mm (Li et al, ). The soil is classified as Cambisols based on the soil classification system of FAO (Lu et al, ), with 2.1% clay, 54.2% silt and 43.7% sand.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We tested these hypotheses with a 4‐year deployment of open‐top chambers (OTCs) in a marsh meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. We selected a marsh meadow ecosystem because it has high SOC density (65 kg C/m 2 ; Ding et al, ) and strong decomposability relative to other ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau (Chen et al, ), and also because it has high soil moisture so that experimental warming does not alter soil hydrology (Li et al, ), allowing the isolation of temperature effects. We first examined the warming effects on plant biomass, growing‐season soil CO 2 efflux and SOC stocks from 2014 to 2016, and then quantified changes in SOM molecular composition in the top 30 cm in the fourth experimental year using 13 C‐NMR and biomarker analyses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Warming alters surface soil organic matter composition despite unchanged carbon stocks in a Tibetan permafrost ecosystem

Peng

Chen

et al. 2019

Functional Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate warming can alter ecosystem carbon (C) balance and also the composition of soil organic matter (SOM), with important local and global implications. However, the extent to which rising temperature affects SOM composition in permafrost ecosystems remains poorly understood. Here, we experimentally warmed a permafrost ecosystem by open‐top chambers (OTCs) on the Tibetan Plateau for 4 years to quantify the responses of C inputs via vegetation production, C losses via soil respiration and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in the top 30 cm. We also characterized the molecular composition of SOM using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and biomarker analyses. The results indicated that warming treatment significantly increased root biomass, soil respiration, heterotrophic respiration and its contribution to soil respiration by 16.7%, 49.0%, 63.2% and 9.5% respectively. While we observed no change in SOC stocks, warming altered SOM composition in the 0–10 cm layer during the fourth experimental year. Warming increased the abundance of the alkyl C component (3.9%) and decreased aromatic C (5.1%), primarily lignin. The decrease in lignin‐derived compounds was attributable to the increased soil phenol oxidase activity. Overall, the substantial increase in heterotrophic respiration and rapid degradation of relatively recalcitrant C components such as lignin demonstrate that Tibetan SOC stocks are vulnerable to climate warming, which could trigger positive C–climate feedback in a warmer world. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

show abstract

Warming effects on permafrost ecosystem carbon fluxes associated with plant nutrients

Cited by 38 publications

References 43 publications

Differential responses of canopy nutrients to experimental drought along a natural aridity gradient

Differential responses of canopy nutrients to experimental drought along a natural aridity gradient

Leaf Area Rather Than Photosynthetic Rate Determines the Response of Ecosystem Productivity to Experimental Warming in an Alpine Steppe

Warming alters surface soil organic matter composition despite unchanged carbon stocks in a Tibetan permafrost ecosystem

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About