Year-round warming and autumnal clipping lead to downward transport of root biomass, carbon and total nitrogen in soil of an alpine meadow

Xu, Manhou; Peng, Fei; You, Qinglong; Guo, Junming; Tian, XiaFei; Xue, Xian; Liu, Min

doi:10.1016/j.envexpbot.2014.07.012

Cited by 57 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Our prior research also shows that short experimental warming does not cause a significant change in aboveground biomass (Xu et al. ). Therefore, only the response of the belowground production to warming, including root biomass and NPP, was analyzed in this study.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 55%

“…In the QTP, however, the tough and cold climate leads plants to accumulate more production in belowground parts than in aboveground parts (Yang et al 2009), which makes the belowground portion more sensitive to the climate change. Our prior research also shows that short experimental warming does not cause a significant change in aboveground biomass (Xu et al 2015). Therefore, only the response of the belowground production to warming, including root biomass and NPP, was analyzed in this study.…”

Section: Measurement For Belowground Root Biomass and Nppmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Belowground carbon responses to experimental warming regulated by soil moisture change in an alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Xue

Peng

You

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

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Recent studies found that the largest uncertainties in the response of the terrestrial carbon cycle to climate change might come from changes in soil moisture under the elevation of temperature. Warming‐induced change in soil moisture and its level of influence on terrestrial ecosystems are mostly determined by climate, soil, and vegetation type and their sensitivity to temperature and moisture. Here, we present the results from a warming experiment of an alpine ecosystem conducted in the permafrost region of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau using infrared heaters. Our results show that 3 years of warming treatments significantly elevated soil temperature at 0–100 cm depth, decreased soil moisture at 10 cm depth, and increased soil moisture at 40–100 cm depth. In contrast to the findings of previous research, experimental warming did not significantly affect NH 4 +‐N, NO 3 −‐N, and heterotrophic respiration, but stimulated the growth of plants and significantly increased root biomass at 30–50 cm depth. This led to increased soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and liable carbon at 30–50 cm depth, and increased autotrophic respiration of plants. Analysis shows that experimental warming influenced deeper root production via redistributed soil moisture, which favors the accumulation of belowground carbon, but did not significantly affected the decomposition of soil organic carbon. Our findings suggest that future climate change studies need to take greater consideration of changes in the hydrological cycle and the local ecosystem characteristics. The results of our study will aid in understanding the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change and provide the regional case for global ecosystem models.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Measurement For Belowground Root Biomass and Nppmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belowground carbon responses to experimental warming regulated by soil moisture change in an alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Xue

Peng

You

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Alpine meadow in the permafrost area in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) stores 0.22 Pg C (Tao et al, 2007) and is estimated to lose 1.8 Gg C from 1986 to 2000 due to warming and grazing (Wang et al, 2008). Studies show a decrease of soil moisture in surface layer (Klein et al, 2005;Lin et al, 2011) but an increase in deep layers under warming (Xu et al, 2015). Compared to the Arctic tundra, alpine meadow is well drained, thus we hypothesize that responses of R s and its components to warming in alpine meadow are different from those in Arctic tundra in sites with different soil water content (SWC).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Different Responses of Soil Respiration and Its Components to Experimental Warming with Contrasting Soil Water Content

Peng

You

et al. 2015

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

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“…Relevant previous studies have indicated that warming increases belowground biomass by enhancing photosynthesis rate (Fitter et al., ; Xu et al., ) or prolonging the growing period of the plant (Majda & Ohrvik, ). However, negative (Wada, Miyamoto, & Kojima, ) or negligible effects of warming on belowground biomass have also been found (Kudo & Suzuki, ), due to reduced soil moisture (Xu et al., ) and increased respiration (Shaver et al., ). Moreover, the root biomass at different soil depths might respond differently to climate warming.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thirteen‐year variation in biomass allocation under climate change in an alpine Kobresia meadow, northern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Dai

Guo

et al. 2019

Grass and Forage Science

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Alpine grassland ecosystems are thought to be the most sensitive ecosystems to climate change, yet the responses of their belowground biomass and potential climatic controls are poorly understood. Thirteen‐year (2004 ‐ 2016) time‐series of observational belowground biomass data and environmental factors were analysed in a humid alpine Kobresia meadow on the Northern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Results showed that the mean air temperature increased by 0.44°C from 2004 to 2016, while annual precipitation remained relatively stable. The belowground biomass across all soil depths (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, 20–40 cm) increased significantly, while aboveground biomass showed little change. The proportion of 0–10 cm belowground biomass decreased, whereas the other proportions both increased, which could be mostly attributed to variations in maximum air temperature. There was no significant relationship between aboveground biomass of plant functional groups and belowground biomass across all depths, indicating that the impact of maximum air temperature on belowground biomass should not be limited by aboveground biomass. The asymmetrical response of aboveground and belowground biomass under current climate fluctuations could provide new insights for the appropriate management of the alpine ecosystem.

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Year-round warming and autumnal clipping lead to downward transport of root biomass, carbon and total nitrogen in soil of an alpine meadow

Cited by 57 publications

References 67 publications

Belowground carbon responses to experimental warming regulated by soil moisture change in an alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Belowground carbon responses to experimental warming regulated by soil moisture change in an alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Different Responses of Soil Respiration and Its Components to Experimental Warming with Contrasting Soil Water Content

Thirteen‐year variation in biomass allocation under climate change in an alpine Kobresia meadow, northern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

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