Abstract
In this paper, the CO2 concentrations profile from 1.5 m depth in soil to 32 m height in atmosphere were measured from July 2000 to July 2001 in an alpine grassland ecosystem located in the permafrost area on the Tibetan Plateau, which revealed that CO2 concentrations varied greatly during this study period. Mean concentrations during the whole experiment in the atmosphere were absolutely lower than the CO2 concentrations in soil, which resulted in CO2 emissions from the alpine steppe soil to the atmosphere. The highest CO2 concentration was found at a depth of 1.5 m in soil while the lowest CO2 concentration occurred in the atmosphere. Mean CO2 concentrations in soil generally increased with depth. This was the compositive influence of the increasing soil moistures and decreasing soil pH, which induced the increasing biological activities with depth. Temporally, the CO2 concentrations at different layers in air remained a more steady state because of the atmospheric turbulent milking. During the seasonal variations, CO2 concentrations at surface soil interface showed symmetrical patterns, with the lowest accumulation of CO2 occurring in the late winter and the highest CO2 concentration in the growing seasons.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bowden R D, 1993. Contributions of aboveground litter, belowground litter, and root respiration to total soil respiration in a temperate mixed hardwood forest.Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 23: 1402–1407.
Braswell B H, Schimel D S, Linder Eet al., 1997. The response of global terrestrial ecosystems to interannual temperature variability.Science, 278: 870–872.
Bremner J M, 1965. Inorganic forms of nitrogen. In: Black C A (ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis Vol.2., 1179–1237. American Society of Agronomy, Madison.
Burton D L, Beauchamp E G, 1994. Profile nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide concentrations in a soil subject to freezing.Soil Science Society of American Journal, 58: 115–122.
Burton A J, Pregitzer K S, Ruess R W, 2002. Root respiration in North American forests: effects of nitrogen concentration and temperature across biomes.Oceologia, 131: 559–568.
Caspersen J P, Pacala S W, Jenkins J Cet al., 2000. Contributions of land-use history to carbon accumulation in U.S. forests.Science, 290: 1148–1151.
Chen Z, Wang S, 2000. The Typical Grassland Ecosystems in China. Beijing: Science Press. (in Chinese)
Crowley T J, 2000. Causes of climate change over the past 1000 years.Science, 298: 270–277.
Davidson E A, Belk E, Boone R D, 1998. Soil water content and temperature as independent or confounded factors controlling soil respiration in a temperate mixed hardwood forest.Global Change Biology, 4: 217–227.
Davidson E A, Trumbore S E, Amundson Ret al., 2000. Soil warming and organic carbon content.Nature, 408: 789–790.
Dugas W A, Reicosky D C, Kiniry J R, 1997. Chamber and micrometeorological measurements of CO2 and H2O fluxes for three C-4 grasses.Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 83(1-2): 113–133.
Ellert B H, Janzen H H, 1999. Short-term influence of tillage on CO2 fluxes from a semi-arid soil on the Canadian Prairies.Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 50: 21–32.
Falkowski P, Scholes R J, Boyle Eet al., 2000. The global carbon cycle: a test of our knowledge of Earth as a system.Science, 290: 291–296.
Fans S, Gloor M, Mahlman Jet al., 1998 A large terrestrial carbon sink in North America implied by atmospheric and oceanic carbon dioxide data and models.Science, 282: 442–446.
Friedli H, Lotscher H, Oeschgr Het al., 1986. Ice core record of13C/12C ratio of atmospheric CO2 in the past two centuries.Nature, 324: 237–238.
Gao Y, 1995. Soil regionalization of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.Mountain Res., 13(4): 203–211. (in Chinese)
Grace J, Rayment M, 2000. Respiration in the balance.Nature, 404: 819–820.
IGBP, 1998. The terrestrial carbon cycle: implication for the Kyoto Protocol.Science, 280: 1393–1394.
Kalembasa S J, Jenkinson D S, 1973. A comparative study of titrimetric and gravimetric methods for determination of organic carbon in soil.Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture, 24: 1085–1090.
Keeling C D, Whorf T P, Wahlen Met al., 1995. Interannual extremes in the rate of rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1980.Nature, 375: 666–670.
Kelting D L, Burger J A, Edwards G S, 1998. Estimating root respiration, microbial respiration in the rhizosphere, and root-free soil respiration in forest soils.Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 30(7): 961–968.
Lashof D A, Ahuja D R, 1990. Relative contributions of greenhouse gas emissions to global wanning.Nature, 344: 529–531.
Lekkerkerk L, Lundkvist H, 1990. Decomposition of heterogeneous substrates: An experimental investigation of hypothesis on substrate and microbial properties.Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 22(2): 161–167.
Maljanen M, Hyt □nen J, Martikainen P J, 2001. Fluxes of N2O, CH4 and CO2 on afforested boreal agricultural soils.Plant and Soil, 231: 113–121.
Mielnick P C, Dugas W A, Johnson H Bet al., 2001. Net grassland carbon flux over a subambient to superambient CO2 gradient.Global Change Biology, 7:747–754.
Monnin E, 2001 Atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the last glacial termination.Science, 291: 112–114.
Nadelhoffer K J, Emmett B A, Gundersen Pet al., 1999. Nitrogen deposition makes a minor contribution to carbon sequestration in temperate forests.Nature, 398: 145–148.
Neftel A, Moor E, Oeschger Het al., 1985. Evidence from ploarice cores for the increase in atmosphere CO2 in the past two centuries.Nature, 315: 45–47.
Orchard V A, Cook F J, Corderoy D M, 1992. Field and laboratory studies on the relationships between respiration and moisture for two soils of contrasting fertility status.Pedobiologia, 36: 21–33.
Parfitt R L, Percival H J, Dahlgren R Aet al., 1997. Soil and solution chemistry under pasture and radiata pine in New Zealand.Plant and Soil, 191: 279–290.
Pei Z, Ouyang H, Zhou Cet al., 2003. Fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O from alpine grassland in the Tibetan Plateau.Journal of Geographical Sciences, 13(1): 27–34.
Raich J W, Schlesinger W H, 1992. The global carbon dioxide flux in soil respiration and its relationship to vegetation and climate.Tellus, 44B: 81–99.
Rochette P, Flanagan L B, 1999. Separating soil respiration into plant and soil components using analyses of the natural abundance of carbon-13.Soil Science Society of American Journal, 63: 1207–1213.
Rodhe H, 1990. A comparison of the contribution of various gases to the greenhouse effect.Science, 248: 1217–1219.
Rosenfeld P E, 2001. Effect of high carbon ash on biosolids odor emissions and microbial activity.Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 131: 245–260.
Schimel D S, Melillo J, Tian Het al., 2000. Contribution of increasing CO2 and climate to carbon storage by ecosystems in United States.Science, 287: 2004–2006.
Sommerfeld R A, Mosier A R, Musselman R C, 1993. CO2, CH4, and N2O flux through a Wyoming snowpack and implications for global budgets.Nature, 361: 140–142.
Sun H, Zheng D, 1998. Formation and Evolution of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Press; Guangzhou: Guangdong Press. (in Chinese)
Tester C F, 1988. Role of soil and residue microorganisms in determining the extent of residue decomposition in soil.Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 20: 915–919.
Tett S F B, Stott P A, Allen M Ret al., 1999. Causes of twentieth-century temperature change near the Earth’s surface.Nature, 399: 569–572.
Tian H, Melillo J M, Kicklighter D Wet al., 1998. Effect of interannual climate variability on carbon srorage in Amazonian ecosystems.Nature, 396: 664–667.
Tufekcioglu A, Raich J W, Isenhart T Met al., 2001. Soil respiration within riparian buffers and adjacent crop fields.Plant and Soil, 229: 117–124.
Tufekcioglu A, Raich J W, 1999. Fine root dynamics, coarse root biomass, root distribution, and soil respiration in a multispecies riparian buffer in central Iowa, USA.Agroforestry Systems, 44: 163–174.
Tuittila E S, Komulainen V M, Vasander Het al., 2000. Methane dynamics of a restored cut-away peatland.Global Change Biology, 6: 569–581.
Updegraff K, Bridgham S D, Pastor Jet al., 1998. Hysteresis in the temperature response of carbon dioxide and methane production in peat soils.Biogeochemistry, 43: 253–272.
Valentini R, Matteucci G, Dolman A Jet al., 2000. Respiration as the main determinant of carbon balance in European forests.Nature, 404: 861–865.
Waddington J M, Rotenberg P A, Warren F J, 2001. Peat CO2 production in a natural and cutover peatland: Implications for restoration.Biogeochemistry, 54: 115–130.
Whalen S C, Reeburgh W S, 1990. Consumption of atmospheric methane to subambient concentration by tundra soils.Nature, 346: 160–162.
Xu M, Qi Y, 2001. Soil-surface CO2 efflux and its spatial and temporal variations in a young pongdersoa pine plantation in northern California.Global Change Biology, 7: 667–677.
Zak D R, Hohnes W E, MacDonald N Wet al., 1999. Soil temperature, matric potential, and the kinetics of microbial respiration and nitrogen mineralization.Soil Science Society of American Journal, 63: 575–584.
Zheng D, Zhang R, Yang Q, 1979. On the natural zonation in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.Acta Geographica Sinica, 34(1): 1–11. (in Chinese)
Zheng D, Zhu L, 2000. Formation and Evolution, Environmental Changes and Sustainable Development on the Tibetan Plateau. Beijing: Science Press.
Zogg G P, Zak D R, Burton A Jet al., 1996. Fine root respiration in northern hardwood forests in relation to temperature and nitrogen availability.Tree Physiology, 16: 719–729.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhiyong, P., Hua, O., Caiping, Z. et al. CO2 processes in an alpine grassland ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau. J. Geogr. Sci. 13, 429–437 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02837881
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02837881