Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Soil respiration dynamics in Cinnamomum camphora forest and a nearby Liquidambar formosana forest in Subtropical China

  • Articles
  • Geography
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Climate change can significantly affect carbon cycling of forest ecosystems. The diurnal and seasonal dynamics of soil respiration (R s) in Cinnamomum camphora and Liquidambar formosana forests were investigated by using infrared gas exchange analyzer of Li-Cor 6400-09 each month in 2006. Soil temperature and moisture were also measured. Diurnal variations in R s varied with daily soil temperature in the two forests. Across the growing season, soil respiration peaked on July 28 due to higher soil temperature and moisture conditions. Seasonal R s variations were predominantly influenced by soil temperature. Seasonal soil respirations in C. camphora and L. formosana forests were strongly related to soil temperature (x) at 5-cm depth (R s = 0.1598e0.1377x (R 2 = 0.9289, P = 0.001) and R s = 0.2177e0.0962x (R 2 = 0.927, P = 0.000)), while annual mean R s rate was 2.614 and 1.397 μmol m−2 s−1 and Q 10 values was 3.96 and 2.62 for the two forests, respectively. However, R s was not influenced by seasonal changes in soil moisture (w) in the two forests in 2006. We developed two equations (R s = −0.020w 2+0.497w+0.562 (R 2 = 0.109, P > 0.05), R s = −0.001w 2+0.072w+0.731(R 2 = 0.053, P > 0.05)) to describe the relationship between R s and soil moisture. A positive relationship between R s and soil moisture were observed when soil moisture was below 12.43% and 18.00%, but when soil moisture exceeded threshold values of 12.43% and 18.00%, soil moisture became the restraint factor for R s. Long-term observations of soil respiration and moisture are required to understand the temporal dynamics of soil respiration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Raich J W, Schlesinger W H. The global carbon dioxide flux in soil respiration and its relationship to climate. Tellus, 1992, 44: 81–99

    Google Scholar 

  2. Davidson E A, Janssens I A, Luo Y Q. On the variability of respiration in terrestrial ecosystems: moving beyond Q 10. Glob Change Biol, 2006, 12: 154–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Schimel D S. Terrestrial ecosystem and the carbon cycle. Glob Change Biol, 1995, 1: 77–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Raich J W, Tufekcioglu A. Vegetation and soil respiration: correlations and controls. Biogeochemistry, 2000, 48: 71–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lal R. Forest soils and carbon sequestration. For Ecol Manage, 2005, 220: 242–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Billings S A, Richter D D, Yarie J. Soil carbon dioxide fluxes and profile concentrations in two boreal forests. Can J For Res, 1998, 28: 1773–1783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Singh J S, Gupta S R. Plant decomposition and soil respiration in terrestrial ecosystems. Bot Rev, 1977, 43: 449–528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Crill P M. Seasonal patterns of methane uptake and carbon dioxide release by a temperate woodland soil. Global Biogeochem Cycles 1991, 5: 319–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Thierron V, Laudelout H. Contribution of root respiration to total CO2 efflux from the soil of a deciduous forest. Can J For Res, 1996, 26: 1142–1148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Vose J M, Elliott K J, Johnson D W, Effects of elevated CO2 and N fertilization on soil respiration from ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) in open top chambers. Can J For Res, 1995, 25: 1243–1251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hibbard K A, Law B E, Reichstein M, et al. An analysis of soil respiration across Northern Hemisphere temperate ecosystems. Biogeochemistry, 2005, 73: 29–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Wang C K, Yang J Y, Zhang Q. Soil respiration in six temperate forests in China. Glob Change Biol, 2006, 12: 2103–2114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Yan J H, Wang Y P, Zhou G Y, et al. Estimates of soil respiration and net primary production of three forests at different succession stages in South China. Glob Change Biol, 2006, 12: 810–821

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Fan S M, Goulden M L, Munger J W, et al. Environmental controls on the photosynthesis and respiration of a boreal lichen woodland: a growing season of whole-ecosystem exchange measurements by eddy correlation. Oecologia, 1995, 102: 443–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. O’Connell K E B, Gower S T, Norman J M. Net ecosystem production of two contrasting boreal black spruce forest communities. Ecosystems, 2003, 6: 248–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Chimner R A. Soil respiration rates of tropical peat lands in Micronesia and Hawaii. Wetlands, 2004, 24: 51–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lloyd J, Taylor J A. On the temperature dependence of soil respiration. Funct Ecol, 1994, 8: 315–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Davidson E A, Belk E, Boone R D. Soil water content and temperature as independent or confounded factors controlling soil respiration in a temperate mixed hardwood forest. Glob Change Biol, 1998, 4: 217–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Buchmann N. Biotic and abiotic factors controlling soil respiration rates in Picea abies stands. Soil Biol Biochem, 2000, 32: 1625–1635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Sanchez M L, Ozores M I, Lopez M J, et al. Soil CO2 fluxes beneath barley on the central Spanish plateau. Agr For Meteol, 2003, 118: 85–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Reth S, Gockede M, Falge E. CO2 efflux from agricultural soils in Eastern Germany.comparison of a closed chamber system with eddy covariance measurements. Theor Appl Climatol, 2004, 85: 175–186

    Google Scholar 

  22. Dong Y S, Zhang S, Qi Y C, et al. Fluxes of CO2, N2O and CH4 from a typical temperate grassland in Inner Mongolia and its daily variation. Chinese Sci Bull, 2000, 45: 1590–1594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Wang Y S, Wang M X, Hu Y Q, et al. Study on relationship between the variations of greenhouse gases efflux/uptake and the key environmental factors in Mongolia semi-arid grasslands (in Chinese). Clim Environ Res, 2002, 7: 295–310

    Google Scholar 

  24. Qi Y C, Dong Y S, Liu J Y, et al. Daily variation characteristics of CO2 emission fluxes and contributions of environmental factors in semiarid grassland of Inner Mongolia, China. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2005, 48: 1052–1064

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Zhao L, Li Y N, Xu S X, et al. Diurnal, seasonal and annual variation in net ecosystem CO2 exchange of an alpine shrubland on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Glob Change Biol, 2006, 12: 1940–1953

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Zhao J, Qi Y C, Dong Y S. Diurnal and seasonal dynamics of soil respiration in desert shrubland of Artemisia Ordosica on Ordos Plateau of Inner Mongolia, China. J For Res, 2007, 18: 231–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Soil Physical and Chemical Analysis (in Chinese). Shanghai: Science and Technology Press, 1980. 81–93

    Google Scholar 

  28. Luo Y Q, Wan S Q, Hui D F, et al. Acclimatization of soil respiration to warming in a tall grass prairie. Nature, 2001, 413: 622–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Raich J W, Potter C S. Global patterns of carbon dioxide emissions from soils. Glob Biogeochem Cycles, 1995, 9: 23–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Xu M, Qi Y. Spatial and seasonal variations of Q 10 determined by soil respiration measurements at a Sierra Nevadan forest. Glob Biogeochem Cycles, 2001, 15: 687–696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Fang C, Moncrieff J B, Gholz H L, et al. Soil CO2 efflux and its spatial variation in a Florida slash pine plantation. Plant Soil, 1998, 205: 135–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Elberling B. Seasonal trends of CO2 dynamics in a soil subject to freezing. J Hydrol, 2003, 276: 59–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Cao G M, Tang Y H, Mo W H, et al. Grazing intensity alters soil respiration in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. Soil Biol Biochem, 2004, 36: 237–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Janssens I A, Pilegaard K. Large seasonal changes in Q 10 of soil respiration in a beech forest. Glob Change Biol, 2003, 9: 911–918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Hanson P J, Wullschleger S D, Bohlman S A, et al. Seasonal and topographic patterns of forest floor CO2 efflux from an upland oak forest. Tree Physiol, 1993, 13: 1–15

    Google Scholar 

  36. Howard D M, Howard P J A. Relationships between CO2 evolution, moisture content and temperature for a range of soil types. Soil Biol Biochem, 1993, 25: 1537–1546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Kim J, Verma S B. Soil surface CO2 flux in a Minnesota peatland. Biogeochemistry, 1992, 18: 37–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Peterjohn W T, Melillo J M, Steudler P A, et al. Response of trace gas fluxes and N availability to experimentally elevated soil temperature. Ecol Appl, 1994, 4: 617–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Pumpanen J, Vesniemi H I, Peramaki M, et al. Seasonal patterns of soil CO2 efflux and soil air CO2 concentration in a Scots pine forest: comparison of two chamber techniques. Glob Change Biol, 2003, 9: 371–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Wang C K, Gower S T, Wang Y, et al. The influence of fire on carbon distribution and net primary production of boreal Larix gmelinii forests in northeastern China. Glob Change Biol, 2001, 7: 719–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Kirschbaum M U F. The temperature dependence of soil organic matter decomposition and the effect of global warming on soil organic C storage. Soil Biol Biochem, 1995, 27: 753–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Fang C, Moncrieff J B. The dependence of soil CO2 efflux on temperature. Soil Biol Biochem, 2001, 33: 155–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Fang C, Smith P, Moncrieff J B, et al. Similar response of labile and resistant soil organic matter pools to changes in temperature. Nature, 2005, 433: 57–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Kucera C L, Kirkham D R. Soil respiration studies in tallgrass prairie in Missouri. Ecology, 1971, 52: 912–915

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Londo A J, Messina M G, Schoenholtz S H. Forest harvesting effects on soil temperature, moisture, and respiration in a bottomland hardwood forest. Soil Sci Soc Am J, 1999, 63: 637–644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Mielnick P C, Dugas W A. Soil CO2 flux in a tallgrass prairie. Soil Biol Biochem, 2000, 32: 221–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Yi Z G, Yi W M, Zhou G Y, et al. Soil carbon effluxes of three major vegetation types in Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve (in Chinese). Acta Ecol Sin, 2003, 23: 1673–1678

    Google Scholar 

  48. Yang Y S, Chen G S, Wang X G, et al. Response of soil CO2 efflux to forest conversion in subtropical zone of China (in Chinese). Acta Ecol Sin, 2005, 25: 1684–1690

    Google Scholar 

  49. Tang X, Liu S. Zhou G, et al. Soil-atmospheric exchange of CO2, CH4, and N2O in three subtropical forest ecosystems in southern China. Glob Change Biol, 2006, 12: 546–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry & Technology, Changsha, 410004, China

    DaLun Tian, GuangJun Wang, WenDe Yan, WenHua Xiang & ChangHui Peng

  2. Institut des sciences de l’environnement, Département des sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    ChangHui Peng

Authors
  1. DaLun Tian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. GuangJun Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. WenDe Yan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. WenHua Xiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. ChangHui Peng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to DaLun Tian.

About this article

Cite this article

Tian, D., Wang, G., Yan, W. et al. Soil respiration dynamics in Cinnamomum camphora forest and a nearby Liquidambar formosana forest in Subtropical China. Chin. Sci. Bull. 55, 736–743 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-009-0452-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-009-0452-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation