The responses of soil respiration to changed precipitation and increased temperature in desert grassland in northern China

China faces some of the most serious desertification in the world, leading to many problems. To solve them, large-scale ecological restoration projects were implemented. To assess their effectiveness, we analyzed normalized-difference vegetation index (NDVI) data derived from SPOT VEGETATION and gridded climate datasets from 1998 to 2015 to detect the degrees of desertification and the effects of human and climate drivers on vegetation dynamics. We found that NDVI of desertified areas generally decreased before 2000, then increased. The annual increase in NDVI was fixed dunes (0.0013) = semi-fixed dunes (0.0013) > semi-mobile dunes (0.0012) > gobi (gravel) desert (0.0011) > mobile dunes (0.0003) > saline–alkali land (0.0000). The proportions of the area of each desert type in which NDVI increased were fixed dunes (43.4%) > semi-mobile dunes (39.7%) > semi-fixed dunes (26.7%) > saline–alkali land (23.1%) > gobi desert (14.4%) > mobile dunes (12.5%). Thus, the vegetation response to the restoration efforts increased as the initial dune stability increased. The proportion of the area where desertification was dominated by temperature (1.8%) was far less than the area dominated by precipitation (14.1%). However, 67.6% of the change was driven by non-climatic factors. The effectiveness of the ecological restoration projects was significant in the Loess Plateau and in the Mu Us, Horqin, and Hulunbuir sandy lands. In contrast, there was little effect in the Badain Jaran, Ulan Buh, and Tengger deserts; in particular, vegetation cover has declined seriously in the Hunshandake Sandy Land and Alkin Desert Grassland. Thus, more or different ecological restoration must be implemented in these areas.

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Effects of changing C and N availability on soil respiration dynamics in a temperate grassland in northern China

Geoderma ◽

10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.03.020 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 329 ◽

pp. 20-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yunlong He ◽

Yuchun Qi ◽

Yunshe Dong ◽

Qin Peng ◽

Shufang Guo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Northern China ◽

Temperate Grassland ◽

N Availability ◽

C And N

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Peer review report 1 On “ Responses of soil respiration to N addition, burning and clipping in temperate semiarid grassland in Northern China ”

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology ◽

10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.07.079 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 201 ◽

pp. 489

Author(s):

Anonymous

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Peer Review ◽

Northern China ◽

N Addition ◽

Semiarid Grassland

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The response of net soil respiration to different disturbances in a typical grassland of northern China

Acta Ecologica Sinica ◽

10.5846/stxb201401060031 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 35 (18) ◽

Author(s):

阚雨晨 KAN Yuchen ◽

武瑞鑫 WU Ruixin ◽

钟梦莹 ZHONG Mengying ◽

王建勋 WANG Jianxun ◽

蒲小鹏 PU Xiaopeng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Northern China

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Supplementary material to "Response of soil respiration to nitrogen addition along a degradation gradient in a temperate steppe of northern China"

10.5194/bg-2016-119-supplement ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Jinbin Chen ◽

Xiaotian Xu ◽

Hongyan Liu ◽

Wei Wang

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Northern China ◽

Nitrogen Addition ◽

Temperate Steppe ◽

Supplementary Material

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The response of grassland productivity, soil carbon content and soil respiration rates to different grazing regimes in a desert steppe in northern China

The Rangeland Journal ◽

10.1071/rj13038 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 36 (6) ◽

pp. 573 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Xiangyang Hou ◽

Zhen Wang ◽

Schellenberg P. Michael ◽

Lei Ji ◽

Xiangjun Yun

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Net Primary Productivity ◽

Growing Season ◽

Northern China ◽

Rotational Grazing ◽

Carbon And Nitrogen ◽

Continuous Grazing ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Nitrogen Contents

Soil respiration is a major process for organic carbon losses from arid ecosystems. A field experiment was conducted in 2010 and 2012 on the responses to continuous grazing, rotational grazing and no grazing on desert steppe vegetation in northern China. The growing season in 2010 was relatively dry and in 2012 was relatively wet. The results showed that mean soil respiration was the highest with no grazing in both growing seasons. Compared with no grazing, the soil respiration was decreased by 23.0% under continuous grazing and 14.1% under seasonal rotational grazing. Soil respiration increased linearly with increasing soil water gravimetric content, aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) and soil carbon and nitrogen contents across the 2 years, whereas a negative correlation was detected between soil respiration and soil temperature. A significant decrease in soil respiration was observed under both continuous grazing and in seasonal rotational grazing in the dry growing season, but no significant difference was detected in the wet growing season. In the wet year, only a non-significant difference in soil respiration was observed between different grazing types. Patterns of seasonal precipitation strongly affected the temporal changes of soil respiration as well as its response to different grazing types. The findings highlight the importance of differences in abiotic (soil temperature, soil water gravimetric content and soil carbon and nitrogen contents) and biotic (ANPP, BNPP and litter mass) factors in mediating the responses of soil respiration to the different grazing regimes.

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Effects of biochar on waterlogging and the associated change in micro-ecological environment of maize rhizosphere soil in saline-alkali land

BioResources ◽

10.15376/biores.15.4.9303-9323 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 9303-9323

Author(s):

Zhihui Wang ◽

Dawei Yin ◽

Hongyi Wang ◽

Changjiang Zhao ◽

Zuotong Li

Keyword(s):

Bacterial Community ◽

Soil Respiration ◽

Bulk Density ◽

Relative Abundance ◽

Rhizosphere Soil ◽

Chemical Properties ◽

Northern China ◽

Available Phosphorus ◽

Available Nitrogen ◽

Maize Rhizosphere

Saline-alkali soils of northern China are prone to waterlogging after degradation caused by overuse. The effects of biochar (40 t/ha) were tested relative to the physico-chemical properties of maize rhizosphere soil, the composition and function of the soil bacterial community, and its response to sudden waterlogging. Biochar treatment decreased the pH and bulk density of the soil and increased soil organic carbon (SOC), available nitrogen (AN), and available phosphorus (AP). The relative abundance of bacteria (Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Nitrospirae) also increased, along with the activities of soil enzymes, such as dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, and alkaline phosphomonoester. The response of soil microbial enzymes to biochar addition was induced by changes in the soil physical properties (pH, soil moisture content, and soil respiration (BR)). Changes in the bacterial community structure were driven by soil nutrients and physical characteristics (AN, AP, SOC, pH, moisture, water-stable aggregate stability rate, BR, and bulk density). After waterlogging, soil with biochar demonstrated high water permeability and improved soil respiration. The relative abundance of soil bacteria and enzyme activities remained higher in the biochar plot than in the no-biochar plot. Biochar maintained the growth and vitality of maize roots in unfavorable environmental conditions, thus ensuring high yields.

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Non-additive effect of day and night warming on soil respiration in a temperate steppe

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-6-4385-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 4385-4411 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J. Xia ◽

Y. Han ◽

Z. Zhang ◽

S. Wan

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Northern China ◽

Temperate Steppe ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Substrate Supply ◽

Night Warming ◽

Induced Changes ◽

C Assimilation

Abstract. This study was conducted to examine potentially differential effects of day and night warming on soil respiration in a temperate steppe in northern China. A full factorial design with day and night warming was used in this study, including control (C), day (6 a.m.–6 p.m., local time; D) warming, night (6 p.m.–6 a.m.; N) warming, and diurnal warming (W). Day warming showed neutral effect on soil respiration, whereas night warming significantly increased soil respiration by 7.1% over the first 3 growing seasons. The insignificant effect of day warming on soil respiration could be attributable to the offset of the direct positive effects by the indirect negative effects via aggravating water limitation and suppressing ecosystem C assimilation. The positive effects of night warming on soil respiration were largely due to the stimulation of ecosystem C uptake and substrate supply via over-compensation of plant photosynthesis. In addition, day and night warming showed antagonistic effects on soil respiration, which could be ascribed to their contrasting effects on ecosystem C assimilation. The results suggest differential and non-additive effects of day and night warming on soil respiration, which was driven by the treatment-induced changes in substrate supply.

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