scholarly journals Species richness promotes ecosystem carbon storage: evidence from biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1939) ◽  
pp. 20202063
Author(s):  
Shan Xu ◽  
Nico Eisenhauer ◽  
Olga Ferlian ◽  
Jinlong Zhang ◽  
Guoyi Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Soil C ◽  
C Storage ◽  
Ecosystem Carbon ◽  
C Pools ◽  
Belowground Plant Biomass ◽  
Biodiversity Effects

Plant diversity has a strong impact on a plethora of ecosystem functions and services, especially ecosystem carbon (C) storage. However, the potential context-dependency of biodiversity effects across ecosystem types, environmental conditions and carbon pools remains largely unknown. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis by collecting data from 95 biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) studies across 60 sites to explore the effects of plant diversity on different C pools, including aboveground and belowground plant biomass, soil microbial biomass C and soil C content across different ecosystem types. The results showed that ecosystem C storage was significantly enhanced by plant diversity, with stronger effects on aboveground biomass than on soil C content. Moreover, the response magnitudes of ecosystem C storage increased with the level of species richness and experimental duration across all ecosystems. The effects of plant diversity were more pronounced in grasslands than in forests. Furthermore, the effects of plant diversity on belowground plant biomass increased with aridity index in grasslands and forests, suggesting that climate change might modulate biodiversity effects, which are stronger under wetter conditions but weaker under more arid conditions. Taken together, these results provide novel insights into the important role of plant diversity in ecosystem C storage across critical C pools, ecosystem types and environmental contexts.

Comparison of carbon and nitrogen storage in mineral soils of graminoid and shrub tundra sites, western Greenland

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 165-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea L. Petrenko ◽  
Julia Bradley-Cook ◽  
Emily M. Lacroix ◽  
Andrew J. Friedland ◽  
Ross A. Virginia
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Soil C ◽  
N Storage ◽  
C Storage ◽  
Arctic Soils ◽  
C Pools ◽  
C And N

Shrub species are expanding across the Arctic in response to climate change and biotic interactions. Changes in belowground carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage are of global importance because Arctic soils store approximately half of global soil C. We collected 10 (60 cm) soil cores each from graminoid- and shrub-dominated soils in western Greenland and determined soil texture, pH, C and N pools, and C:N ratios by depth for the mineral soil. To investigate the relative chemical stability of soil C between vegetation types, we employed a novel sequential extraction method for measuring organo-mineral C pools of increasing bond strength. We found that (i) mineral soil C and N storage was significantly greater under graminoids than shrubs (29.0 ± 1.8 versus 22.5 ± 3.0 kg·C·m−2 and 1.9 ± .12 versus 1.4 ± 1.9 kg·N·m−2), (ii) chemical mechanisms of C storage in the organo-mineral soil fraction did not differ between graminoid and shrub soils, and (iii) weak adsorption to mineral surfaces accounted for 40%–60% of C storage in organo-mineral fractions — a pool that is relatively sensitive to environmental disturbance. Differences in these C pools suggest that rates of C accumulation and retention differ by vegetation type, which could have implications for predicting future soil C pool storage.

Soil carbon sequestration with forest expansion in an arctic forest–tundra landscape

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1538-1542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Steltzer
Keyword(s):  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Picea Glauca ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Tree Age ◽  
Forest Expansion ◽  
Soil C ◽  
C Storage ◽  
C Pools ◽  
Sampling Locations

Soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools were measured under the canopy of 29 white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) trees and in the surrounding tundra 3 and 6 m away from each tree at three sites of recent forest expansion along the Agashashok River in northwestern Alaska. The aim was to characterize the potential for forest expansion to lead to increased soil C pools across diverse tundra types. Soil C beneath the trees correlated positively with tree age, suggesting that tree establishment has led to C storage in the soils under their canopy at a rate of 18.5 ± 4.6 g C·m–2·year–1. Soil C in the surrounding tundra did not differ from those under the trees and showed no relationship to tree age. This characterization of the soil C pools at the 3-m scale strengthens the assertion that the pattern associated with the trees is an effect of the trees, because tree age cannot explain variation among tundra sampling locations at this scale. Potential mechanisms by which these white spruce trees could increase soil C pools include greater production and lower litter quality.

Plant Species Richness Increased Belowground Plant Biomass and Substrate Nitrogen Removal in a Constructed Wetland

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 657-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Wang ◽  
Zheng-Xin Chen ◽  
Xiao-Yu Zhang ◽  
Si-Xi Zhu ◽  
Ying Ge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Nitrogen Removal ◽  
Constructed Wetland ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Belowground Plant Biomass

scholarly journals Microbial spatial footprint as a driver of soil carbon stabilization

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Kravchenko ◽  
A. K. Guber ◽  
B. S. Razavi ◽  
J. Koestel ◽  
M. Y. Quigley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Soil Disturbance ◽  
Soil C ◽  
C Storage ◽  
Enzyme Mapping ◽  
Soil C Storage ◽  
Micro Tomography ◽  
First Time ◽  
Soil Carbon Stabilization ◽  
Diverse Plant

AbstractIncreasing the potential of soil to store carbon (C) is an acknowledged and emphasized strategy for capturing atmospheric CO2. Well-recognized approaches for soil C accretion include reducing soil disturbance, increasing plant biomass inputs, and enhancing plant diversity. Yet experimental evidence often fails to support anticipated C gains, suggesting that our integrated understanding of soil C accretion remains insufficient. Here we use a unique combination of X-ray micro-tomography and micro-scale enzyme mapping to demonstrate for the first time that plant-stimulated soil pore formation appears to be a major, hitherto unrecognized, determinant of whether new C inputs are stored or lost to the atmosphere. Unlike monocultures, diverse plant communities favor the development of 30–150 µm pores. Such pores are the micro-environments associated with higher enzyme activities, and greater abundance of such pores translates into a greater spatial footprint that microorganisms make on the soil and consequently soil C storage capacity.

scholarly journals Promotion of ecosystem carbon sequestration by invasive predators

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 479-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A Wardle ◽  
Peter J Bellingham ◽  
Tadashi Fukami ◽  
Christa P.H Mulder
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Major Element ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Worldwide Distribution ◽  
C Storage ◽  
Ecosystem Carbon ◽  
Invasive Predators ◽  
Below Ground

Despite recent interest in understanding the effects of human-induced global change on carbon (C) storage in terrestrial ecosystems, most studies have overlooked the influence of a major element of global change, namely biological invasions. We quantified ecosystem C storage, both above- and below-ground, on each of 18 islands off the coast of New Zealand. Some islands support high densities of nesting seabirds, while others have been invaded by predatory rats and host few seabirds. Our results show that, by preying upon seabirds, rats have indirectly enhanced C sequestration in live plant biomass by 104%, reduced C sequestration in non-living pools by 26% and increased total ecosystem C storage by 37%. Given the current worldwide distribution of rats and other invasive predatory mammals, and the consequent disappearance of seabird colonies, these predators may be important determinants of ecosystem C sequestration.

scholarly journals Carbon input control over soil organic matter dynamics in a temperate grassland exposed to elevated CO<sub>2</sub> and warming

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1575-1602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Carrillo ◽  
E. Pendall ◽  
F. A. Dijkstra ◽  
J. A. Morgan ◽  
J. M. Newcomb
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Elevated Co2 ◽  
Combined Effects ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Soil C ◽  
C Storage ◽  
C Pools ◽  
Labile C ◽  
Semi Arid

Abstract. Elevated CO2 generally increases soil C pools. However, greater available C concentrations can potentially stimulate soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. The effects of climate warming on C storage can also be positive or negative. There is a high degree of uncertainty on the combined effects of climate warming and atmospheric CO2 increase on SOM dynamics and its potential feedbacks to climate change. Semi-arid systems are predicted to show strong ecosystem responses to both factors. Global change factors can have contrasting effects for different SOM pools, thus, to understand the mechanisms underlying the combined effects of multiple factors on soil C storage, effects on individual C pools and their kinetics should be evaluated. We assessed SOM dynamics by conducting long-term laboratory incubations of soils from PHACE (Prairie Heating and CO2 Enrichment experiment), an elevated CO2 and warming field experiment in semi-arid, native northern mixed grass prairie, Wyoming, USA. We measured total C mineralization and estimated the size of the labile pool and the decomposition rates of the labile and resistant SOM pools. To examine the role of plant inputs on SOM dynamics we measured aboveground biomass, root biomass, and soil dissolved organic C (DOC). Greater aboveground productivity under elevated CO2 translated into enlarged pools of readily available C (measured as total mineralized C, labile C pool and DOC). The effects of warming on the labile C only occurred in the first year of warming suggesting a transient effect of the microbial response to increased temperature. Experimental climate change affected the intrinsic decomposability of both the labile and resistant C pools. Positive relationships of the rate of decomposition of the resistant C with aboveground and belowground biomass and dissolved organic C suggested that plant inputs mediated the response by enhancing the degradability of the resistant C. Our results contribute to a growing body of literature suggesting that priming is a ubiquitous phenomenon that should be included in C cycle models.

scholarly journals Plant Diversity and Nitrogen Addition on Belowground Biodiversity and Soil Organic Carbon Storage in Biofuel Cropping Systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Butt
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Big Bluestem ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Soil C ◽  
C Storage ◽  
Bioenergy Cropping Systems

Bioenergy production may reduce the emission of CO2 which contributes to climate change, particularly when management strategies are adopted that promote soil carbon (C) sequestration in bioenergy cropping systems. Planting perennial native grasses, such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) may be used as a strategy to enhance soil C accumulation owing to their extensive root systems. Fertilizer use may further promote soil C sequestration, because of its positive impacts on plant production and soil C input. However, the influence of fertilizer addition on soil C accumulation is variable across bioenergy cropping systems, and fertilizer can negatively impact the environment. Increasing plant diversity may be used as a strategy to enhance soil C accumulation while augmenting other ecosystem properties such as soil biodiversity. The present study evaluates how inter- and intra- specific plant community diversity and N addition influence soil C storage and soil biodiversity. Soil was collected from a long-term (9 growing seasons) field experiment located at the Fermilab National Environmental Research Park in Illinois, USA. Treatments included [1] three cultivars of big bluestem and three cultivars of switchgrass cultivars grown in monoculture, [2] plant community diversity manipulated at both the species- and cultivar level, and [3] nitrogen (N) applied annually at two levels (0 and 67 kg ha-1). The soil at the site was dominated by C3 grasses for 30 years before replacement with C4 bioenergy grasses, which enabled quantification of plant-derived C accumulation owing to the natural difference in isotopic signature between C3 and C4 grasses. Soil samples were analyzed for [1] soil C and its δ13C isotopic signature, and [2] nematode and soil bacterial diversity. Our results indicate that both plant diversity and N addition influence soil community structure but not soil C storage or soil nematode biodiversity. However, the addition of big bluestem to the plant species mixes enhanced plant-derived C storage. In summary, our findings suggest that plant species identity can control soil C accumulation in the years following land conversion, and that manipulating plant community structure in bioenergy cropping systems may have a greater positive impact on soil C accumulation than N fertilization.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of grassland carbon pools to plant diversity, elevated CO2, and soil nitrogen addition over 19 years

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (17) ◽  
pp. e2016965118
Author(s):  
Melissa A. Pastore ◽  
Sarah E. Hobbie ◽  
Peter B. Reich
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Soil Nitrogen ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Nitrogen Addition ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Soil C ◽  
C Storage

Whether the terrestrial biosphere will continue to act as a net carbon (C) sink in the face of multiple global changes is questionable. A key uncertainty is whether increases in plant C fixation under elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) will translate into decades-long C storage and whether this depends on other concurrently changing factors. We investigated how manipulations of CO2, soil nitrogen (N) supply, and plant species richness influenced total ecosystem (plant + soil to 60 cm) C storage over 19 y in a free-air CO2 enrichment grassland experiment (BioCON) in Minnesota. On average, after 19 y of treatments, increasing species richness from 1 to 4, 9, or 16 enhanced total ecosystem C storage by 22 to 32%, whereas N addition of 4 g N m−2 ⋅ y−1 and elevated CO2 of +180 ppm had only modest effects (increasing C stores by less than 5%). While all treatments increased net primary productivity, only increasing species richness enhanced net primary productivity sufficiently to more than offset enhanced C losses and substantially increase ecosystem C pools. Effects of the three global change treatments were generally additive, and we did not observe any interactions between CO2 and N. Overall, our results call into question whether elevated CO2 will increase the soil C sink in grassland ecosystems, helping to slow climate change, and suggest that losses of biodiversity may influence C storage as much as or more than increasing CO2 or high rates of N deposition in perennial grassland systems.

Changes in carbon stocks of <i>Fagus</i> forest ecosystems along an altitudinal gradient on Mt. Fanjingshan in Southwest China

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiong Cai ◽  
Chengjun Ji ◽  
Xuli Zhou ◽  
Wenjing Fang ◽  
Tianli Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Altitudinal Gradient ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Beech Forest ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Soil C ◽  
C Storage ◽  
C Pools ◽  
And Function

Abstract. There are four components of carbon (C) pools in a natural forest ecosystem: vegetation, soil, litter and woody debris. Quantifying these C pools and their contributions to forest ecosystems is important in understanding C cycling in forests. Here, we investigated these four C pools in nine beech (Fagus L., Fagaceae) forests along an altitudinal gradient in southwest China. We found that the C pools of beech forest ecosystems ranged from 190.7 to 503.9 Mg C ha−1, mainly attributed to vegetation C (accounting for 33.7–73.9 %) and soil C (accounting for 24.6–65.4 %). No more than 4 % of ecosystem C pools were stored in woody debris (0.25–3.4 %) and litter (0.2–0.7 %). Ecosystem C storage increased significantly with altitude, where the vegetation and woody debris C pools increased concomitantly with increasing altitude, while those of litter and soil exhibited no significant variations. The forest stand age was found to be a key driver of such altitudinal patterns, especially for vegetation C storage. The present study provides reliable data for understanding the structure and function of Chinese beech forests, and emphasizes the importance of considering the influence of stand age on C accumulation.

Storage of Miscanthus-derived carbon in rhizomes, roots, and soil

2016 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bent T. Christensen ◽  
Poul Erik Lærke ◽  
Uffe Jørgensen ◽  
Tanka P. Kandel ◽  
Ingrid K. Thomsen
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Sandy Soils ◽  
Bioenergy Crops ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Annual Crops ◽  
C Storage ◽  
C Pools ◽  
Soil C Storage

Compared with annual crops, dedicated perennial bioenergy crops are ascribed additional benefits in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions; these benefits include increased carbon (C) storage in soil. We measured Miscanthus-derived C in rhizomes, roots, and 0–100 cm soil beneath three 16-yr-old stands established on sandy soils at two experimental sites in Denmark. Miscanthus C in soil was estimated from changes in the natural abundance of 13C. In the 0–20 cm depth, soil C derived from Miscanthus made up to 15–18% of the soil total C. In the 20–50 cm and 50–100 cm depth, Miscanthus C accounted for less than 7% and 5% of the soil total C, respectively. After 16 yr, the total quantity of Miscanthus C in 0–20 cm ranged from 11.9 to 18.2 Mg C ha−1, of which 23–34% was in rhizomes and roots, substantiating their crucial contribution to soil C storage. Future studies should prioritize the seasonal and annual dynamics of C stored in rhizomes and roots, and the fate of these C pools following termination of Miscanthus stands.

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