Decreased carbon limitation of litter respiration in a mortality-affected piñon-juniper woodland

Abstract. Microbial respiration depends on microclimatic variables and carbon (C) substrate availability, all of which are altered when ecosystems experience major disturbance. Widespread tree mortality, currently affecting piñon-juniper ecosystems in Southwestern North America, may affect C substrate availability in several ways; for example, via litterfall pulses and loss of root exudation. To determine piñon mortality effects on C and water limitation of microbial respiration, we applied field amendments (sucrose and water) to two piñon-juniper sites in central New Mexico, USA: one with a recent (< 1 yr), experimentally-induced mortality event and a nearby site with live canopy. We monitored the respiration response to water and sucrose applications to the litter surface and to the underlying mineral soil surface, testing the following hypotheses: (1) soil respiration in a piñon-juniper woodland is water- and labile C-limited in both the litter layer and mineral soil; (2) water and sucrose applications increase temperature sensitivity of respiration; (3) the mortality-affected site will show a reduction in C limitation in the litter; (4) the mortality-affected site will show an enhancement of C limitation in the mineral soil. Litter respiration at both sites responded to increased water availability, yet surprisingly, mineral soil respiration was not limited by water. Temperature sensitivity was enhanced by some of the sucrose and water treatments. Consistent with hypothesis 3, C limitation of litter respiration was lower at the recent mortality site compared to the intact canopy site. Results following applications to the mineral soil suggest the presence of abiotic effects of increasing water availability, precluding our ability to measure labile C limitation in soil. Widespread piñon mortality may decrease labile C limitation of litter respiration, at least during the first growing season following mortality.

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Decreased carbon limitation of litter respiration in a mortality-affected piñon–juniper woodland

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-10-1625-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 1625-1634 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

E. Berryman ◽

J. D. Marshall ◽

T. Rahn ◽

M. Litvak ◽

J. Butnor

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Microbial Respiration ◽

Root Exudation ◽

Mineral Soil ◽

Carbon Limitation ◽

Substrate Availability ◽

Litter Respiration ◽

Labile C ◽

Juniper Woodland ◽

C Limitation

Abstract. Microbial respiration depends on microclimatic variables and carbon (C) substrate availability, all of which are altered when ecosystems experience major disturbance. Widespread tree mortality, currently affecting piñon–juniper ecosystems in southwestern North America, may affect C substrate availability in several ways, for example, via litterfall pulses and loss of root exudation. To determine piñon mortality effects on C and water limitation of microbial respiration, we applied field amendments (sucrose and water) to two piñon–juniper sites in central New Mexico, USA: one with a recent (< 1 yr), experimentally induced mortality event and a nearby site with live canopy. We monitored the respiration response to water and sucrose applications to the litter surface and to the underlying mineral soil surface, testing the following hypotheses: (1) soil respiration in a piñon–juniper woodland is water- and labile C-limited in both the litter layer and mineral soil; (2) piñon mortality reduces the C limitation of litter respiration; and (3) piñon mortality enhances the C limitation of mineral soil respiration. Litter respiration at both sites responded to increased water availability, yet surprisingly, mineral soil respiration was not limited by water. Consistent with hypothesis 2, C limitation of litter respiration was lower at the recent mortality site compared to the intact canopy site. Applications to the mineral soil showed evidence of reduction in CO2 flux on the girdled site and a non-significant increase on the control. We speculate that the reduction may have been driven by water-induced carbonate dissolution, which serves as a sink for CO2 and would reduce the net flux. Widespread piñon mortality may decrease labile C limitation of litter respiration, at least during the first growing season following mortality.

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Influence of Long-Term Thinning on the Biomass Carbon and Soil Respiration in a Larch (Larix gmelinii) Forest in Northeastern China

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1155/2013/865645 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Huimei Wang ◽

Wei Liu ◽

Wenjie Wang ◽

Yuangang Zu

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

Mineral Soil ◽

Biomass Accumulation ◽

Northeastern China ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

Litter Respiration ◽

Few Data

Thinning management is used to improve timber production, but only a few data are available on how it influences ecosystem C sink capacity. This study aims to clarify the effects of thinning on C sinks of larch plantations, the most widespread forests in Northeastern China. Both C influx from biomass production and C efflux from each soil respiration component and its temperature sensitivity were determined for scaling-up ecosystem C sink estimation: microbial composition is measured for clarifying mechanism for respiratory changes from thinning treatment. Thinning management induced 6.23 mol C m−2 yr−1increase in biomass C, while the decrease in heterotrophic respiration (Rh) at the thinned sites (0.9 mol C m−2 yr−1) has enhanced 14% of this biomass C increase. This decrease inRhwas a sum of the 42% decrease (4.1 mol C m−2 yr−1) in litter respiration and 3.2 mol C m−2 yr−1more CO2efflux from mineral soil in thinned sites compared with unthinned control. Increases in temperature, temperature sensitivity, alteration of litters, and microbial composition may be responsible for the contrary changes inRhfrom mineral soil and litter respiration, respectively. These findings manifested that thinning management of larch plantations could enhance biomass accumulation and decrease respiratory efflux from soil, which resulted in the effectiveness improvement in sequestrating C in forest ecosystems.

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Temperature sensitivity of soil microbial respiration in soils with lower substrate availability is enhanced more by labile carbon input

Soil Biology and Biochemistry ◽

10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108148 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 154 ◽

pp. 108148

Author(s):

Yuan Liu ◽

Li Xu ◽

Shuai Zheng ◽

Zhi Chen ◽

Yingqiu Cao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Microbial Respiration ◽

Substrate Availability ◽

Labile Carbon ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Soil Microbial Respiration

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Combined application of biochar and N increased temperature sensitivity of soil respiration but still decreased the soil CO2 emissions in moso bamboo plantations

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139003 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 730 ◽

pp. 139003

Author(s):

Xiaogai Ge ◽

Yonghui Cao ◽

Benzhi Zhou ◽

Wenfa Xiao ◽

Xiaokun Tian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Co2 Emissions ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Moso Bamboo ◽

Soil Co2 ◽

Combined Application ◽

Increased Temperature ◽

Soil Co2 Emissions

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Simulated acid rain offset a warming-induced increase in soil respiration but did not impact the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration in a cropland

Applied Soil Ecology ◽

10.1016/j.apsoil.2021.103936 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 164 ◽

pp. 103936

Author(s):

Shutao Chen ◽

Xu Zhang ◽

Lin Sang ◽

Lu Sun ◽

Jing Wu

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Acid Rain ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Simulated Acid Rain

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How do soil microbes exert impact on soil respiration and its temperature sensitivity?

Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1111/1462-2920.15520 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Di Tong ◽

Zhongwu Li ◽

Haibing Xiao ◽

Xiaodong Nie ◽

Chun Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Soil Microbes

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Historical climate controls soil respiration responses to current soil moisture

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1620811114 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 114 (24) ◽

pp. 6322-6327 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

Christine V. Hawkes ◽

Bonnie G. Waring ◽

Jennifer D. Rocca ◽

Stephanie N. Kivlin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Respiration ◽

Carbon Cycling ◽

Large Scale ◽

Microbial Respiration ◽

Rainfall Gradient ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Historical Climate ◽

Moisture Dependence

Ecosystem carbon losses from soil microbial respiration are a key component of global carbon cycling, resulting in the transfer of 40–70 Pg carbon from soil to the atmosphere each year. Because these microbial processes can feed back to climate change, understanding respiration responses to environmental factors is necessary for improved projections. We focus on respiration responses to soil moisture, which remain unresolved in ecosystem models. A common assumption of large-scale models is that soil microorganisms respond to moisture in the same way, regardless of location or climate. Here, we show that soil respiration is constrained by historical climate. We find that historical rainfall controls both the moisture dependence and sensitivity of respiration. Moisture sensitivity, defined as the slope of respiration vs. moisture, increased fourfold across a 480-mm rainfall gradient, resulting in twofold greater carbon loss on average in historically wetter soils compared with historically drier soils. The respiration–moisture relationship was resistant to environmental change in field common gardens and field rainfall manipulations, supporting a persistent effect of historical climate on microbial respiration. Based on these results, predicting future carbon cycling with climate change will require an understanding of the spatial variation and temporal lags in microbial responses created by historical rainfall.

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Vegetation Types Alter Soil Respiration and Its Temperature Sensitivity at the Field Scale in an Estuary Wetland

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0091182 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. e91182 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Guangxuan Han ◽

Qinghui Xing ◽

Yiqi Luo ◽

Rashad Rafique ◽

Junbao Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Respiration ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Vegetation Types ◽

Field Scale

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Significance of soil respiration from biological activity in the degradation processes of different types of organic matter

10.37281/drcsf/1.2.10 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 171-179

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Organic Matter ◽

Soil Moisture ◽

Soil Respiration ◽

Soil Temperature ◽

Temperature Sensitivity ◽

Soil Co2 Efflux ◽

Co2 Efflux ◽

Soil Co2 ◽

Total Soil

Soil respiration is a major component of global carbon cycle. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the environmental controls on soil respiration for evaluating potential response of ecosystems to climate change. In a temperate deciduous forest (located in Northern-Hungary) we added or removed aboveground and belowground litter to determine total soil respiration. We investigated the relationship between total soil CO2 efflux, soil moisture, and soil temperature. Soil CO2 efflux was measured at each plot using soda-lime method. Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (Q10) was monitored via measuring soil temperature on an hourly basis, while soil moisture was determined monthly. Soil respiration increased in control plots from the second year after implementing the treatment, but results showed fluctuations from one year to another. The effect of doubled litter was less significant than the effect of removal. Removed litter and root inputs caused substantial decrease in soil respiration. We found that temperature was more influential in the control of soil respiration than soil moisture. In plots with no litter Q10 varied in the largest interval. For treatment with doubled litter layer, temperature sensitivity of CO2 efflux did not change considerably. The effect of increasing soil temperature is more conspicuous to soil respiration in litter removal treatments since lack of litter causes greater irradiation. When exclusively leaf litter was considered, the effect of temperature on soil respiration was lower in treatments with added litter than with removed litter. Our results reveal that soil life is impacted by the absence of organic matter, rather than by an excess of organic matter. Results of CO2 emission from soils with different organic matter content can contribute to sustainable land use, considering the changed climatic factors caused by global climate change.

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