SCIENCE@home

Soil respiration and carbon pools across a range of spruce stand ages, Eastern Tibetan Plateau

Qing Liu,Chunzhang Zhao,Xinying Cheng,H. Yin

Published 2015 in Soil Science and Plant Nutrition

ABSTRACT

Abstract To understand the effects of reforestation on soil carbon (C) dynamics, we measured soil carbon dioxide (CO2) effluxes and soil C pools in dragon spruce (Picea asperata Mast.) stands of various ages (22-, 47- and 68-year-old dragon spruce plantations, and a 150-year-old primeval coniferous forest) in the eastern Tibet Plateau. The soil respiration rate of all the stands increased from March, followed by a peak in late July to August with temporal fluctuations, and then dramatically declined in September. The annual total soil CO2 effluxes (Rtot), soil heterotrophic CO2 effluxes (Rh), and soil autotrophic CO2 effluxes (Ra) were higher in the 22- (1004, 656 and 348 g C m−2 year−1, respectively) and 150-year-old stands (1070, 712 and 358 g C m−2 year−1, respectively), and lower in the 47- (792, 543 and 249 g C m−2 year−1, respectively) and 68-year-old stands (952, 607 and 345 g C m−2 year−1, respectively). The soil total organic carbon (TOC), easily oxidizable organic C (EOC), microbial biomass C (MBC), and particulate organic C (POC) pools at depths ranging from 0 cm to 30 cm decreased within 68 years after tree planting. The TOC and its different components in the 0 cm to 10 cm soil layer were significantly and positively related with Rh and Rtot (p < 0.01). The TOC contents (0 cm to 10 cm soil layer) in the primary forest (77.6 g kg−1) were about 1.87, 2.51 and 3.14 times higher than those in the 22-, 47- and 68-year-old plantations, respectively. Our results indicated soil respiration and soil C contents firstly decreased but then increased with stand age, and 68 years of reforestation has caused substantial depletion of soil CO2 effluxes and carbon pools.

PUBLICATION RECORD

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-45 of 45 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY

Showing 1-11 of 11 citing papers · Page 1 of 1