Effects of grassland-use on soil respiration and litter decomposition

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2015.0023

Abstract

Abstract: Aims

Land use change affects ecosystem carbon dynamics by changing the plant community structure and soil micro-environment in grassland ecosystems. The aims of this study were to determine the effects of land use on soil respiration and litter decomposition in the temperate grasslands of Nei Mongol and to identify the effects of litter quantity, quality and decomposition on soil respiration during growing season.

Methods

We measured soil respiration during growing season in 2011 and 2012 under three land use types, i.e. grazing, mowing, and grazing exclusion, by using an automatic infrared gas analyzer (LI-8100) that was connected to a multiplexer system (LI-8150). Quadrat surveys and litter bags were utilized to measure litter production and decomposition. Several chemical indicators of litter quality were measured to calculate the litter decay rates. All data were analyzed with ANOVA and Pearson correlation procedures of SPSS.

Important findings

Soil respiration and litter decomposition differed greatly among the three land-use types. In the drought year, the total soil respiration at the grazing site was 1.5 times greater than at the mowing site and 1.29 times greater than at the grazing-exclusion site. However, in the wet year, the total soil respiration at the mowing site reached 309 g C∙m^-2∙a^-1 and was greater than at both the grazing site and the grazing-exclusion site. Precipitation increased soil respiration and litter decomposition, indicating that soil water availability was a primary constraint on plant growth and ecosystem C processes. Also, the responses of soil respiration and litter composition to rainfall differed among the land-use types. Further analysis showed that the litter C:N decreased and the litter N content and lignin:N increased after 2-years of decomposition. In addition, soil respiration was significantly correlated to litter production (r = 0.78, p < 0.01), decay rates, C:N (r = -0.84, p < 0.01), and lignin:N (r = 0.62, p < 0.05).

Key words: land-use type, soil respiration, litter decomposition, litter production, litter quality

WANG Yi-Hui,GONG Ji-Rui,LIU Min,HUANG Yong-Mei,YAN Xin,ZHANG Zi-Yu,XU Sha,LUO Qin-Pu. Effects of grassland-use on soil respiration and litter decomposition[J]. Chin J Plan Ecolo, 2015, 39(3): 239-248.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2015.0023

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2015/V39/I3/239

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Daily precipitation and air temperature in the study area during 2011-2012.

Table 1 Importance value of dominant species under three land use types (mean ± SE, n = 5)

优势种 Dominant species	放牧样地 Grazing site	割草样地 Mowing site	围封样地 Grazing- exclusion site
冷蒿 Artemisia frigida	0.06 ± 0.01	0.16 ± 0.07	0.11 ± 0.08
羊草 Leymus chinensis	0.22 ± 0.05	0.14 ± 0.04	0.08 ± 0.12
大针茅 Stipa grandis	0.15 ± 0.08	0.10 ± 0.02	0.07 ± 0.08

Table 2 Soil properties under three land use types (mean ± SE, n = 5)

样地 Site	pH	全氮 Total nitrogen (g·kg^-1)	全磷 Total phosphorus (g·kg^-1)	全硫 Total sulfur (g·kg^-1)	有机质 Organic matter (g·kg^-1)
放牧 Grazing	7.51 ± 0.17	1.50 ± 0.19	0.15 ± 0.01	0.11 ± 0.09	16.49 ± 3.73
割草 Mowing	6.91 ± 0.08	1.20 ± 0.05	0.37 ± 0.25	0.04 ± 0.00	21.30 ± 2.74
围封 Grazing-exclusion	7.78 ± 0.06	1.06 ± 0.06	0.12 ± 0.01	0.02 ± 0.01	15.36 ± 2.29

Fig. 2 Total soil respiration during the growing season under three grassland use types in 2011and 2012. The capital letters indicate the differences in total soil respiration in 2011 and the lowercase letters indicate the differences in total soil respiration in 2012.

Fig. 3 Litter production (A) and its relationship with total soil respiration (B) under three grassland use types in 2011 and 2012 (mean ± SE). The capital letters indicate the differences in litter production in 2011 and the lowercase letters indicate the differences in litter production in 2012.

Fig. 4 Litter N content (A), C:N ratio (B), and lignin:N ratio (C), and the liner regressions of total soil respiration with litter N content (D), C:N ratio (E), and lignin:N ratio (F) under three grassland-use types in 2011 and 2012 (mean ± SE). The capital letters indicate the differences in litter quality in 2011 and the lowercase letters indicate the differences in litter quality in 2012.

Fig. 5 Decomposition rate k (A), cellulose loss rate (B), and lignin loss rate (C), and the liner regressions of total soil respiration with decomposition rate k (D), cellulose loss rate (E) and lignin loss rate (F) under three grassland-use types in 2011 and 2012 (mean ± SE). The capital letters indicate the differences in the litter quality in 2011 and the lowercase letters indicate the differences in litter quality in 2012.

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