Chin J Plan Ecolo ›› 2015, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (9): 849-856.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2015.0081

Special Issue: 碳水能量通量

• Orginal Article •     Next Articles

Soil respiration and the 20-year change in three temperate forests in Mt. Dongling, Beijing

YAO Hui, HU Xue-Yang, ZHU Jiang-Ling, ZHU Jian-Xiao, JI Cheng-Jun, FANG Jing-Yun*()   

  1. Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • Received:2015-06-03 Accepted:2015-06-20 Online:2015-09-03 Published:2015-09-23
  • Contact: Jing-Yun FANG
  • About author:

    # Co-first authors

Abstract: <i>Aims</i>

Our objective was to explore changes in soil respiration of three temperate forests in Mt. Dongling, Beijing over the last 20 years from the year of 1994-1995 to 2012-2015.

<i>Methods</i>

We re-investigated the permanent plots of three temperate forests (Betula platyphylla forest, Quercus wutaishanica forest and Pinus tabuliformis forest) which were established in 1992. We measured soil respiration for 3 years (2012-2015) using a LI-8100 Soil Respiration System. Continuous soil temperatures at 5 cm depth were measured at the same time. Annual soil respiration was accumulated using a relationship between soil respiration and soil temperature .

<i>Important findings</i>

We found that soil respiration rates were significantly correlated with soil temperature at 5 cm depth and that these correlations differed remarkably among the three forests. Annual soil respiration in B. platyphylla forest was highest, with a 3-year average of (574 ± 21) g C·m-2, followed by Q. wutaishanica forest ((455 ± 31) g C·m-2) and P. tabuliformis forest ((414 ± 35) g C·m-2). In the past 20 years, annual soil respiration in all these forests increased significantly: compared to 1994-1995, the average in 2012-2015 increased by 85%, 17% and 73% for B. platyphylla, Q. wutaishanica, and P. tabuliformis forests, respectively.

Key words: soil respiration, soil temperature at 5 cm depth, temperature sensitivity (Q10), annual flux, temperate forest