Review of response mechanism of soil respiration to rainfall

doi:10.3773/j.issn.1005-264x.2010.05.014

Abstract

Abstract:

Soil respiration is an important issue in research on regional carbon budget and global change. Rainfall, which acts as an important disturbance to soil respiration, leads to large uncertainties in estimating carbon exchange between soil and the atmosphere, especially in arid and semiarid regions. Although significant progress on the response of soil respiration to rainfall has been made, considerable controversies on its mechanism still exist. There are two different mechanisms to interpret the “Birch effect”, which is characterized by a strong soil CO₂ emission soon after a rainfall event: “the substrate supply change mechanism” and “microbial stress mechanism”. We review progress in the study of the response of soil respiration to rainfall and summarize the responses of different components of soil respiration to the changes induced by rainfall, including physical replacement and blockage, substrate supply change, activity change of root system and microbes and changes in the structure and function of the microbial community. We also point out four important aspects to be considered in the future: 1) evaluating the function of “substrate supply change mechanism” and “microbial stress mechanism” to the “Birch effect”, 2) quantifying the response of soil respiration to rainfall based on different components, 3) modeling and estimating the response of soil respiration to rainfall on different temporal and spatial scales, and 4) evaluating the possible effects of N and H⁺ from rainfall on soil respiration.

Key words: alternation of dry and wet, Birch effect, carbon cycle, precipitation pattern, soil CO₂ efflux

WANG Yi-Dong, WANG Hui-Min, MA Ze-Qing, LI Qing-Kang, SHI Lei-Lei, XU Fei. Review of response mechanism of soil respiration to rainfall[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2010, 34(5): 601-610.

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