Effects of short-term warming and increasing precipitation on soil respiration of desert steppe of Inner Mongolia

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2012.01043

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Our objective was to examine the effects of global warming inducing environmental and biological changes on soil respiration of desert steppe.
Methods We used infrared heaters to carry out the interactive simulation of warming and increasing precipitation in a desert steppe of Inner Mongolia from June to September 2011. Our experimental design was set up with two temperature levels (control and warming) and three precipitation treatments (control, 15% and 30% increase of the average precipitation during 1987-2007), using a complete randomized block arrangement. Soil respiration rate was measured by a LI-8100 carbon flux system in these six different treatments. We analyzed the relationships between soil respiration and environmental factors, aboveground biomass, and belowground biomass at different soil layers (0-10, 10-20 and 0-20 cm).
Important findings Soil respiration in the desert steppe reached its peak value in the middle of the growing season. The average soil respiration rate of the desert steppe from July to August was 1.35 μmol CO₂·m ^-2·s ^-1. The soil respiration rate was 2.08 and 0.63 μmol CO₂·m ^-2·s ^-1 in July and August, respectively. Increasing soil moisture and temperature significantly influenced daily soil respiration, but their interaction had no significant effect on soil respiration. Soil moisture had greater impact on monthly soil respiration than soil temperature. Soil respiration rate showed a power function relationship with belowground biomass at different soil depths. The belowground biomass at 0-10 cm soil was the major part of the belowground biomass and could explain more variation of soil respiration rate (79.2%) than that at 10-20 cm (31.6%). Under the future climatic changes scenarios, soil moisture was a principal environmental factor affecting plant biomass, while belowground biomass was a major biological factor controlling soil respiration in the desert steppe. Soil moisture might control the heterogeneity of soil respiration by influencing the distribution of belowground biomass at different soil depths.

Key words: belowground biomass, desert steppe, precipitation, soil respiration, warming

LIU Tao, ZHANG Yong-Xian, XU Zhen-Zhu, ZHOU Guang-Sheng, HOU Yan-Hui, LIN Lin. Effects of short-term warming and increasing precipitation on soil respiration of desert steppe of Inner Mongolia[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2012, 36(10): 1043-1053.

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Figures/Tables 12

Table 1 Increased amount of water based on daily average precipitation in the past 30 years (1978-2007)

日期 Date	降水增幅15% Precipitation (+15%) (L)	降水增幅30% Precipitation (+30%) (L)
6月7日 7 June	5.20	10.30
6月14日 14 June	5.20	10.30
6月21日 21 June	5.20	10.30
6月28日 28 June	7.30	14.60
7月5日 5 July	8.90	17.80
7月12日 12 July	8.90	17.80
7月19日 19 July	8.90	17.80
7月26日 26 July	9.00	18.10
8月2日 2 August	9.80	19.50
8月9日 9 August	9.80	19.50
8月16日 16 August	9.80	19.50
8月23日 23 August	9.80	19.50

Fig. 1 Effects of warming on soil temperature and soil water content.

Fig. 2 Effects of warming on soil temperature and soil water content during daytime and night.

Table 2 Effects of warming on monthly soil respiration (t-test, p < 0.05)

时间 Time	增温处理 Warming treatment
时间 Time	对照样地土壤温度 Soil temperature in control spot (℃)	增温样地土壤温度 Soil temperature in warming spot (℃)	对照样地土壤呼吸 Soil respiration in control spot (μmol CO₂·m^?2·s^?1)	增温样地土壤呼吸 Soil respiration in warming spot (μmol CO₂·m^?2·s^?1)	t	p
7月 July	25.13	29.36	2.22	2.29	0.30	0.768
8月 August	26.22	30.79	0.80	0.94	?1.28	0.219

Table 3 Effects of warming on daily soil respiration (t-test, p < 0.05)

时间 Time		增温处理 Warming treatment
时间 Time		对照样地土壤温度 Soil temperature in control spot (℃)	增温样地土壤温度 Soil temperature in warming spot (℃)	对照样地土壤呼吸 Soil respiration in control spot (μmol CO₂·m^?2·s^?1)	增温样地土壤呼吸 Soil respiration in warming spot (μmol CO₂·m^?2·s^?1)	t	p
7月7日 7 July	6:00?12:00	13.96	17.33	3.05	2.31	1.47	0.170
	12:00?20:00	19.91	23.26	3.86	3.49	0.88	0.400
	20:00?6:00	15.76	18.85	1.12	0.96	2.20	0.045
8月10日 10 August	6:00?12:00	25.59	30.35	1.22	1.45	?1.07	0.305
	12:00?20:00	39.33	44.28	1.12	1.36	?1.82	0.089
	20:00?6:00	27.32	31.91	0.43	0.47	?0.63	0.538

Fig. 3 Effects of warming on daily soil respiration (mean ± SE). *, p < 0.05.

Fig. 4 Effects of precipitation on monthly soil respiration (mean ± SE). W0, nature precipitation (control); W15, precipitation +15%; W30, precipitation +30%. Different lowercases mean significant differences of soil respiration among different precipitation treatments within the same month (p < 0.05).

Fig. 5 Effects of precipitation on daily soil respiration (mean ± SE). W0, nature precipitation (control); W15, precipitation +15%; W30, precipitation +30%. Different lowercases mean significant differences of soil respiration among different precipitation treatments within the same time (p < 0.05).

Table 4 Effects of warming and precipitation interactive treatments on soil respiration in different time scales (p < 0.05)

时间 Time		增温 × 降水 Warming × precipitation
时间 Time		F	p
7月 July		0.018	0.982
8月 August		1.203	0.334
7月7日 7 July	6:00?12:00	0.321	0.732
	12:00?20:00	0.068	0.935
	20:00?6:00	0.447	0.649
8月10日 10 August	6:00?12:00	1.430	0.277
	12:00?20:00	2.214	0.152
	20:00?6:00	1.450	0.273

Fig. 6 Effects of warming and precipitation on vegetation coverage (mean ± SE). W0, nature precipitation (control); W15, precipitation +15%; W30, precipitation +30%. Different lowercases mean significant differences of vegetation coverage among different precipitation treatments within the same temperature treatment (p < 0.05). *, significant difference of vegetation coverage between warming and control temperature treatments within the same precipitation treatments (p < 0.05).

Fig. 7 Relationships between soil respiration and biomass. A, Belowground biomass in 0-10 cm soil layer. B, Belowground biomass in 10-20 cm soil layer. C, Belowground biomass in 0-20 cm soil layer. D, Aboveground biomass.

Fig. 8 Effects of precipitation on belowground biomass (mean ± SE). W0, nature precipitation (control); W15, precipitation +15%; W30, precipitation +30%. Different lowercases mean significant differences of belowground biomass among different precipitation treatments within the same soil depth (p < 0.05).

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