A. A. Larionova

Soil respiration and carbon balance of gray forest soils as affected by land use

Abstract Soil respiration was measured by closed chamber and gradient methods in soils under forest, sown meadow and crops. Annual total soil respiration determined with the closed chamber method ranged from 180 to 642 g CO2-C m–2 year–1 and from 145 to 382 g CO2-C m–2 year–1 determined with the CO2 profile method. Soil respiration increased in the order: cropland<sown meadow<forest. The C balance calculated as the difference between net primary production (sink) and respiration of heterotrophs (source) suggested an equilibrium between the input and output of C in the cropland, and sequestration of 135 and 387 g CO2-C m–2 year–1 in the forest and meadow, respectively.

Contribution of rhizomicrobial and root respiration to the CO2 emission from soil (A review)

Separate determination of root respiration and rhizomicrobial respiration is one of the most interesting, important, and methodologically complicated problems in the study of the carbon budget in soils and the subdivision of the CO2 emission from soils into separate fluxes. In this review, we compare the main principles, the advantages and disadvantages, and the results obtained by the methods of component integration, substrate-induced respiration, respiratory capacity, girdling, isotope dilution, model rhizodeposition, modeling of the 14CO2 efflux dynamics, exudates elution, and the δ13C measurements of the microbial biomass and CO2. Summarizing the results of the determinations performed by these methods, we argue that about 40% of the rhizosphere CO2 efflux is due to root respiration and about 60% of this efflux is due to the respiration of microorganisms decomposing root exudates.

Carbon balance in the soils of abandoned lands in Moscow region

A quantitative assessment of the carbon balance was performed in gray forest soils of the former agricultural lands abandoned in different time periods in the southern part of Moscow oblast. It was based on the field measurements of the total and heterotrophic soil respiration and the productivity of biocenoses. Geobotanical investigations demonstrated that the transformation of the species composition of herbs from weeds to predominantly meadow plants occurred in five–ten years after the soil was no more used for farming. The amount of carbon assimilated in the NPP changed from 97 g C/m2 year in the recently abandoned field to 1103 g C/m2 year in the 10-year-old fallow, and the total annual loss of carbon from the soil in the form of CO2 varied from 347 to 845 g C/m2 year. In five years, the former arable lands were transformed into meadow ecosystems that functioned as a stable sink of carbon in the phytomass and the soil organic matter.

Land-use change and management effects on carbon sequestration in soils of Russia’s South Taiga zone

The impact of land use change and management on soil C sequestration was investigated during the 1980s–1990s on gray forest soils in Pushchino, and on the soddy-podzolic soil in Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve, Moscow Region, Russia (54°50ʹN, 37°35ʹE). Mean annual rates of C sequestration after establishment of perennials (layer 0–60 cm) were 63–182 g C m−2 and 22–43 g C m−2 for gray forest and soddy-podzolic soils, respectively. Grassing resulted in higher soil C accumulation than afforestation. Cutting and application of NPK fertilisers increased soil C accumulation, but newly formed soil organic matter was less resistant to decomposition than in unfertilised soil. Preliminary calculations of C sequestration due to abandonment of arable land in Russia since the early 1990s suggest that total C accumulation in soil and the plant biomass could represent about one tenth of industrial CO2 emissions.

Contribution of plant root respiration to the CO2 emission from soil

The respiration activity of roots was studied in field experiments on gray forest and soddy-podzolic soils and under cropland and natural vegetation. It was shown that the contribution of roots to the CO2 emission from the soil surface depends significantly on the method of determination. The contributions of fine and coarse roots to the total root respiration were approximately similar in forest ecosystems. The use of the method of substrate-induced respiration made it possible to obtain the best estimates of the contributions of root respiration and respiration of microorganisms. The application of glucose in the form of a dry mixture with sand or talc instead of in the water-soluble form appeared to be the optimal procedure for determining the root respiration under field moisture conditions.

Carbon dioxide emissions from agrogray soils under climate changes

The effect of droughts and drying-wetting cycles on the respiration activity of agrogray soils was studied in field and laboratory experiments. The alternation of drought periods and rains during the vegetation season did not increase the annual emission of CO2 from the soils under a sown meadow and an agrocenosis. In laboratory experiments, the wetting of dried soil released 1–1.5% of Corg with a high decomposition constant n × 10−1 day−1 and a very short renewal time (2.1–2.4 days); therefore, an abrupt change in the wetting conditions did not intensify the loss of soil carbon under field conditions.

Experimental Assessment of the Contribution of Plant Root Respiration to the Emission of Carbon Dioxide from the Soil

The contributions of root and microbial respiration to the total emission of CO2 from the surface of gray forest and soddy-podzolic soils were compared under laboratory and field conditions for the purpose of optimizing the field version of the substrate-induced respiration method. The magnification coefficients of respiration upon the addition of saccharose (kmic) were first determined under conditions maximally similar to the natural conditions. For this purpose, soil cleared from roots was put into nylon nets with a mesh size of 40 μm to prevent the penetration of roots into the nets. The nets with soil were left in the field for 7–10 days for the compaction of soil and the stabilization of microbial activity under natural conditions. Then, the values of kmic were determined in the root-free soil under field conditions or in the laboratory at the same temperature and water content. The contribution of root respiration as determined by the laboratory version of the substrate-induced respiration method (7–36%) was lower compared to two field versions of the method (27–60%). Root respiration varied in the range of 24–60% of the total CO2 emission from the soil surface in meadow ecosystems and in the range of 7–56% in forest ecosystems depending on the method and soil type.

Identification of Labile and Stable Pools of Organic Matter in an Agrogray Soil

The intensity of decomposition of the organic matter in the particle-size fractions from a agrogray soil sampled in a 5-year-long field experiment on the decomposition of corn residues was determined in the course of incubation for a year. The corn residues were placed into the soil in amounts equivalent to the amounts of plant litter in the agrocenosis and in the meadow ecosystem. A combination of three methods—the particle-size fractionation, the method of 13C natural abundance by C3–C4 transition, and the method of incubation—made it possible to subdivide the soil organic matter into the labile and stable pools. The labile pool reached 32% in the soil of the agrocenosis and 42% in the meadow soil. Owing to the negative priming effect, the addition of C4 (young) carbon favored the stabilization of the C3 (old) carbon in the soil. When the young carbon was absent, destabilization or intense decomposition of the old organic matter was observed. This process was found even in the most stable fine silt and clay fractions.

Determination of root and microbial contributions to the CO2 emission from soil by the substrate-induced respiration method.

The contributions of root and microbial respiration to the CO2 emission from the surface of gray forest and soddy-podzolic soils under meadow and forest vegetation were determined in field and laboratory experiments. In the field, a new modification of the substrate-induced respiration (SIR) method was applied. According to this method, the contribution of root respiration was estimated at 41–50% for meadow cenoses and 33% for forest cenoses; similar values were obtained in the course of separate incubation of roots and soil in laboratory (42–57% and 29–32%, respectively) and with the use of the laboratory version of the SIR method (35–40% and 21–31%, respectively). The analysis of difference between the values of root respiration and microbial respiration obtained by the field and laboratory methods for the same experimental plots and the comparison of advantages and disadvantages of these methods made it possible to outline the ways for the further improvement of the field version of the SIR method.

Distribution of Stable Carbon Isotopes in an Agrochernozem during the Transition from C 3 Vegetation to a Corn Monoculture

The distribution of carbon in an agrochernozem’s profile was studied by the natural 13C abundance method during the C3-C4 vegetation transition and the analysis of the soil phytolith complex under a continuous corn monoculture. A young pool of soil organic matter (SOM) formed during 43 years of monoculture growing was detected by the isotope analysis in the 0-to 60-cm layer, while the analysis of the phytolith complex identified this pool deeper: corn phytoliths were detected in the 0- to 80-cm layer. The maximum size of the young pool was found in the upper soil horizon; it reached 6.4% of the SOM in the 0- to 20-cm layer. The apparent time of the SOM turnover was 635 and 2225 years in the 0- to 20- and 40- to 60-cm layers, respectively. The high values of the mean residence time were related to the low input of plant residues to the soil at the growing of corn for silage and the high initial content of organic carbon in the chernozem. The changes in the isotope composition after the decalcification of the soil to remove carbonates and the variation of the δ13C in the corn biomass during the vegetation period significantly affected the calculated value of the mean residence time.