Ben Wang

Impact of Environmental Factors and Biological Soil Crust Types on Soil Respiration in a Desert Ecosystem

The responses of soil respiration to environmental conditions have been studied extensively in various ecosystems. However, little is known about the impacts of temperature and moisture on soils respiration under biological soil crusts. In this study, CO2 efflux from biologically-crusted soils was measured continuously with an automated chamber system in Ningxia, northwest China, from June to October 2012. The highest soil respiration was observed in lichen-crusted soil (0.93±0.43 µmol m−2 s−1) and the lowest values in algae-crusted soil (0.73±0.31 µmol m−2 s−1). Over the diurnal scale, soil respiration was highest in the morning whereas soil temperature was highest in the midday, which resulted in diurnal hysteresis between the two variables. In addition, the lag time between soil respiration and soil temperature was negatively correlated with the soil volumetric water content and was reduced as soil water content increased. Over the seasonal scale, daily mean nighttime soil respiration was positively correlated with soil temperature when moisture exceeded 0.075 and 0.085 m3 m−3 in lichen- and moss-crusted soil, respectively. However, moisture did not affect on soil respiration in algae-crusted soil during the study period. Daily mean nighttime soil respiration normalized by soil temperature increased with water content in lichen- and moss-crusted soil. Our results indicated that different types of biological soil crusts could affect response of soil respiration to environmental factors. There is a need to consider the spatial distribution of different types of biological soil crusts and their relative contributions to the total C budgets at the ecosystem or landscape level.

Canopy photosynthesis modulates soil respiration in a temperate semi-arid shrubland at multiple timescales

AimsSoil respiration (Rs) plays an important role in the terrestrial carbon cycle, but how canopy photosynthesis and abiotic drivers interact to affect Rs is poorly understood. This study aimed at examining the degree of control gross ecosystem productivity (GEP), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and soil temperature (Ts) and water content (SWC) may have on Rs in a semi-arid shrub ecosystem.MethodsWe applied wavelet analysis and non-parametric spectral Granger-causality to a multi-year dataset.ResultsWavelet coherence revealed synchronized diel cycles in photosynthesis proxies (GEP and PAR) and Rs. The spectral Granger-causality analysis suggested a possible causal linkage between GEP and Rs at the diel scale during the growing season. Significant wavelet coherence was also observed between GEP and Rs at seasonal to annual scales (200–365-day periods), with Rs lagging GEP by an average of two days. Fluctuations in SWC showed non-continuous temporal covariance with Rs over 4–64-day periods. Apart from direct moisture effects on decomposition processes, SWC also seemed to regulate Rs indirectly by affecting canopy carbon assimilation.ConclusionOur findings indicate that photosynthesis may modulate Rs at multiple timescales in semi-arid shrub ecosystems. Future studies should combine field manipulations with spectral analysis for a mechanistic understanding of the coupling between photosynthesis and Rs.