Journal of Ecology and Environment

The Ecological Society of Korea (한국생태학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Effect of rainfall events on soil carbon flux in mountain pastures

  • Jeong, Seok-Hee (Department of Biological Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Eom, Ji-Young (Department of Biological Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Lee, Jae-ho (Division of Ecosystem Service & Research Planning, National Institute of Ecology) ;
  • Lee, Jae-Seok (Department of Biological Science, Konkuk University)
  • Received : 2017.06.22
  • Accepted : 2017.10.27
  • Published : 2017.11.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Background: Large-scale land-use change is being caused by various socioeconomic problems. Land-use change is necessarily accompanied by changes in the regional carbon balance in terrestrial ecosystems and affects climate change. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the correlation between environmental factors altered by land-use change and the carbon balance. To address this issue, we studied the characteristics of soil carbon flux and soil moisture content related to rainfall events in mountain pastures converted from deciduous forest in Korea. Results: The average soil moisture contents (SMC) during the study period were 23.1% in the soil respiration (SR) plot and 25.2% in the heterotrophic respiration (HR) plot. The average SMC was increased to 2.1 and 1.1% in the SR and HR plots after rainfall events, respectively. In addition, saturated water content was 29.36% in this grassland. The soil water content was saturated under the consistent rainfall of more than $5mm\;h^{-1}$ rather than short-term heavy rainfall event. The average SR was increased to 28.4% after a rainfall event, but the average HR was decreased to 70. 1%. The correlation between soil carbon flux rates and rainfall was lower than other environmental factors. The correlation between SMC and soil carbon flux rates was low. However, HR exhibited a tendency to be decreased when SMC was 24.5%. In addition, the correlation between soil temperature and respiration rate was significant. Conclusions: In a mountain pasture ecosystem, rainfall induced the important change of soil moisture content related to respiration in soil. SR and HR were very sensitive to change of SMC in soil surface layer about 0-10-cm depth. SR was increased by elevation of SMC due to a rainfall event, and the result was assumed from maintaining moderate soil moisture content for respiration in microorganism and plant root. However, HR was decreased in long-time saturated condition of soil moisture content. Root has obviously contributed to high respiration in heavy rainfall, but it was affected to quick depression in respiration under low rainfall. The difference of SMC due to rainfall event was causative of a highly fluctuated soil respiration rate in the same soil temperature condition. Therefore, rainfall factor or SMC are to be considered in predicting the soil carbon flux of grassland ecosystems for future climate change.

Keywords

References

  1. Birch, H. F. (1958). The effect of soil drying on humus decomposition and nitrogen availability. Plant and Soil, 10, 9-31. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01343734
  2. Bottner, P. (1985). Response of microbial biomass to alternate moist and dry conditions in a soil incubated with 14 C-and 15 N-labelled plant material. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 17, 329-337. https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(85)90070-7
  3. Chen, H., Shao, M., & Li, Y. (2008). The characteristics of soil water cycle and water balance on steep grassland under natural and simulated rainfall conditions in the Loess Plateau of China. Journal of Hydrology, 360, 242-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.07.037
  4. Climatological Normals of Korea. (2011). Korea Meteorological Administration. Seoul: Climatological Normals of Korea.
  5. Cole, C. V., Burke, I. C., Parton, W. J., Schimel, D. S., Ojima, D. S., & Stewart, J. W. B. (1989). Analysis of historical changes in soil fertility and organic matter levels of the North American Great Plains. In Proceedings/the International Conference on Dryland Farming (pp. 436-438).
  6. Davidson, E., Belk, E., & Boone, R. D. (1998). Soil water content and temperature as independent or confounded factors controlling soil respiration in a temperate mixed hardwood forest. Global Change Biology, 4, 217-227. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.1998.00128.x
  7. Dixon, R., Brown, S., Houghton, R. E. A., Solomon, A. M., Trexler, M. C., & Wisniewski, J. (1994). Carbon pools and flux of global forest ecosystems. Science (Washington), 4263, 185-189.
  8. Eswaran, H., Van Den Berg, E., & Reich, P. (1993). Organic carbon in soils of the world. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 57, 192-194. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1993.03615995005700010034x
  9. Fay, P. A., Carlisle, J. D., Knapp, A. K., Blair, J. M., & Collins, S. L. (2003). Productivity responses to altered rainfall patterns in a C4-dominated grassland. Oecologia, 137, 245-251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-003-1331-3
  10. Foley, J. A., DeFries, R., Asner, G. P., Barford, C., Bonan, G., Carpenter, S. R., Chapin, F. S., Coe, M. T., Daily, G. C., Gibbs, H. K., Helkowski, J. H., Holloway, T., Howard, E. A., Kucharik, C. J., Monfreda, C., Patz, J., Prentice, I. C., Ramankutty, N., & Snyder, P. K. (2005). Global consequences of land use. Science, 309, 570-574. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1111772
  11. Glinski, J., & Stępniewski, W. (1985). Soil aeration and its role for plants. Soil aeration and its role for plants. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. Inc.
  12. Goldewijk, K. K. (2001). Estimating global land use change over the past 300 years: the HYDE database. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 15, 417-433. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GB001232
  13. Haas, H. J., Evans, C. E., & Miles, E. F. (1957). Nitrogen and carbon changes in Great Plains soils as influenced by cropping and soil treatments. In Technical bulletin (p. 1164). Washington, D.C, WC: US Department of Agriculture.
  14. Han, S. Y., & Kim, D. J. (1993). Studies on the rotation system to forage crop cultivation at the alpine area. Journal of the Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science, 13, 300-304.
  15. Hanson, P. J., Edwards, N. T., Garten, C. T., & Andrews, J. A. (2000). Separating root and soil microbial contributions to soil respiration: a review of methods and observations. Biogeochemistry, 48, 115-146. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006244819642
  16. Houghton, R. A. (1999). The annual net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use 1850-1990. Tellus B, 51, 298-313. https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v51i2.16288
  17. Huang, B., & Nobel, P. S. (1993). Hydraulic conductivity and anatomy along lateral roots of cacti: changes with soil water status. New Phytologist, 123, 499-507. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.1993.tb03762.x
  18. Hungate, B. A., Holland, E. A., Jackson, R. B., Chapin, F. S., Mooney, H. A., & Field, C. B. (1997). The fate of carbon in grasslands under carbon dioxide enrichment. Nature, 388, 576-579. https://doi.org/10.1038/41550
  19. Huxman, T. E., Snyder, K. A., Tissue, D., Leffler, A. J., Ogle, K., Pockman, W. T., Sandquist, D. R., Potts, D. L., & Schwinning, S. (2004). Precipitation pulses and carbon fluxes in semiarid and arid ecosystems. Oecologia, 141, 254-268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1682-4
  20. Lambin, E. F., & Meyfroidt, P. (2011). Global land use change, economic globalization, and the looming land scarcity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108, 3465-3472. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1100480108
  21. Lauenroth, W. K., & Bradford, J. B. (2009). Ecohydrology of dry regions of the United States: precipitation pulses and intraseasonal drought. Ecohydrology, 2, 173-181. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.53
  22. Lee, X., Wu, H. J., Sigler, J., Oishi, C., & Siccama, T. (2004). Rapid and transient response of soil respiration to rain. Global Change Biology, 10, 1017-1026. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2003.00787.x
  23. Liu, X., Wan, S., Su, B., Hui, D., & Luo, Y. (2002). Response of soil $CO_2$ efflux to water manipulation in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Plant and Soil, 240, 213-223. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015744126533
  24. Meyer, W. B., & Turner II, B. L. (1994). Changes in land use and land cover: a global perspective (Vol. 4). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  25. Musselman, R. C., & Fox, D. G. (1991). A review of the role of temperate forests in the global $CO_2$ balance. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 41, 798-807. https://doi.org/10.1080/10473289.1991.10466876
  26. Noh, T. H., Han, B. H., Kim, J. Y., Lee, M. Y., & Yoo, K. J. (2013). Actual vegetation and structure of plant community in Daegwallyeong ranch, Gangwon-do (province). Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology, 27, 579-591. https://doi.org/10.13047/KJEE.2013.27.5.579
  27. Nosberger, J., Blum, H., & Fuhrer, J. (2000). In H. F. Hodges (Ed.), Crop ecosystem responses to climatic change: productive grasslands. Climate change and global crop productivity (pp. 271-291). Wallingford: CAB International.
  28. Ohashi, M., Gyokusen, K., & Saito, A. (2000). Contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration in a Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria Japonica D. Don) artificial forest. Ecological Research, 15, 323-333. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1703.2000.00351.x
  29. Parton, W. J., Schimel, D. S., Cole, C. V., & Ojima, D. S. (1987). Analysis of factors controlling soil organic matter levels in Great Plains grasslands. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 51, 1173-1179. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1987.03615995005100050015x
  30. Raich, J. W., & Schlesinger, W. H. (1992). The global carbon dioxide flux in soil respiration and its relationship to vegetation and climate. Tellus B, 44, 81-99. https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v44i2.15428
  31. Sala, O. E., & Lauenroth, W. K. (1982). Small rainfall events: an ecological role in semiarid regions. Oecologia, 53, 301-304. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00389004
  32. Scurlock, J. M. O., & Hal, D. O. (1998). The global carbon sink: a grassland perspective. Global Change Biology, 4, 229-233. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.1998.00151.x
  33. Skopp, J., Jawson, M. D., & Doran, J. W. (1990). Steady-state aerobic microbial activity as a function of soil water content. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 54, 1619-1625. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1990.03615995005400060018x
  34. Sponseller, R. A. (2007). Precipitation pulses and soil $CO_2$ flux in a Sonoran Desert ecosystem. Global Change Biology, 13, 426-436. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01307.x
  35. Stark, J. M., & Firestone, M. K. (1995). Mechanisms for soil moisture effects on activity of nitrifying bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 61, 218-221.
  36. Steenwerth, K. L., Jackson, L. E., Calderon, F. J., Scow, K. M., & Rolston, D. E. (2005). Response of microbial community composition and activity in agricultural and grassland soils after a simulated rainfall. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 37, 2249-2262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2005.02.038
  37. Suh, S. U., Chun, Y. M., Chae, N. Y., Kim, J., Lim, J. H., Yokozawa, M., Lee, M. S., & LEE, J. S. (2006). A chamber system with automatic opening and closing for continuously measuring soil respiration based on an open-flow dynamic method. Ecological Research, 21, 405-414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-005-0137-7
  38. Suseela, V., Conant, R. T., Wallenstein, M. D., & Dukes, J. S. (2012). Effects of soil moisture on the temperature sensitivity of heterotrophic respiration vary seasonally in an old-field climate change experiment. Global Change Biology, 18, 336-348. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02516.x
  39. Tamai, K. (2010). Effects of environmental factors and soil properties on topographic variations of soil respiration. Biogeosciences, 7, 1133-1142. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-1133-2010
  40. Trumbore, S. (2000). Age of soil organic matter and soil respiration: radiocarbon constraints on belowground C dynamics. Ecological Applications, 10, 399-411. https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[0399:AOSOMA]2.0.CO;2
  41. White, R. P., Murray, S., Rohweder, M., Prince, S. D., & Thompson, K. M. (2000). Grassland ecosystems (p. 81). Washington DC: World Resources Institute.
  42. Xu, Z., Tang, S., Xiong, L., Yang, W., Yin, H., Tu, L., Wu, F., Chen, L., & Tan, B. (2015). Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration in China's forest ecosystems: patterns and controls. Applied Soil Ecology, 93, 105-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2015.04.008
  43. Yiqi, L., & Zhou, X. (2010). Soil respiration and the environment. San diego: Academic press.

Cited by

  1. Relationship of root biomass and soil respiration in a stand of deciduous broadleaved trees-a case study in a maple tree vol.42, pp.4, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41610-018-0078-z
  2. Effect of micro-environment in ridge and southern slope on soil respiration in Quercus mongolica forest vol.42, pp.4, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41610-018-0087-y
  3. Comparison of automatic and manual chamber methods for measuring soil respiration in a temperate broad-leaved forest vol.42, pp.4, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41610-018-0093-0
  4. Effect of precipitation on soil respiration in a temperate broad-leaved forest vol.42, pp.6, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41610-018-0071-6
  5. SCFSen : A Sensor Node for Regional Soil Carbon Flux Monitoring vol.18, pp.11, 2017, https://doi.org/10.3390/s18113986