Effect of dry-wet cycles on carbon dioxide release from two different volcanic ash soils in a Japanese temperate forest

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the present study, two volcanic ash soils (soil A and B) from a temperate broad-leaved forest in eastern Japan were aerobically incubated under repeated dry-wet cycles and continuously constant moisture conditions. The primary aims were to quantify the potential for enhancement of carbon dioxide (CO2) release owing to increased water fluctuation and to examine differences in the responses of volcanic ash soils with different physicochemical properties. Soil B, rather than soil A, was a typical Andosol. During incubation at 20°C for 120 days with five dry-wet cycles, the CO2 release rate was measured periodically. Abundance of the stable carbon isotope in CO2 (δ13C-CO2) was measured to capture changes in the origin of decomposed soil organic matter (SOM) owing to the dry-wet cycles. The CO2 release rate under the dry-wet cycles was up to 49% higher than the values predicted from a parabolic relationship between CO2 release and water content during incubation under the continuously constant moisture condition. The magnitude of CO2 release enhancement was 2.7-fold higher in soil B relative to that in soil A. The δ13C-CO2 value in the dry-wet cycles was enriched by 0.3–2.3‰ compared to that during incubation under the continuously constant moisture conditions, suggesting that the decomposition of well-metabolized and/or old SOM was enhanced by the dry-wet cycles. Thus, the present study suggests that Andosols, which have been believed to have a strong SOM stabilization ability, are vulnerable to dry-wet cycles. Then, increased water fluctuation in a future warmer world would have significant potential to stimulate CO2 release from soils.