Abstract
Soil respiration (RS, Soil CO2 efflux) is the second largest carbon (C) flux in global terrestrial ecosystems, and thus, plays an important role in global and regional C cycling; moreover, it acts as a feedback mechanism between C cycling and global climate change. RS is highly responsive to temperature and moisture, factors that are closely related to climate warming and changes in precipitation regimes. Here, we examined the direct and interactive effects of climate change drivers on RS of Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc. seedlings in a multifactor climate change experiment involving atmospheric temperature warming (+3 °C) and precipitation manipulations (−30% and +30%). Our results indicated that atmospheric temperature warming induced significant changes in RS (p < 0.05), enhancing RS by an average of 54.6% and 59.7% in the control and elevated precipitation plots, respectively, whereas atmospheric temperature warming reduced RS by 19.4% in plots subjected to lower rates of precipitation. However, the warming effect on RS was influenced by soil moisture. On the basis of these findings, we suggest that atmospheric temperature warming significantly influenced RS, but the warming effect on RS may be weakened by warming-induced soil drying in water-limited environments.
Highlights
Mean air temperatures and precipitation regimes across regional and global scales have been altered as a result of global climate change, and are expected to continue to change, engendering and exacerbating regional drought conditions, especially in mid-latitude regions [1,2,3]
Our results indicated that there might be a warming effect/soil moisture threshold on RS, which suggested that the warming effect on RS would be influenced by soil moisture within this water-limited environment
The results of our study indicated that the direct and/or interactive effects of changes in air temperature and precipitation regimes would likely alter RS
Summary
Mean air temperatures and precipitation regimes across regional and global scales have been altered as a result of global climate change, and are expected to continue to change, engendering and exacerbating regional drought conditions, especially in mid-latitude regions [1,2,3]. These changes are likely to have significant impacts on soil respiration (RS , soil CO2 efflux), one of the largest fluxes in the global carbon (C) cycle [4]. These studies have revealed that not all ecosystems respond in a manner similar to these global climate change
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