Abstract
Ecosystem respiration (Reco) and its components, the autotrophic respiration (Ra) and soil respiration (Rs) are the essential indicators of the global carbon cycle. They are represented as functions of either temperature or soil moisture, or a combination of both in the widely-used Earth System Models (ESMs). Thus, it is difficult to evaluate the influence of other environmental factors (such as, precipitation, soil temperature, dissolved oxygen level and oxidation reduction potential (ORP)) on Ra, Rs and Reco. Here we introduced microbially mediated, detailed carbon cycle processes within our mechanistic model to address this issue. Dominance analysis using a multivariate approach was performed to find out the influence of individual environmental factors on Ra, Rs and Reco in the cold climate regions of Athabasca River Basin (ARB), Canada. Contribution of the 6 predictor variables, including air temperature, precipitation, soil temperature, water-filled pore space (WFPS) used as a proxy of soil moisture, dissolved oxygen level, and ORP, on Ra, Rs and Reco were estimated based on the R2 values originated from multiple regression analyses. Our results showed that the prevailing temperature (both air and soil) and dissolved oxygen levels are the major influencing factors on Ra, Rs and Reco. WFPS is found to be the least influential factor on respiration estimation. Output of this study can be used to consider the crucial roles of environmental drivers in Ra, Rs and Reco estimation in the development of future ESMs.
Highlights
Ecosystem respiration (Reco) is primarily responsible for soil carbon loss and natural carbon dioxide (CO2) emission (Ciais et al, 2014)
The contribution of the 6 predictor variables on respiration rates are estimated based on the R2 values originated from multiple regression analyses
water-filled pore space (WFPS) as a measure of soil water availability, it is related to precipitation, temperature, snow melt as well as the freeze and thaw cycle of the soil (Bhanja and Wang, 2021)
Summary
Ecosystem respiration (Reco) is primarily responsible for soil carbon loss and natural carbon dioxide (CO2) emission (Ciais et al, 2014). At a regional scale, it is pertinent that the data requires to cover the diverse meteorological, soil, land use and management domains, all with the quantified uncertainties Keeping these issues in mind, here we introduced detailed litter decomposition, root respiration and aboveground respiration modules in order to simulate realistic estimates of Rh, Ra and Reco. Bhanja et al (2019a) and Bhanja et al (2019b) uniquely introduced multiple major chemical reactions and SOM decomposition, which integrated main environmental factors with the heterogeneity of vegetation, soil and hydrological processes This enables us to evaluate the effect of environmental factors on Rh, Ra and Reco. We attempted to validate the respiration esti mates on comparing with the site-scale measurements available
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