Abstract
Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Sternwartestr. 15, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaCorrespondence to: J.-A. Subke (jens-arne.subke@stir.ac.uk)Soils play a key role in the terrestrial carbon (C) cycle bystoring and emitting large quantities of C. The impact of abi-otic conditions (mainly soil temperature and moisture) onsoil C turnover is well documented, but unravelling the in-fluence of these drivers across temporal and spatial scalesremains an important challenge. Biotic factors, such as mi-crobial abundance and diversity, macro-faunal food webs andbelow-ground plant (i.e. root) biomass and diversity, play animportant role in controlling soil C storage and emission, butremain under-investigated. To better understand the soil pro-cesses underlying terrestrial C cycling, the interactions be-tween plants (autotrophs) and soil organisms (heterotrophs)need to be addressed more explicitly and integrated withshort- and long-term effects of abiotic drivers.This special issue presents recent advances in field, lab-oratory, and modelling studies on soil C dynamics, with aparticular emphasis on those aiming to resolve abiotic andbiotic influences. The manuscripts highlight three areas ofinvestigation that we suggest are central to current and futureprogress in ecosystem C dynamic research: (1) novel inter-pretations of abiotic controls on soil CO
Highlights
Temperature is one of the main drivers of soil C turnover and respiration, but the ways in which soil CO2 efflux responds to changes in ambient temperature remain under debate (Davidson et al, 2006, Subke and Bahn, 2010)
The manuscripts highlight three areas of investigation that we suggest are central to current and future progress in ecosystem C dynamic research: (1) novel interpretations of abiotic controls on soil CO2 efflux, (2) legacy effects of abiotic drivers of soil C dynamics, and (3) the interaction between plant C dynamics and soil biological processes
During mid-summer when soil CO2 efflux is at its seasonal peak, little or no temperature response of soil CO2 efflux was observed, which may relate to seasonal changes in below-ground autotrophic substrate supply to roots and associated microbes
Summary
Temperature is one of the main drivers of soil C turnover and respiration, but the ways in which soil CO2 efflux responds to changes in ambient temperature remain under debate (Davidson et al, 2006, Subke and Bahn, 2010). (2011) show that summer drought has considerable impacts on short-term fluxes. During mid-summer when soil CO2 efflux is at its seasonal peak, little or no temperature response of soil CO2 efflux was observed, which may relate to seasonal changes in below-ground autotrophic substrate supply to roots and associated microbes. Using the flux-gradient technique, Nagy et al (2011) show the profound influence that precipitation events have on apparent ecosystem respiration measurements by altering soil porosity in the short-term. 2009), there is a need to combine knowledge from soil diffusion modelling with ecophysiological data in order to interpret profile measurements correctly, and enable appropriate quantification of diffusion in the field (Risk et al, 2008)
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