Abstract
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are an important part of the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycle in forest soil. However, soil greenhouse gas emissions in dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) stands of different ages are poorly understood. To elucidate the effect of plantation age and environmental factors on soil GHG emissions, we used static chamber/gas chromatography (GC) system to measure soil GHG emissions in an alluvial island in eastern China for two consecutive years. The soil was a source of CO2 and N2O and a sink of CH4 with annual emissions of 5.5–7.1 Mg C ha−1 year−1, 0.15–0.36 kg N ha−1 year−1, and 1.7–4.5 kg C ha−1 year−1, respectively. A clear exponential correlation was found between soil temperature and CO2 emission, but a negative linear correlation was found between soil water content and CO2 emission. Soil temperature had a significantly positive effect on CH4 uptake and N2O emission, whereas no significant correlation was found between CH4 uptake and soil water content, and N2O emission and soil water content. These results implied that older forest stands might cause more GHG emissions from the soil into the atmosphere because of higher litter/root biomass and soil carbon/nitrogen content compared with younger stands.
Highlights
Establishment and management of forest plantations play an increasingly important role in sequestrating carbon from the atmosphere as one of the major strategies for mitigating global warming.The emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are mostly related to the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N)cycle from forest soils
0.6 kg C ha−1 year−1 to 5.9 kg C ha−1 year−1 in southern Ecuador [16]. These results show that there are drastic variations in GHG emissions in specific sites across different regional biomes, thereby suggesting that the pattern of GHG emissions and influential factors will need to be elucidated at specific sites in the context of considering the management of plantations as a strategy of sequestrating atmospheric CO2
Our study showed a similar uptake (1.7 kg C ha−1 year−1 to 4.5 kg C ha−1 year−1) in plantations located in northern subtropical areas, thereby suggesting that annual CH4 uptake does not significantly vary with subtropical or tropical biomes
Summary
Establishment and management of forest plantations play an increasingly important role in sequestrating carbon from the atmosphere as one of the major strategies for mitigating global warming. Forest soils are the sink of carbon in the world and contain about 704 Pg C, with varying C densities under different environmental conditions [1]. On the contrary, they are the source of N2 O [1,2]. China accounts for 24% of the global forest plantations [3]
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