Abstract
Soil respiration (Rs) plays an important role in the carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems. Quantifying the spatial and temporal variations in Rs in China at the regional scale helps improve our understanding of the variations in terrestrial carbon budgets that occur in response to global climate and environmental changes and potential future control measures. In this study, we used a regional-scale geostatistical model that incorporates gridded meteorological and pedologic data to evaluate the spatial Rs variations in China from 2000 to 2013. We analysed the relationship between Rs and environmental factors, and suggest management strategies that may help to keep the terrestrial carbon balance. The simulated results demonstrate that the mean annual Rs value over these 14 years was 422 g/m2/year, and the corresponding total amount was 4.01 Pg C/year. The Rs estimation displayed a clear spatial pattern and a slightly increasing trend. Further analysis also indicated that high Rs values may occur in areas that show a greater degree of synchronicity in the timing of their optimal temperature and moisture conditions. Moreover, cultivated vegetation exhibits higher Rs values than native vegetation. Finally, we suggest that specific conservation efforts should be focused on ecologically sensitive areas where the Rs values increase significantly.
Highlights
Soil respiration, Rs, is the primary path by which CO2 fixed by land plants returns to the atmosphere and is the main contributor to terrestrial ecosystem respiration [1,2]
Rs, which is estimated to range from 68 to 98 Pg C/year globally, is the second-largest terrestrial carbon flux; it plays an important role in the carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems [3,4,5,6]
These values are slightly larger than the estimates produced using the temperature and precipitation (T&P) model and the geostatistical model of soil respiration (GSMSR) by Yu et al (2010)
Summary
Rs, is the primary path by which CO2 fixed by land plants returns to the atmosphere and is the main contributor to terrestrial ecosystem respiration [1,2]. Rs is sensitive to climatic factors (e.g., temperature and precipitation) [1,5,7] and land cover [8,9]. It is substantially impacted by global climate and environment changes [10,11]. Raich et al (2002) used a climate-driven temperature and precipitation (T&P) regression model to evaluate the monthly and interannual variations in Rs from 1980 to 1994 [5]. Bond-Lamberty and Thomson (2010) analysed a compilation of published studies to construct a global Rs database spanning the measurement years 1961–2008 [16]
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