Spatial variation of soil respiration in a coastal protection forest in southeastern China

Abstract

Forest soil respiration is an important component of global carbon budgets, but its spatial variation is inadequately understood. This research aimed to measure soil respiration (R s), soil water content (M s-5), soil temperature (T), and carbon dioxide (M co2) in a coastal protection forest (CPF), which is one kind of man-made forests designed for coastal protection primarily along the coast in China, to determine the relationships among them, and to analyze their spatial distributions in a small scale. We measured R s, M s-5, T, and M co2 of 100 plots in an approximately flat grid (totally 4 hm2) by LI-8100A in a Casuarina equisetifolia L. forest on a state-owned forest farm of 326 hm2 in SE China. Traditional statistics and geo-statistics including semivariance, Moran’s I index, and fractal dimension were used to analyze data. Key findings were that (1) the spatial mean of R s, M s-5, T, and M co2 were 1.194 μmol m−2 s−1, 11.387 mmol mol−1, 14.153 °C, and 407.716 ppm, respectively, in the forest; (2) the relationship between soil respiration and the other three factors was weak, while M s-5, T, and M co2 have strong relationships with each other; and (3) the four factors, especially soil respiration, had strong autocorrelation within given limits and showed great heterogeneity with 95 % confidence intervals around the means in the study area, all of which can provide important value for the study of carbon cycling and for the sustainable management of coastal protection forests. According to geo-statistical analysis and field investigations, soil respiration in the coastal forest is less than in some broad-leaf forests but higher than in some conifers. Strong heterogeneity and autocorrelation are clear; however, its relation with other three factors is weak. CPF is a considerable potential forest for carbon conservation if it is well managed.