Abstract
Soil CO2 efflux was measured by alkali absorption method from April to December 2012 in two different forest types, i.e., Pinus wallichiana and Abies pindrow, with three replicate plots in each forest type. Soil CO2 efflux was found maximum in July and minimum in December in both the forest types. Significantly (P<0.001) greater soil CO2 efflux was measured in Pinus wallichiana forest compared to Abies pindrow forest throughout the study period. The range of soil CO2 efflux (mg CO2 m-2 hr-1) from the soil was 126-427 in Abies pindrow forest and 182-646 in Pinus wallichiana forest. Soil CO2 efflux showed greater values in Pinus wallichiana forest than Abies pindrow forest, which could be attributed to greater tree density, tree biomass, shrub density, shrub biomass, forest floor litter and moisture. Soil CO2 efflux also showed significant positive relationship with air temperature. In addition to that the altitudinal difference may be one of the reasons for variation in soil CO2 efflux between the two forest types. This result also indicates that at higher altitude even a small difference in elevation (100 m) alter the functional attributes of the ecosystem.
Highlights
Soil CO2 efflux (SR) have received much recent attention from global change and ecosystem science communities for several reasons: (a) Soil CO2 is the second largest carbon (C) flux in terrestrial ecosystems, and plays a critical role in global carbon cycling and (b) Soil CO2 is a key component of biogeochemical models [1], but a large uncertainty exists in integrating respiration components into those models [2,3]
Total soil CO2 efflux showed a similar temporal pattern in both the two forest types, the values being highest during the month of July and lowest during the December month (Figure 3)
The Pinus wallichiana forest type showed a higher rate of CO2 efflux throughout the study period as compared to Abies pindrow forest type
Summary
Soil CO2 efflux (SR) have received much recent attention from global change and ecosystem science communities for several reasons: (a) Soil CO2 is the second largest carbon (C) flux in terrestrial ecosystems, and plays a critical role in global carbon cycling and (b) Soil CO2 is a key component of biogeochemical models [1], but a large uncertainty exists in integrating respiration components into those models [2,3]. CO2 efflux can vary greatly with vegetation type, soil microbial biomass, and soil chemical properties among and within sites [4,5]. Soil respiration is the main form of carbon flux from soil to atmosphere in the global carbon cycle [10]. The CO2 efflux of forest soils has been intensively investigated during the last decade as it represents a major flux of the C cycle in forest ecosystems [11]. Soil properties, such as pH, soil depth, parent material, composition of litter fall and topography may influence heterotrophic soil CO2 efflux [12,13]. Soil CO2 efflux was closely related to stand biomass and basal area of trees [17,18]
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