Semiarid Temperate Steppe Research Articles

Environmental influences on carbon dioxide fluxes over three grassland ecosystems in China

Abstract. This study compared carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes over three grassland ecosystems in China, including a temperate semiarid steppe in Inner Mongolia (NMG), an alpine shrub-meadow in Qinghai (HB), and an alpine meadow-steppe in Tibet (DX). Measurements were made in 2004 and 2005 using the eddy covariance technique. Objectives were to document the seasonality of the net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE) and its components, gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP), and ecosystem respiration (Reco), and to examine how environmental factors affect the CO2 exchange in these grassland ecosystems. The 2005 growing season (from May to September) was warmer than that of 2004 across the three sites, and precipitation in 2005 was less than that in 2004 at NMG and DX. The magnitude of CO2 fluxes (daily and annual sums) was largest at HB, which also showed the highest temperature sensitivity of Reco among the three sites. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the seasonal variation of GEP, Reco, and NEE of the alpine shrub-meadow was mainly controlled by air temperature, whereas leaf area index can likely explain the seasonal variation in GEP, Reco, and NEE of the temperate steppe. The CO2 fluxes of the alpine meadow-steppe were jointly affected by soil moisture and air temperature. The alpine shrub-meadow acted as a net carbon sink over the two study years, whereas the temperate steppe and alpine meadow-steppe acted as net carbon sources. Both GEP and Reco were reduced by the summer and spring drought in 2005 at NMG and DX, respectively. The accumulated leaf area index during the growing season (LAIsum) played a key role in the interannual and intersite variation of annual GEP and Reco across the study sites and years, whereas soil moisture contributed most significantly to the variation in annual NEE. Because LAIsum was significantly correlated with soil moisture at a depth of 20 cm, we concluded that the available soil moisture other than annual precipitation was the most important factor controlling the variation in the CO2 budgets of different grassland ecosystems in China.

Response of ecosystem carbon exchange to warming and nitrogen addition during two hydrologically contrasting growing seasons in a temperate steppe

AbstractA large remaining source of uncertainty in global model predictions of future climate is how ecosystem carbon (C) cycle feedbacks to climate change. We conducted a field manipulative experiment of warming and nitrogen (N) addition in a temperate steppe in northern China during two contrasting hydrological growing seasons in 2006 [wet with total precipitation 11.2% above the long‐term mean (348 mm)] and 2007 (dry with total precipitation 46.7% below the long‐term mean). Irrespective of strong intra‐ and interannual variations in ecosystem C fluxes, responses of ecosystem C fluxes to warming and N addition did not change between the two growing seasons, suggesting independence of warming and N responses of net ecosystem C exchange (NEE) upon hydrological variations in the temperate steppe. Warming had no effect on NEE or its two components, gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), whereas N addition stimulated GEP but did not affect ER, leading to positive responses of NEE. Similar responses of NEE between the two growing seasons were due to changes in both biotic and abiotic factors and their impacts on ER and GEP. In the wet growing season, NEE was positively correlated with soil moisture and forb biomass. Negative effects of warming‐induced water depletion could be ameliorated by higher forb biomass in the warmed plots. N addition increased forb biomass but did not affect soil moisture, leading to positive effect on NEE. In the dry growing season, NEE showed positive dependence on grass biomass but negative dependence on forb biomass. No changes in NEE in response to warming could result from water limitation on both GEP and ER as well as little responses of either grass or forb biomass. N addition stimulated grass biomass but reduced forb biomass, leading to the increase in NEE. Our findings highlight the importance of changes in abiotic (soil moisture, N availability) and biotic (growth of different plant functional types) in mediating the responses of NEE to climatic warming and N enrichment in the semiarid temperate steppe in northern China.

Predominant role of water in regulating soil and microbial respiration and their responses to climate change in a semiarid grassland

AbstractClimate change can profoundly impact carbon (C) cycling of terrestrial ecosystems. A field experiment was conducted to examine responses of total soil and microbial respiration, and microbial biomass to experimental warming and increased precipitation in a semiarid temperate steppe in northern China since April 2005. We measured soil respiration twice a month over the growing seasons, soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN), microbial respiration (MR) once a year in the middle growing season from 2005 to 2007. The results showed that interannual variations in soil respiration, MR, and microbial biomass were positively related to interannual fluctuations in precipitation. Laboratory incubation with a soil moisture gradient revealed a constraint of the temperature responses of MR by low soil moisture contents. Across the 3 years, experimental warming decreased soil moisture, and consequently caused significant reductions in total and microbial respiration, and microbial biomass, suggesting stronger negatively indirect effects through warming‐induced water stress than the positively direct effects of elevated temperature. Increased evapotranspiration under experimental warming could have reduced soil water availability below a stress threshold, thus leading to suppression of plant growth, root and microbial activities. Increased precipitation significantly stimulated total soil and microbial respiration and all other microbial parameters and the positive precipitation effects increased over time. Our results suggest that soil water availability is more important than temperature in regulating soil and microbial respiratory processes, microbial biomass and their responses to climate change in the semiarid temperate steppe. Experimental warming caused greater reductions in soil respiration than in gross ecosystem productivity (GEP). In contrast, increased precipitation stimulated GEP more than soil respiration. Our observations suggest that climate warming may cause net C losses, whereas increased precipitation may lead to net C gains in the semiarid temperate steppe. Our findings highlight that unless there is concurrent increase in precipitation, the temperate steppe in the arid and semiarid regions of northern China may act as a net C source under climate warming.

Impacts of urea N addition on soil microbial community in a semi-arid temperate steppe in northern China

Nitrogen (N) addition has been well docu- mented to decrease plant biodiversity across various terrestrial ecosystems. However, such generalizations about the impacts of N addition on soil microbial communities are lacking. This study was conducted to examine the impacts of N addition (urea-N fertilizer) on soil microbial communities in a semi-arid temper- ate steppe in northern China. Soil microbial biomass carbon (C), biomass N (MBN), net N mineralization and nitrification, and bacterial and fungal community level physiological profiles (CLPP) along an N addition gradient (0- 64 gNm �2 year �1 )w ere measured. Three years of N addition caused gradual or step increases in soil NH4-N, NO3-N, net N mineralization and nitrification in the early growing season. The reductions in microbial biomass under high N addition levels (32 and 64 g N m �2 year �1 ) are partly attributed to the deleterious effects of soil pH. An N optimum between 16 and 32 g N m �2 year �1 in microbial biomass and functional diversity exists in the temperate steppe in northern China. Similar N loading thresholds may also occur in other ecosys- tems, which help to interpret the contrasting observa- tions of microbial responses to N addition.