Precipitation is the major driver of ecosystem functions and processes in semiarid and arid regions. In such water- limited ecosystems, pulsed water inputs directly control the belowground processes through a series of soil drying and rewetting cycles. To investigate the effects of sporadic addition of water on soil CO 2 efflux, an artificial precipitation event (3 mm) was applied to a desert shrub ecosystem in the Mu Us Sand Land of the Ordos Plateau in China. Soil respiration rate increased 2.8-4.1 times immediately after adding water in the field, and then it returned to background level within 48 h. During the experiment, soil CO 2 production was between 2 047.0 and 7 383.0 mg m -2 . In the shrubland, soil respiration responses showed spatial variations, having stronger pulse effects beneath the shrubs than in the interplant spaces. The spatial variation of the soil respiration responses was closely related with the heterogeneity of soil substrate availability. Apart from precipitation, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen pool were also identified as determinants of soil CO2 loss in desert ecosystems.
The seasonal dynamics of soil respiration in steppe (S. bungeana), desert shrub (A. ordosica), and shrub- perennial (A. ordosica +C. komarovii) communities were investigated during the growth season (May to October) in 2006; their environmental driving factors were also analyzed. In the three communities, soil respiration showed similar characteristics in their growth seasons, with peak respiration values in July and August owing to suitable temperature and soil moisture conditions during this period. Meanwhile, changes in soil respiration were greatly influenced by temperatures and surface soil moistures. Soil water content at a depth of 0 to 10 cm was identified as the key environmental factor affecting the variation in soil respiration in the steppe. In contrast, in desert shrub and shrub-perennial communities, the dynamics of soil respiration was significantly influenced by air temperature. Similarly, the various responses of soil respiration to environmental factors may be attributed to the different soil textures and distribution patterns of plant roots. In desert ecosystems, precipitation results in soil respiration pulses. Soil carbon dioxide (CO2) effluxes greatly increased after rainfall rewetting in all of the ecosystems under study. However, the precipitation pulse effect differed across the ecosystem. We propose that this may be a result of a reverse effect from the soil texture.
Grassland is the largest terrestrial ecosystem in China. It is of great significance to measure accurately the soil respiration of different grassland types for the contribution evaluation of the Chinese terrestrial ecosystem’s carbon emission to the atmospheric CO2 concentration. A three-year (2005-2007) field experiment was carried out on three steppes of Stipa L. in the Xilin River Basin, Inner Mongolia, China, using a static opaque chamber technique. The seasonal and interannual variations of soil respiration rates were analyzed, and the annual total soil respiration of the three steppes was estimated. The numerical models between soil respiration and water-heat factors were established respectively. Similar seasonal dynamic and high annual and interannual variations of soil respiration were found in all of the three steppes. In the growing season, the fluctuation of soil respiration was particularly evident. The coefficients of variation (CVs) for soil respiration in different growing seasons ranged from 54% to 93%, and the annual CVs were all above 115%. The interannual CV of soil respiration progressively decreased in the order of Stipa grandis (S. grandis) steppe > Stipa baicalensis (S. baicalensis) steppe > Stipa krylovii (S. krylovii) steppe. The annual total soil respiration for the S. baicalensis steppe was 223.62?299.24 gC m-2 a-1, 150.62-226.99 gC m-2 a-1 for the S. grandis steppe, and 111.31–131.55 gC m-2 a-1 for the S. krylovii steppe, which were consistent with the precipitation gradient. The variation in the best fitting temperature factor explained the 63.5%, 73.0%, and 73.2% change in soil respiration in the three steppes at an annual time scale, and the corresponding Q10 values were 2.16, 2.98, and 2.40, respectively. Moreover, the Q10 values that were calculated by soil temperature at different depths all expressed a 10 cm > 5 cm > surface in the three sampling sites. In the growing season, the soil respiration rates were related mostly to the surface soil moisture, and the 95.2%, 97.4%,
