Responses of soil respiration to experimental warming in an alpine steppe on the Tibetan Plateau

climate warming meta-analysis carbon cycle carbon-climate feedback alpine ecosystem arctic ecosystem
["Wang, Guanqin","Li, Fei","Peng, Yunfeng","Yu, Jianchun","Zhang, Dianye","Yang, Guibiao","Fang, Kai","Wang, Jun","Mohammat, Anwar","Zhou, Guoying","Yang, Yuanhe"] 2019-09-01 期刊论文
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High-latitude and high-altitude ecosystems store large amounts of carbon (C) and play a vital role in the global C cycle. Soil respiration (R-S) in these ecosystems is believed to be extremely sensitive to climate warming and could potentially trigger positive C-climate feedback. However, this evidence is largely derived from wet ecosystems, with limited observations from dry ecosystems. Here, we explored the responses of R-S, autotrophic (R-A), and heterotrophic (R-H) respiration under experimental warming in a dry ecosystem, an alpine steppe on the Tibetan Plateau. We assessed the effects of soil temperature and moisture dynamics on R-S, R-A, and R-H and performed a meta-analysis to examine whether the warming effects observed were similar to those reported in wet ecosystems, including Tibetan alpine meadow and arctic ecosystem. Experimental warming did not alter R-S, R-A, and R-H in this alpine steppe, likely because decreased soil moisture constrained positive warming effects. In contrast, the meta-analysis revealed that R-S exhibited a significant increase under experimental warming in both the Tibetan alpine meadow and arctic wet tundra. These results demonstrate that R-S exhibits different responses to climate warming between dry and wet ecosystems, suggesting potential more complex C-climate feedback in cold regions.
来源平台:ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS