Estimation of carbon allocation to the roots from soil respiration measurements of oil palm

CO₂ flux from the soil was measured in situ under oil palms in southern Benin. The experimental design took into account the spatial variability of the root density, the organic matter in the soil-palm agrosystem and the effect of factors such as the soil temperature and moisture.Measurements of CO₂ release in situ, and a comparison with the results obtained in the laboratory from the same soil free of roots, provided an estimation of the roots contribution to the total CO₂ flux. The instantaneous values for total release in situ were between 3.2 and 10.0 mol CO₂ m^-2 s^-1. For frond pile zones rich in organic matter, and around oil palm trunks, root respiration accounted for 30% of the efflux when the soil was at field capacity and 80% when the soil was dry with a pF close to 4.2. This proportion remained constant in interrow zones at around 75%, irrespective of soil moisture.Subsequently carbon allocation to the roots was determined. Total CO₂ release over a year was 57 Mg of CO₂ ha^-1 yr^-1 (around 1610 g of C per m² per year), and carbon allocation to the roots was approximately 53 Mg of CO₂ ha^-1 yr^-1 of which approximately 13 Mg CO₂ ha^-1 yr^-1 (25%) was devoted to turn-over and 40 Mg CO₂ ha^-1 yr^-1 (75%) to respiration.     

Photosynthesis,root respiration,and grain yield of spring wheat in response to surface soil drying

The aims of this research were to test the influence of surface soil drying on photosynthesis, root respiration and grain yield of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum), and to evaluate the relationship between root respiration and grain yield. Wheat plants were grown in PVC tubes 120 cm in length and 10 cm in diameter. Three water regimes were employed: (a) all soil layers were irrigated close to field water capacity (CK); (b) upper soil layers (0–40 cm from top) drying (UD); (c) lower soil layer (80–120 cm from top) wet (LW). The results showed that although upper drying treatment maintained the highest root biomass, root respiration and photosynthesis rates at anthesis, the root respiration of the former was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the latter at the jointing stage. There were no differences in water use efficiency or harvest index between plants from the upper drying and well-watered treatment. However, the grain weight for plants in the upper drying treatment was significantly (P< 0.05) higher than that of in well-watered control. The results suggest that reduced root respiration rate and the amount of photosynthates utilized by root respiration in early season growth may also have contributed to improve crop production under soil drying. Reduced root activity and root respiration rate, in the early growth stage, not only increased the photosynthate use efficiency (root respiration rate: photosynthesis ratio), but also grain yield. Rooting into a deeper wet soil profile before grain filling was crucial for spring wheat to achieve a successful seedling establishment and high grain yield.     

Allometric constraints on,and trade‐offs in,belowground carbon allocation and their control of soil respiration across global forest ecosystems

To fully understand how soil respiration is partitioned among its component fluxes and responds to climate, it is essential to relate it to belowground carbon allocation, the ultimate carbon source for soil respiration. This remains one of the largest gaps in knowledge of terrestrial carbon cycling. Here, we synthesize data on gross and net primary production and their components, and soil respiration and its components, from a global forest database, to determine mechanisms governing belowground carbon allocation and their relationship with soil respiration partitioning and soil respiration responses to climatic factors across global forest ecosystems. Our results revealed that there are three independent mechanisms controlling belowground carbon allocation and which influence soil respiration and its partitioning: an allometric constraint; a fine‐root production vs. root respiration trade‐off; and an above‐ vs. belowground trade‐off in plant carbon. Global patterns in soil respiration and its partitioning are constrained primarily by the allometric allocation, which explains some of the previously ambiguous results reported in the literature. Responses of soil respiration and its components to mean annual temperature, precipitation, and nitrogen deposition can be mediated by changes in belowground carbon allocation. Soil respiration responds to mean annual temperature overwhelmingly through an increasing belowground carbon input as a result of extending total day length of growing season, but not by temperature‐driven acceleration of soil carbon decomposition, which argues against the possibility of a strong positive feedback between global warming and soil carbon loss. Different nitrogen loads can trigger distinct belowground carbon allocation mechanisms, which are responsible for different responses of soil respiration to nitrogen addition that have been observed. These results provide new insights into belowground carbon allocation, partitioning of soil respiration, and its responses to climate in forest ecosystems and are, therefore, valuable for terrestrial carbon simulations and projections.     

Contribution of root to soil respiration and carbon balance in disturbed and undisturbed grassland communities, northeast China

Changes in the composition of plant species induced by grassland degradation may alter soil respiration rates and decrease carbon sequestration; however, few studies in this area have been conducted. We used net primary productivity (NPP), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and soil organic carbon (SOC) to examine the changes in soil respiration and carbon balance in two Chinese temperate grassland communities dominated by Leymus chinensis (undisturbed community; Community 1) and Puccinellia tenuiflora (degraded community; Community 2), respectively. Soil respiration varied from 2.5 to 11.9 g CO₂ m⁻² d⁻¹ and from 1.5 to 9.3 g CO₂ m⁻² d⁻¹, and the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration from 38% to 76% and from 25% to 72% in Communities 1 and 2, respectively. During the growing season (May–September), soil respiration, shoot biomass, live root biomass, MBC and SOC in Community 2 decreased by 28%, 39%, 45%, 55% and 29%, respectively, compared to those in Community 1. The considerably lower net ecosystem productivity in Community 2 than in Community 1 (104.56 vs. 224.73 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) suggests that the degradation has significantly decreased carbon sequestration of the ecosystems.     

Contribution of new photosynthetic assimilates to respiration by perennial grasses and shrubs: residence times and allocation patterns

Quantification of the fate of carbon (C) used by plant metabolism is necessary to improve predictions of terrestrial ecosystem respiration and its sources. Here, a dual isotope ((13)C and (14)C) pulse-label was used to determine the allocation of new C to different respiratory pathways in the early and late growing seasons for two plant functional types, perennial grasses and shrubs, in the Owens Valley, CA, USA. Allocation differences between plant types exceeded seasonal allocation variation. Grasses respired 71 and 64% and shrubs respired 22 and 17% of the label below-ground in the early and late growing seasons, respectively. Across seasons and plant types, approximately 48-61% of the label recovered was respired in 24 h, approximately 68-84% in 6 d, and approximately 16-33% in 6-36 d after labeling. Three C pools were identified for plant metabolism: a fast pool with mean residence times (MRTs) of approximately 0.5 and approximately 1 d below- and above-ground, respectively; an intermediate pool with MRTs of 19.9 and 18.9 d; and a storage pool detected in new leaf early growing season respiration > 9 months after assimilation. Differences in allocation to fast vs intermediate C pools resulted in the mean age of C respired by shrubs being shorter (3.8-4.5 d) than that of the grasses (4.8-8.2 d).     

Dynamics of fine root carbon in Amazonian tropical ecosystems and the contribution of roots to soil respiration

Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) provides a measure of the mean age of carbon (C) in roots, or the time elapsed since the C making up root tissues was fixed from the atmosphere. Radiocarbon signatures of live and dead fine (<2 mm diameter) roots in two mature Amazon tropical forests are consistent with average ages of 4–11 years (ranging from <1 to >40 years). Measurements of ¹⁴C in the structural tissues of roots known to have grown during 2002 demonstrate that new roots are constructed from recent (<2‐year‐old) photosynthetic products. High Δ¹⁴C values in live roots most likely indicate the mean lifetime of the root rather than the isotopic signature of inherited C or C taken up from the soil. Estimates of the mean residence time of C in forest fine roots (inventory divided by loss rate) are substantially shorter (1–3 years) than the age of standing fine root C stocks obtained from radiocarbon (4–11 years). By assuming positively skewed distributions for root ages, we can effectively decouple the mean age of C in live fine roots (measured using ¹⁴C) from the rate of C flow through the live root pool, and resolve these apparently disparate estimates of root C dynamics. Explaining the ¹⁴C values in soil pore space CO₂, in addition, requires that a portion of the decomposing roots be cycled through soil organic matter pools with decadal turnover time.     

施肥对麻栎人工林碳密度及休眠期土壤呼吸的影响

以安徽省滁州市红琊山林场麻栎人工林为研究对象,测定了4种施肥处理(0、0.15、0.30和0.45kg·株-1)林分碳密度,并采用开沟隔离法对不同处理林分休眠期土壤呼吸组分进行测定。结果表明:4种施肥处理林分总碳密度分别为73.68、84.49、87.20和91.70t·hm-2。与对照相比,各施肥处理麻栎树干碳密度、树枝碳密度和枯落物碳密度均有极显著提高(P<0.01)。不同处理林分的土壤总呼吸速率和异养呼吸速率随着施肥量增加呈递增趋势,施肥量为0.45kg·株-1样地土壤总呼吸速率和异养呼吸速率较对照样地分别增加了48.9%和38.6%。不同施肥样地土壤异养呼吸对土壤总呼吸的贡献率远大于根系呼吸,施肥量为0、0.15、0.30和0.45kg·株-1时分别是根系呼吸的5.0、3.8、3.4和3.2倍。土壤呼吸受生物因子和非生物因子共同调控,在所选取的4个指标中(土壤含水量、土壤C/N、根生物量和枯落物有机碳含量),土壤含水量和枯落物有机碳含量与土壤总呼吸及土壤异养呼吸速率均有显著相关性(P<0.05)。     

The effects of clipping and soil moisture on leaf and root morphology and root respiration in two temperate and two tropical grasses

Numerous studies have explored the effect of environmental conditions on a number of plant physiological and structural traits, such as photosynthetic rate, shoot versus root biomass allocation, and leaf and root morphology. In contrast, there have been a few investigations of how those conditions may influence root respiration, even though this flux can represent a major component of carbon (C) pathway in plants. In this study, we examined the response of mass-specific root respiration (μmol CO₂ g⁻¹ s⁻¹), shoot and root biomass, and leaf photosynthesis to clipping and variable soil moisture in two C₃ (Festuca idahoensis Elmer., Poa pratensis L.) and two C₄ (Andropogon greenwayi Napper, and Sporobolus kentrophyllus K. Schum.) grass species. The C₃ and C₄ grasses were collected in Yellowstone National Park, USA and the Serengeti ecosystem, Africa, respectively, where they evolved under temporally variable soil moisture conditions and were exposed to frequent, often intense grazing. We also measured the influence of clipping and soil moisture on specific leaf area (SLA), a trait associated with moisture conservation, and specific root length (SRL), a trait associated with efficiency per unit mass of soil resource uptake. Clipping did not influence any plant trait, with the exception that it reduced the root to shoot ratio (R:S) and increased SRL in P. pratensis. In contrast to the null effect of clipping on specific root respiration, reduced soil moisture lowered specific root respiration in all four species. In addition, species differed in how leaf and root structural traits responded to lower available soil moisture. P. pratensis and A. greenwayi increased SLA, by 23% and 33%, respectively, and did not alter SRL. Conversely, S. kentrophyllus increased SRL by 42% and did not alter SLA. F. idahoensis responded to lower available soil moisture by increasing both SLA and SRL by 38% and 33%, respectively. These responses were species-specific strategies that did not coincide with photosynthetic pathway (C₃/C₄) or growth form. Thus, mass-specific root respiration responded uniformly among these four grass species to clipping (no effect) and increased soil moisture stress (decline), whereas the responses of other traits (i.e., R:S ratio, SLA, SRL) to the treatments, especially moisture availability, were species-specific. Consequently, the effects of either clipping or variation in soil moisture on the C budget of these four different grasses species were driven primarily by the plasticity of R:S ratios and the structural leaf and root traits of individual species, rather than variation in the response of mass-specific root respiration.     

Carbon nutrition of seaweeds: Photosynthesis,photorespiration and respiration

Techniques are described for measuring gas exchange in seaweeds held in moist air (air suspension). In the species we have examined, oxygen has little or no effect on photosynthesis except at very low (50 μ1·1^?1) CO₂ concentration. Photorespiration could not be detected unless the seaweeds were treated simultaneously with high O₂ and low CO₂ or with the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, diamox. However, sporulating and meristematic tissues exhibit oxygen-insensitive light respiration (CO₂production in light not associated with photorespiratory metabolism). Elevated pH in the surface water of seaweeds also caused light respiration. Oxygen-sensitive wound respiration was observed that could easily be mistaken for photorespiration. C₄ photosynthesis could not be detected. On the basis of several experimental approaches it was concluded that these seaweeds normally absorb bicarbonate rather than CO₂ from sea water. High CO₂ concentrations are required in gas streams aerating seaweed cultures in air or water suspension to maintain the bicarbonate concentration at levels normally found in sea water and to support normal levels of photosynthesis.     

格氏栲和杉木人工林地下碳分配

通过对福建三明36年生的格氏栲人工林和杉木人工林林木地下C分配(TBCA)进行研究,结果表明,由分室累加法直接测定的格氏栲和杉木人工林的TBCA分别为8.426和4.040 t C.hm-2.-a 1。在格氏栲和杉木人工林TBCA组成中,根系净生产量和根系呼吸各约占50%;在根系年净生产量中,细根年净生产量和粗根年净生产量各约占75%和25%。而格氏栲和杉木人工林的细根年C归还量则均约占各自TBCA的1/3(分别为33%和36%)。在假设地下C库处于稳定状态时,由C平衡法计算的格氏栲和杉木人工林的TBCA(分别为6.039t C.hm-2.-a 1和2.987 t C.hm-2.-a 1)低于分室累加法,这与两种人工林地下C库尚未达到稳定状态有关。利用R a ich and N ade lhoffer全球模式方程推算的格氏栲和杉木人工林的TBCA(分别为9.771t C.hm-2.a-1和5.344 t C.hm-2.-a 1)则高于分室累加法,这与全球模式方程只是一种全球尺度规律有关。     

Seasonal changes in the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration in a cool-temperate deciduous forest

A trenching method was used to determine the contribution of root respiration to soil respiration. Soil respiration rates in a trenched plot (R _trench) and in a control plot (R _control) were measured from May 2000 to September 2001 by using an open-flow gas exchange system with an infrared gas analyser. The decomposition rate of dead roots (R _D) was estimated by using a root-bag method to correct the soil respiration measured from the trenched plots for the additional decaying root biomass. The soil respiration rates in the control plot increased from May (240–320 mg CO₂ m^–2 h^–1) to August (840–1150 mg CO₂ m^–2 h^–1) and then decreased during autumn (200–650 mg CO₂ m^–2 h^–1). The soil respiration rates in the trenched plot showed a similar pattern of seasonal change, but the rates were lower than in the control plot except during the 2 months following the trenching. Root respiration rate (R _r) and heterotrophic respiration rate (R _h) were estimated from R _control, R _trench, and R _D. We estimated that the contribution of R _r to total soil respiration in the growing season ranged from 27 to 71%. There was a significant relationship between R _h and soil temperature, whereas R _r had no significant correlation with soil temperature. The results suggest that the factors controlling the seasonal change of respiration differ between the two components of soil respiration, R _r and R _h.     

干扰对典型草原生态系统土壤净呼吸特征的影响

由于土地利用格局的改变和人类干扰活动的加剧,草地生态系统CO2排放与固定的平衡、碳循环特征以及碳储量越来越受到人们的重视。尤其是定量区分土壤净呼吸与土壤总呼吸量之间的比例关系,以及定量描述草地生态系统碳循环过程等方面的研究尚不够完善。以河北沽源的典型草原为研究对象,测定了火烧、灌溉、施肥、刈割干扰下的天然草地土壤净呼吸变化动态及其与主要控制因素之间的关系。结果表明:不同处理土壤净呼吸均表现出明显的季节性变化规律,变化趋势基本一致。火烧、灌溉和刈割处理分别比对照的土壤净呼吸通量降低了28.93%、16.25%和36.82%。土壤温度、土壤湿度与土壤净呼吸通量呈指数相关(P0.01)。对地上生物量、地下生物量、土壤有机碳含量和土壤全氮含量与土壤净呼吸之间进行逐步回归分析表明,土壤有机碳含量(SC)和土壤全氮含量(SN)是土壤净呼吸通量的主要影响因素。     

树木根系碳分配格局及其影响因子

根系作为树木提供养分和水分的“源”和消耗C的“汇”,在陆地生态系统C平衡研究中具有重要的理论意义。尽管20多年来的研究已经认识到根系消耗净初级生产力占总净初级生产力较大的比例,但是,根系（尤其是细根）消耗C的机理以及C分配的去向一直没有研究清楚。主要原因是细根消耗光合产物的生理生态过程相当复杂,准确估计各个组分消耗的C具有很大的不确定性,常常受树种和环境空间和时间异质性、以及研究方法的限制。综述了分配到地下的C主要去向,即细根生产和周转、呼吸及养分吸收与同化、分泌有机物、土壤植食动物,及有关林木地下碳分配机理的几种假说,分析了地下碳分配估计中存在的不确定性。目的是在全球变化C循环研究中对生态系统地下部分根系消耗的C以及分配格局引起重视。     

Rhizosphere interactions, carbon allocation, and nitrogen acquisition of two perennial North American grasses in response to defoliation and elevated atmospheric CO2

Carbon allocation and N acquisition by plants following defoliation may be linked through plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere. Plant C allocation patterns and rhizosphere interactions can also be affected by rising atmospheric CO(2) concentrations, which in turn could influence plant and microbial responses to defoliation. We studied two widespread perennial grasses native to rangelands of western North America to test whether (1) defoliation-induced enhancement of rhizodeposition would stimulate rhizosphere N availability and plant N uptake, and (2) defoliation-induced enhancement of rhizodeposition, and associated effects on soil N availability, would increase under elevated CO(2). Both species were grown at ambient (400 μL L(-1)) and elevated (780 μL L(-1)) atmospheric [CO(2)] under water-limiting conditions. Plant, soil and microbial responses were measured 1 and 8 days after a defoliation treatment. Contrary to our hypotheses, we found that defoliation and elevated CO(2) both reduced carbon inputs to the rhizosphere of Bouteloua gracilis (C(4)) and Pascopyrum smithii (C(3)). However, both species also increased N allocation to shoots of defoliated versus non-defoliated plants 8 days after treatment. This response was greatest for P. smithii, and was associated with negative defoliation effects on root biomass and N content and reduced allocation of post-defoliation assimilate to roots. In contrast, B. gracilis increased allocation of post-defoliation assimilate to roots, and did not exhibit defoliation-induced reductions in root biomass or N content. Our findings highlight key differences between these species in how post-defoliation C allocation to roots versus shoots is linked to shoot N yield, but indicate that defoliation-induced enhancement of shoot N concentration and N yield is not mediated by increased C allocation to the rhizosphere.     

中国森林的地下碳分配

通过收集国内33个森林样地的土壤呼吸和年凋落物量数据,分析中国森林地下碳分配（TBCA）模式。结果表明,中国森林土壤呼吸年通量与年凋落物量呈显著的线性相关（R^2=0．3319,P=0．000）,其中成熟林土壤呼吸与年凋落物量间呈显著的线性相关（R^2=0．3245,P=0．004）,但未成熟林土壤呼吸与年凋落物量间的线性相关不显著（R^2=0．3485,P=0．092）。中国森林的地下碳分配变化范围1．460～25．100tChm^-2a^-1,平均值为9．217tChm^-2a^-1;中国森林的TBCA与年均气温相关关系不显著（P=0．196）,但与年均降水量则呈显著正相关（R=0．480,P=0．021）。中国森林TBCA和凋落物对土壤呼吸的平均贡献分别为74．2％和25．8％;中国森林TBCA对土壤呼吸的贡献随土壤呼吸增大而增大,而凋落物对土壤呼吸的贡献则随土壤呼吸的增大而降低。     

Assimilation and allocation of carbon and nitrogen of thermal and nonthermal Agrostis species in response to high soil temperature

We studied whether changes in the assimilation and allocation of carbon and nitrogen are associated with plant tolerance to high soil temperatures. Two Agrostis species, thermal Agrostis scabra, a species adapted to high-temperature soils in geothermal areas in Yellowstone National Park (USA), and two cultivars of a cool-season species, Agrostis stolonifera, L-93 and Penncross, were exposed to soil temperatures of 37 or 20 degrees C, while shoots were exposed to 20 degrees C. Net photosynthesis rate, photochemical efficiency, NO(3) (-)-assimilation rate and root viability decreased with increasing soil temperatures in both species. However, the decreases were less pronounced for A. scabra than for both A. stolonifera cultivars. Carbon investment in growth of plants exposed to 37 degrees C decreased more dramatically in both A. stolonifera cultivars than in A. scabra. Nitrogen allocation to shoots was greater in A. scabra than in both creeping bentgrass cultivars at 37 degrees C soil temperature. Our results demonstrate that plant tolerance to high soil temperature is related to efficient expenditure and adjustment of C- and N-allocation patterns between growth and respiration.     

Organic carbon cycling in Taylor Valley, Antarctica: quantifying soil reservoirs and soil respiration

Organic carbon reservoirs and respiration rates in soils have been calculated for most major biomes on Earth revealing patterns related to temperature, precipitation, and location. Yet data from one of the Earth's coldest, driest, and most southerly soil ecosystems, that of the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, are currently not a part of this global database. In this paper, we present the first regional calculations of the soil organic carbon reservoirs in a dry valley ecosystem (Taylor Valley) and report measurements of CO₂ efflux from Antarctic soils. Our analyses indicate that, despite the absence of visible accumulations of organic matter in most of Taylor Valley's arid soils, this soil environment contained a significant percentage (up to 72%) of the seasonally unfrozen organic carbon reservoir in the terrestrial ecosystem. Field measurements of soil CO₂‐efflux in Taylor Valley soils were used to evaluate biotic respiration and averaged 0.10 ± 0.08 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1. Laboratory soil microcosms suggested that this respiration rate was sensitive to increases in temperature, moisture, and carbon addition. Finally, a steady‐state calculation of the mean residence time for organic carbon in Taylor Valley soils was 23 years. Because this value contradicts all that is currently known about carbon cycling rates in the dry valleys, we suggest that the dry valley soil carbon dynamics is not steady state. Instead, we suggest that the dynamic is complex, with at least two (short‐ and long‐term) organic carbon reservoirs. We also suggest that organic carbon in the dry valley soil environment may be more important, and play a more active role in long‐term ecosystem processes, than previously believed.     

生物炭添加对土壤呼吸和有机碳含量的影响

以菜地和果园土壤为研究对象,通过室内培养实验,向土壤中分别添加不同材料制备的生物炭(马尼拉草、阔叶和竹叶),热解温度为350℃,研究不同材料制备生物炭添加对土壤呼吸和有机碳含量的影响.结果表明：不同生物炭施入土壤后,土壤 CO 2释放速率总的趋势是前期分解速率快,后期缓慢.在整个培养过程中(28 d),随着培养时间的延长,土壤 CO 2释放速率下降趋势逐渐降低.在不同土壤培养条件下,均是添加阔叶生物炭后土壤 CO 2-C 累计释放增多,果园和菜地土壤 CO 2-C 累计分别达到482．57和424．72 mg·kg-1.添加不同的生物炭均能提高土壤有机碳含量,但只有添加阔叶生物炭之后,差异才会达到显著(P ＜0．05).研究结果为正确利用生物炭和评价其在土壤碳库作用提供科学依据.