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 CO 2 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 root respiration to soil respiration in a C3/C4 mixed grassland.

The spatial and temporal variations of soil respiration were studied from May 2004 to June 2005 in a C3/C4 mixed grassland of Japan. The linear regression relationship between soil respiration and root biomass was used to determine the contribution of root respiration to soil respiration. The highest soil respiration rate of 11.54 micro mol m-2 s-1 was found in August 2004 and the lowest soil respiration rate of 4.99 micro mol m-2 s-1 was found in April 2005. Within-site variation was smaller than seasonal change in soil respiration. Root biomass varied from 0.71 kg m-2 in August 2004 to 1.02 in May 2005. Within-site variation in root biomass was larger than seasonal variation. Root respiration rate was highest in August 2004 (5.7 micro mol m-2 s-1) and lowest in October 2004 (1.7 micro mol m-2 s-1 ). Microbial respiration rate was highest in August 2004 (5.8 micro mol m-2 s-1 ) and lowest in April 2005 (2.59 micro mol m-2 s-1 ). We estimated that the contribution of root respiration to soil respiration ranged from 31% in October to 51% in August of 2004, and from 45% to 49% from April to June 2005.