ABSTRACT
Understanding the effect of land-use change on soil respiration rates becomes critical in predicting soil carbon cycling under conversion of arable into grassland on the Loess Plateau. From July 2010 to December 2011, CO2 efflux from the soil surface was measured between 08:00 to 10:00 am in clear days by a Licor-8100 closed chamber system (Li-COR, Lincoln, NE, US). Also, soil temperature and soil moisture at the 5-cm depth was measured using a Li-Cor thermocouple and a hand-held frequency-domain reflectometer (ML2x, Delta-T Devices Ltd, UK) at each PVC collar, respectively. We found marked differences (P < 0.05) in soil respiration related to different land-use: the mean cropland soil respiration [1.35 micromol x (m2 x s)(-1)] was 24% (P < 0.05) less than the paired grassland soil respiration [1.67 micromol x (m2 x s)(-1)] (P < 0.05) during the period of experiment and the cumulative CO2-C emissions in grassland (856 g x m(-2)) was 23% (P < 0.05) higher than that in cropland (694 g x m(-2)). Soil moisture from 0-5 cm depth was much drier in cropland and significantly different between cropland and grassland except for winter. However, there were no clear relationships between soil moisture and soil respiration. Soil temperature at 5-cm depth was 2.5 degress C higher in grassland during the period of experiment (P < 0.05). Regression of soil temperature vs. soil respiration indicated significant exponential relationships both in grassland and cropland. Besides, there were intrinsic differences in response of soil respiration to temperature between the cropland and grassland ecosystems: grassland and cropland respiration response was significantly different at the alpha = 0.05 level, also expressed by a higher temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (Q10) in cropland (2.30) relative to grassland (1.74). Soil temperature of cropland and grassland can explain 79% of the variation in the soil respiration in grassland, compared to 82% in cropland. Therefore, land-use change can alter soil CO2 efflux under similar edaphic and climate conditions in the gully region of the Loess Plateau. The soil temperature difference between cropland and grassland can explain the soil respiration difference caused by land-use change, which was confirmed by the validation results.
