Moisture regime influence on soil carbon stock and carbon sequestration rates in semi-arid forests of the National Capital Region, India

Understanding the dynamics of soil carbon is crucial for assessing the soil carbon storage and predicting the potential of mitigating carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the biomass and soil.The present study evaluated variations of soil carbon stock in semi-arid forests in India under diff erent moisture regimes.Soil organic carbon(SOC)and soil inorganic carbon(SIC)stocks were determined in diff erent moisture regimes i.e.monsoon,post-monsoon,winter and pre-monsoon seasons at 0–10 and>10–20 cm depths.SOC stock showed signifi cant variations under different moisture regimes.The highest SOC stock was during winter(22.81 Mg C ha−1)and lowest during the monsoon season(2.34 Mg C ha−1)among all the ridge forests under study.SOC and SIC stock under diff erent moisture regimes showed signifi cant negative correlation with soil moisture(p<0.05),as a sudden increase in soil moisture after rainfall results in an increase in carbon loss due to microbial decomposition of accumulated carbon during the dry period.There was an increase in annual SOC stock and a decrease(or no change in some cases),in SIC stock at both the depths during the study period.The SOC and SIC sequestration rates were estimated as any increase/decrease in the respective stock during each successive year.SOC sequestered ranged between 0.046 and 0.741 Mg C ha−1 y−1.Similarly,SIC sequestration ranged between 0.013 and 0.023 Mg C ha−1 y−1 over all ridge forests up to 20 cm depth.The Delhi ridge forests,which accounts to 0.007%of the semi-arid regions of India,contribute 0.25–0.32%of the national potential(semi-arid region)for SOC sequestration up to 20 cm depth.The estimates of the rate of C sequestration in this study provide a realistic image of carbon dynamics under present climatic conditions of semi-arid forests,and could be used in developing a database and formulating new strategies for carbon dioxide mitigation by enhancing soil C sequestration rates.

Differences in Organic C Mineralization Between Aerobic and Submerged Conditions in Paddy Soils of Southern Jiangsu Province,China

Moisture regime plays a crucial role in the mineralization of soil organic carbon （SOC）. In this paper, the dynamics of SOC mineralization in typical paddy soils of Changshu, Jiangsu Province, China, was investigated by incubation test in laboratory. The differences in SOC mineralization under aerobic and submerged conditions of paddy soils were also studied. Results showed that the daily mineralization of SOC under different moisture regimes was significantly different in the whole incubation period, at the beginning of the incubation, it decreased quickly under aerobic condition, but increased rapidly under submerged condition, and both remained constant after 10 d of incubation. The differences in SOC mineralization were found to be mainly at the beginning period of the incubation and decreased along with the incubation time. Thus, the difference was not significantly different at the later incubation period. The respiration intensity, daily and cumulative mineralization of SOC under aerobic condition was 2.26-19.11, 0.96-2.41, and 0.96-2.41 times than those .under submerged condition, respectively. Statistic analyses showed that the higher the contents of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, the more significant difference in respiration intensity between aerobic and submerged conditions, but the higher the contents of microbial biomass nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon, the more significant difference in daily mineralization of SOC between the two conditions. The decrease in soil microbial activity under submerged condition was the main reason leading to the decrease in respiration intensity, but the decrease in SOC mineralization was also correlated with the changes in dissolved organic carbon over the whole incubation period.

Decoupling between Plant Productivity and Growing Season Length under a Warming Climate in Canada’s Arctic

Given the short duration of growing season in the Arctic, a strong correlation between plant productivity and growing season length (GSL) is conventionally assumed. Will this assumption hold true under a warming climate? In this study, we addressed the question by investigating the relationship between net primary productivity of leaves (NPPleaf) and GSL for various tundra ecosystems. We quantified NPPleaf and GSL using long-term satellite data and field measurements. Our results indicated that the relationship was not significant (i.e., decoupled) for 44% to 64% of tundra classes in the southern Canadian Arctic, but significant for all classes in the northern Canadian Arctic. To better understand the causes of the decoupling, we further decomposed the relationship into two components: the correspondence of interannual variations and the agreement of long- term trends. We found that the longer the mean GSL for a tundra class, the poorer the correspondence between their interannual variations. Soil moisture limitation further decoupled the relationship by deteriorating the agreement of long-term trends. Consequently, the decoupling between NPPleaf and GSL would be more likely to occur under a warming climate if the tundra class had a mean GSL > 116 (or 123) days with a dry (or moist) soil moisture regime.

Effect of moisture regime on the redistribution of heavy metals in paddy soil

Sequential extraction procedure was applied to assess the dynamics of solid-phase transformation of added Cu, Pb, Cd, and Hg in a typical Chinese paddy soil incubated under three moisture regimes （75% field capacity, wetting-drying cycle, and flooding）. The heavy metals spiked in the soil were time-dependently transferred from the easily extractable fraction （the exchangeable fraction） into less labile fractions （Fe-Mn oxide- and organic matter-bound fractions）, and thus reduced lability of the metals. No significant changes were found for the carbonate-bound and residual fractions of the heavy metals in the soil during the whole incubation. Change rate of the mobility factor （MF）, a proportion of weakly bound fractions （exchangeable and carbonate-bound） in the total metal of soil, reflected the transformation rate of metal speciation from the labile fractions toward stable fractions. It was found that soil moisture regime did not change the direction and pathways of transformation of metal speciation, but it significantly affected the transformation rate. In general, the paddy soil under flooding regime had higher metal reactivity compared with 75% field capacity and wetting-drying cycle regimes, resulting in the more complete movement of metals toward stable fractions. This might be related to the increased pH, precipitation of the metals with sulfides and higher concentration of amorphous Fe oxides under submerged condition.

Response of soil CO_2 efflux to precipitation manipulation in a semiarid grassland

Soil CO_2efflux（SCE） is an important component of ecosystem CO_2 exchange and is largely temperature and moisture dependent, providing feedback between C cycling and the climate system. We used a precipitation manipulation experiment to examine the effects of precipitation treatment on SCE and its dependences on soil temperature and moisture in a semiarid grassland. Precipitation manipulation included ambient precipitation, decreased precipitation（- 43%）, or increased precipitation（＋ 17%）. The SCE was measured from July2013 to December 2014, and CO_2 emission during the experimental period was assessed.The response curves of SCE to soil temperature and moisture were analyzed to determine whether the dependence of SCE on soil temperature or moisture varied with precipitation manipulation. The SCE significantly varied seasonally but was not affected by precipitation treatments regardless of season. Increasing precipitation resulted in an upward shift of SCE–temperature response curves and rightward shift of SCE–moisture response curves,while decreasing precipitation resulted in opposite shifts of such response curves. These shifts in the SCE response curves suggested that increasing precipitation strengthened the dependence of SCE on temperature or moisture, and decreasing precipitation weakened such dependences. Such shifts affected the predictions in soil CO_2 emissions for different precipitation treatments. When considering such shifts, decreasing or increasing precipitation resulted in 43 or 75% less change, respectively, in CO_2 emission compared with changes in emissions predicted without considering such shifts. Furthermore, the effects of shifts in SCE response curves on CO_2 emission prediction were greater during the growing than the non-growing season.