Comparative study on CO_2 emissions from different types of alpine meadows during grass exuberance period

Potentilla fruticosascrub, Kobresia humilismeadow and Kobresia tibeticameadow are widely distributed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. During the grass exuberance period from 3 July to 4 September, based on close chamber-GC method, a study on CO 2 emissions from different treatments was conducted in these meadows at Haibei research station, CAS. Results indicated that mean CO 2 emission rates from various treatments were 672.09±152.37 mgm -2 h -1 for FC (grass treatment); 425.41±191.99 mgm -2 h -1 for FJ (grass exclusion treatment); 280.36±174.83 mgm -2 h -1 for FL (grass and roots exclusion treatment); 838.95±237.02 mgm -2 h -1 for GG (scrub+grass treatment); 528.48±205.67 mgm -2 h -1 for GC (grass treatment); 268.97±99.72 mgm -2 h -1 for GL (grass and roots exclusion treatment); and 659.20±94.83 mgm -2 h -1 for LC (grass treatment), respectively (FC, FJ, FL, GG, GC, GL, LC were the Chinese abbreviation for various treatments). Furthermore, Kobresia humilismeadow, Potentilla fruticosascrub meadow and Kobresia tibeticameadow differed greatly in average CO 2 emission rate of soil-plant system, in the order of GG>FC>LC>GC. Moreover, in Kobresia humilismeadow, heterotrophic and autotrophic respiration accounted for 42% and 58% of the total respiration of soil-plant system respectively, whereas, in Potentilla fruticosascrub meadow, heterotrophic and autotrophic respiration accounted for 32% and 68% of total system respiration from GG; 49% and 51% from GC. In addition, root respiration from Kobresia humilismeadow approximated 145 mgCO 2 m -2 h -1 , contributed 34% to soil respiration. During the experiment period, Kobresia humilismeadow and Potentilla fruticosascrub meadow had a net carbon fixation of 111.11 gm -2 and 243.89 gm -2 , respectively. Results also showed that soil temperature was the main factor which influenced CO 2 emission from alpine meadow ecosystem, significant correlations were found between soil temperature at 5 cm depth and CO 2 emission from GG, GC, FC and FJ treatments. In addition, soil moisture may be the inhibitory factor of CO 2 emission from Kobresia tibeticameadow, and more detailed analyses should be done in further research.

Monitoring and simulation of water,heat,and CO_2 fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems based on the APEIS-FLUX system

The Integrated Environmental Monitoring (IEM) project, part of the Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy (APEIS) project, developed an integrated environmental monitoring system that can be used to detect, monitor, and assess environmental disasters, degradation, and their impacts in the Asia-Pacific region. The system primarily employs data from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) sensor on the Earth Observation System-(EOS-) Terra/Aqua satellite, as well as those from ground observations at five sites in different ecological systems in China. From the preliminary data analysis on both annual and daily variations of water, heat and CO2 fluxes, we can confirm that this system basically has been working well. The results show that both latent flux and CO2 flux are much greater in the crop field than those in the grassland and the saline desert, whereas the sensible heat flux shows the opposite trend. Different data products from MODIS have very different correspondence, e.g. MODIS-derived land surface temperature has a close correlation with measured ones, but LAI and NPP are quite different from ground measurements, which suggests that the algorithms used to process MODIS data need to be revised by using the local dataset. We are now using the APEIS-FLUX data to develop an integrated model, which can simulate the regional water, heat, and carbon fluxes. Finally, we are expected to use this model to develop more precise high-order MODIS products in Asia-Pacific region.

A New Triterpenoid from Amoora dasyclada

Five compounds were isolated from the EtOH extraction of the stem of Amoora dasyclada (How et T.Chen) C.Y.Wu (Meliaceae). On the basis of spectroscopic methods, their structures were elucidated as 24, 25-epoxy-tirucall-7-ene-3, 23-dione (1),24,25,26,27-tetranortirucall-7-ene-3-oxo-23(21)-Iactone (2),taraxerone (3),taraxerol (4)and β-sitosterol (5).Among them, compound 1 was a new triterpenoid, compounds 3-5 were firstly obtained from this plant; compound 2,an tetranortriterpenoid, was firstly isolated from natural sources, and its NMR data were assigned for the first time. Moreover, the △^7-bond and the Me-14 in compound 2 were never changed, which has never been found in other tetranortriterpenoids. And the biosynthetic pathway of tetranortriterpenoid was further discussed.

Diurnal and monthly variations of carbon dioxide flux in an alpine shrub on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Continuous CO2 flux observation with eddy covariance method conducted in the alpine shrub on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau indicates that there are distinct diur- nal and monthly variations for CO2 fluxes in the alpine shrub on the plateau. As for diurnal variation, with net CO2 influx from 08:00 to 19:00 and net CO2 efflux from 20:00 to 07:00, peak CO2 flux during warm season (July) appears around 12:00 (?1.19 g CO2·m?2·h?1); there is no obvious horary fluctuation for CO2 flux during cold season (January), and horary CO2 flux during most hours in a day is close to zero except for a small amount of net efflux (about 0.11 g CO2·m?2·h?1) from 11:00—17:00. As for monthly varia- tion, with net CO2 influx from June to September and net CO2 efflux from January to May and October to December, the peak monthly CO2 influx and CO2 efflux appear in Au- gust and April, respectively. The total net CO2 influx from June to September and total net CO2 efflux from February to May and October to December in the alpine shrub on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are estimated to be 673 and 446 g CO2·m?2. Results show that the alpine shrub on the Qing- hai-Tibet Plateau is remarkable carbon dioxide sink under no grazing conditions and the total yearly CO2 influx is esti- mated to be 227 g CO2·m?2.

Discovery of C_4 species at high altitude in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Plant specimens are collected from the areasbetween latitude 27°42′N and 40°57′N, and longitude 88°93′Eand 103°24′E, with an altitudinal range from 2210 to 5050 m above the sea level in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The stable carbon isotope analysis indicates that two of Chenopodiaceae and six of Poaceae in the samples are C4 plants. Four of the C4 plants are found in 11 spots with altitudes above 3800 m,and Pennisetum centrasiaticum, Arundinella yunnanensis and Orinus thoroldii are present in six spots above 4000 m, evenup to 4520 m. At low CO2 partial pressure, that sufficient energy of high light improving C4 plant's tolerance of low temperature and precipitations concentrating in growing season probably are favorable for C4 plants growing at high altitude in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Capacity of soil to protect organic carbon and biochemical characteristics of density fractions in Ziwulin Haplic Greyxems soil

Physical protection is one of the important ways to stabilize organic carbon in soils. In order to under- stand the role of soils as a carbon sink or source in global climatic change and carbon cycles and properly manage soils as a carbon sink, we ought to know how many organic car- bon (OC) in a given soil could be protected. By a density fractionation approach and ultrasonic technique, each soil sample was divided into three fractions: free light fraction (free-LF), occluded fraction (occluded-LF) and heavy frac- tion (HF). The obtained fractions were analyzed for total OC content, carbohydrate content and recalcitrant OC content. The results showed: (ⅰ) In the whole soil profile, dominance of OC consistently decreased in the following order: HF, free-LF, occluded-LF. This suggested that OC in soils were mostly protected. From 0—10 to 60—80 cm horizons, the OC in free-LF decreased from 25.27% to 3.72%, while OC in HF they were increased from 72.57% to 95.39%. The OC in oc- cluded-LF was between 2.16% and 0.89%. (ⅱ) Organic carbon recalcitrance in free-LF was similar to that in HF, and was even higher than that in HF below the surface hori- zon. This suggested that free-LF was not always the most fresh and non-decomposed fraction. OM quality of HF was higher than that of free-LF in the surface 10 cm below, namely the protected OM had higher quality than free OM in these horizons.