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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Ecological responses of Stipa steppe in Inner Mongolia to experimentally increased temperature and precipitation. 3: Soil respiration

Xuexia Wang A , Yali Chen A B , Yulong Yan A B , Zhiqiang Wan A B , Ran Chao A B , Rui Gu A C , Jie Yang B and Qingzhu Gao A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Key Laboratory for Agro-Environment & Climate Change of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.

B School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010021, China.

C College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010020, China.

D Corresponding author. Email: gaoqingzhu@caas.cn

The Rangeland Journal 40(2) 153-158 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ16083
Submitted: 21 August 2016  Accepted: 11 January 2018   Published: 19 March 2018

Abstract

The response of soil respiration to simulated climatic warming and increased precipitation was evaluated on the arid–semi-arid Stipa steppe of Inner Mongolia. Soil respiration rate had a single peak during the growing season, reaching a maximum in July under all treatments. Soil temperature, soil moisture and their interaction influenced the soil respiration rate. Relative to the control, warming alone reduced the soil respiration rate by 15.6 ± 7.0%, whereas increased precipitation alone increased the soil respiration rate by 52.6 ± 42.1%. The combination of warming and increased precipitation increased the soil respiration rate by 22.4 ± 11.2%. When temperature was increased, soil respiration rate was more sensitive to soil moisture than to soil temperature, although the reverse applied when precipitation was increased. Under the experimental precipitation (20% above natural rainfall) applied in the experiment, soil moisture was the primary factor limiting soil respiration, but soil temperature may become limiting under higher soil moisture levels.

Additional keywords: carbon expenditure, simulated climate change, typical steppe.


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