Diurnal and Seasonal Variations in Soil Respiration of Four Plantation Forests in an Urban Park
Mengxun Zhu,
Wanlai Xue,
Hang Xu,
Yuan Gao,
Shengnan Chen,
Bin Li,
Zhiqiang Zhang
Affiliations
Mengxun Zhu
Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Wanlai Xue
College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Hang Xu
Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Yuan Gao
Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Shengnan Chen
Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Bin Li
Gongqing Forest Farm, Beijing 101300, China
Zhiqiang Zhang
Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Understanding the carbon dynamics of urban trees and forests is one of the key components for developing mitigation strategies for climate change in a fast-paced urbanized world. This study selected four plantation forests composed of poplar, black locust, Chinese pine and mixture of poplar and black locust, located in an urban forest park on a well-drained fluvial plain with same land-use history. The diurnal and seasonal changes in soil respiration (Rs) and biophysical factors were measured from April 2015 to March 2016. At the diurnal scale, Rs varied out of phase with soil temperature (Ts) and the time-lag occurred in May and July when Ts was relatively high and soil moisture (Ms) was low. Strong seasonal variations in Rs were mainly determined by Ts, while the growing-season mean Rs positively correlated with the fine root biomass (FRB), soil organic carbon content (SOC), and total nitrogen content (TN) for all the forests. FRB alone could explain 75% of the among-stand variability. This study concluded that urban forest plantations have similar soil respiration dynamics to forest ecosystems in non-urban settings.