Responses of soil respiration to experimental warming in an alpine steppe on the Tibetan Plateau

• Published in: Environmental Research Letters
• Main Authors: Guanqin Wang, Fei Li, Yunfeng Peng, Jianchun Yu, Dianye Zhang, Guibiao Yang, Kai Fang, Jun Wang, Anwar Mohammat, Guoying Zhou, Yuanhe Yang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 2019
• Subjects: climate warming; meta-analysis; carbon cycle; carbon-climate feedback; alpine ecosystem; arctic ecosystem; Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering; TD1-1066; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Science; Q; Physics; QC1-999; Arctic; Tundra
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab3bbc; https://doaj.org/article/917fbf344e83494db0e6171f7cb6ffb9

High-latitude and high-altitude ecosystems store large amounts of carbon (C) and play a vital role in the global C cycle. Soil respiration ( R _S ) in these ecosystems is believed to be extremely sensitive to climate warming and could potentially trigger positive C-climate feedback. However, this evidence is largely derived from wet ecosystems, with limited observations from dry ecosystems. Here, we explored the responses of R _S , autotrophic ( R _A ), and heterotrophic ( R _H ) respiration under experimental warming in a dry ecosystem, an alpine steppe on the Tibetan Plateau. We assessed the effects of soil temperature and moisture dynamics on R _S , R _A, and R _H and performed a meta-analysis to examine whether the warming effects observed were similar to those reported in wet ecosystems, including Tibetan alpine meadow and arctic ecosystem. Experimental warming did not alter R _S , R _A, and R _H in this alpine steppe, likely because decreased soil moisture constrained positive warming effects. In contrast, the meta-analysis revealed that R _S exhibited a significant increase under experimental warming in both the Tibetan alpine meadow and arctic wet tundra. These results demonstrate that R _S exhibits different responses to climate warming between dry and wet ecosystems, suggesting potential more complex C-climate feedback in cold regions.