Abstract
In this chapter, exchange dynamics of greenhouse gases over Hungarian grassland ecosystems are analyzed. Carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange was measured by eddy covariance technique at three sites (Bugac, Mátra, and Hegyhátsál). Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes were occasionally measured by static chamber method partly at the same grassland sites and at a wetland site. Dry grasslands (Bugac and Mátra) were net sources of CO2 in extreme drought years on annual time scale, while in other years they acted as sinks. The relatively humid Hegyhátsál was a net sink of CO2 on annual time scale during the measurement period. The different soil types (light sandy soil, heavy clay soil, and loamy soil) and the variable amount of annual precipitation sums (ranging from 551 to 747 mm) provided a unique opportunity to analyze the response of CO2 dynamics of grasslands to the soil type and effect of water stress. In case of the sandy grassland (Bugac), the exclusive role of the annual precipitation sum in the determination of annual NEE is strongly coupled to the soil type. Although the sandy grassland expressed adaptation to drought, the CO2 sink--source precipitation threshold was within the standard deviation (112 mm) of the annual precipitation, showing the high risk of desertification in this ecosystem. Grassland ecosystem on heavy clay soil was more vulnerable to drought stress than the grassland on sandy soil due to the worse water management properties of the clay soil. At the grassland on loamy soil in the more rainy western part of the country, gross primary production was occasionally limited by high soil water contents. This grassland has good adaptation capabilities to uneven precipitation distribution owing to the high silt fraction of the soil resulting in high water storage capacity. CH4 flux above grasslands was within the range of −54 to 58 mg CH4 m−2 year−1 (negative flux means uptake by the soil). Wetland soils are generally CH4 emitters. Annual mean of N2O soil emission varied between 0.005 and 0.17 g N2O m−2 year−1 with 6-year averages of 0.08 and 0.03 g N2O m−2 year−1 for sandy/loess and clay soils, respectively. Mean soil flux of N2O over wetlands was similar to N2O emission over dry grasslands.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aires LMI, Pio CA, Pereira JS (2008) Carbon dioxide exchange above a Mediterranean C3/C4 grassland during two climatologically contrasting years. Glob Change Biol 14:539–555
Baldocchi D (2008) Breathing of the terrestrial biosphere: lessons learned from a global network of carbon dioxide flux measurement systems. Aust J Bot 56:1–26
Barcza Z, Haszpra L, Kondo H, Saigusa N, Yamamoto S, Bartholy J (2003) Carbon exchange of grass in Hungary. Tellus 55B:187–196
Barcza Z, Kern A, Haszpra L, Kljun N (2009) Spatial representativeness of tall tower eddy covariance measurements using remote sensing and footprint analysis. Agric For Meteorol 149:795–807
Bartholy J, Mika J (2005) Időjárás és éghajlat – cseppben a tenger? (Weather and climate – Sea in the drop?). Magy Tud 166:789–796
Batjes NH (1998) Mitigation of atmospheric CO2 concentrations by increased carbon sequestration in the soil. Biol Fertil Soils 27:230–235
Ciais P, Bousquet P, Freibauer A, Naegler T (2007) Horizontal displacement of carbon associated with agriculture and its impacts on atmospheric CO2. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 21:GB2014. doi:doi:10.1029/2006GB002741
Eswaran H, Vandenberg E, Reich P (1993) Organic-carbon in soils of the world. Soil Sci Soc Am J 57:192–194
Flanagan LB, Wever LA, Carlson PJ (2002) Seasonal and interannual variation in carbon dioxide exchange and carbon balance in a northern temperate grassland. Glob Change Biol 8:599–615
Flechard CR, Ambus P, Skiba U, Rees RM, Hensen A, van Amstel A, van den Pol-van Dasselaar A, Soussana J-F, Jones M, Clifton-Brown J, Raschi A, Horvath L, Neftel A, Jocher M, Ammann C, Leidfield J, Fuhrer J, Calanca PL, Thalman E, Pilegaard K, Di Marco C, Campbell C, Nemitz E, Hargreaves KJ, Levy P, Ball BC, Jones S, van de Bulk WCM, Groot T, Blom M, Domingues R, Kasper G, Allard V, Ceshia E, Cellier P, Laville P, Henault C, Bizouard F, Abdalla M, Williams M, Baronti S, Berretti F, Grosz B (2007) Effects of climate and management intensity on nitrous oxide emissions in grassland systems across Europe. Agric Ecosyst Environ 121:135–152
Fodor N, Rajkai K (2005) Számítógépes program a talajok fizikai és vízgazdálkodási jellemzőinek egyéb talajjellemzőkből történő számítására (A computer program for computation of physical and water management properties of soils from other soil characteristics), (TALAJTANonc 1.0). Agrokémia és Talajtan 54:25–40
Frank AB (2004) Six years of CO2 flux measurements for a moderately grazed mixed-grass prairie. Environ Manage 33:426–431
Hagyó A (2009) A növényzet és földhasználat hatása barna erdőtalajok nedvesség-dinamikájára. Ph.D. értekezés, Gödöllő (Effect of vegetation and land use on water content dynamics of brown forest soils. Ph.D. thesis, Gödöllő) pp 136
Haszpra L, Barcza Z, Davis KJ, Tarczay K (2005) Long-term tall tower carbon dioxide flux monitoring over an area of mixed vegetation. Agric For Meteorol 132:58–77
Horváth L, Grosz B, Machon A, Balogh J, Pintér K, Czóbel S (2008a) Influence of soil type on N2O and CH4 soil fluxes in Hungarian grasslands. Commun Ecol 9(Suppl):75–80. doi:10.1556/Com.Ec.9.2008.S11
Horváth L, Grosz B, Czóbel Sz, Nagy Z, Péli E, Szerdahelyi T, Szirmai O, Tuba Z (2008b) Measurement of methane and nitrous oxide fluxes in Bodrogköz, Hungary; preliminary results. Acta Biologica Szegediensis 52:119–122
Horváth L, Czóbel Sz, Grosz B, Tuba Z (2010a) Bodrogközi vizes élőhelyek CH4 és N2O kibocsátása (2006–2009) (CH4 and N2O effluxes from wetlands in the Bodrogköz region). In memoriam Zoltán Tuba. Szent István University, Gödöllő
Horváth L, Grosz B, Machon A, Tuba Z, Nagy Z, Czóbel Sz, Balogh J, Péli E, Fóti Sz, Weidinger T, Pintér K, Führer E (2010b). Estimation of nitrous oxide emission from Hungarian semi-arid sandy and loess grasslands; effect of soil parameters, grazing, irrigation and use of fertilizer. Agric Ecosyst Environ (accepted)
Hunt JE, Kelliher FM, McSeveny TM, Ross DJ, Whitehead D (2004) Long-term carbon exchange in a sparse, seasonally dry tussock grassland. Glob Change Biol 10:1785–1800
IPCC (1996) Climate change 1995: The science of climate change. In: Houghton JT, Meira Filho LG, Callander BA, Harris N, Kattenberg A, Maskell K (eds) Contribution of Working Group I to the second assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York USA
Jacobs CMJ, Jacobs AFG, Bosveld FC, Hendriks DMD, Hensen A, Kroon PS, Moors EJ, Nol L, Schrier-Uijl A, Veenendaal EM (2007) Variability of annual CO2 exchange from Dutch grasslands. Biogeosciences 4:803–816
Jaksic V, Kiely G, Albertson J, Oren R, Katul G, Leahy P, Byrne KA (2006) Net ecosystem exchange of grassland in contrasting wet and dry years. Agric For Meteorol 139:323–334
Kugler S, Horváth L, Machon A (2008) Estimation of nitrogen balance between the atmosphere and Lake Balaton and a semi natural grassland in Hungary. Environ Pollut 154:498–503
Lagergren F, Lindroth A, Dellwik E, Ibrom A, Lankreijer H, Launiainen S, Molder M, Kolari P, Pilegaard K, Vesala T (2008) Biophysical controls on CO2 fluxes of three Northern forests based on long-term eddy covariance data. Tellus Ser B Chem Phys Meteorol 60:143–152
Machon A, Horváth L, Weidinger T, Grosz B, Pintér K, Tuba Z, Führer E (2010) Estimation of net nitrogen flux between the atmosphere and a semi-natural grassland ecosystem in Hungary. European Journal of Soil Science DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2389.2010.01264.x
Nagy Z, Pintér K, Czóbel Sz, Balogh J, Horváth L, Fóti S, Barcza Z, Weidinger T, Csintalan Z, Dinh NQ, Grosz B, Tuba Z (2007) The carbon budget of a semiarid grassland in a wet and a dry year in Hungary. Agric Ecosyst Environ 121:21–29
Novick KA, Stoy PC, Katul GG, Ellsworth DS, Siqueira MBS, Juang J, Oren R (2004) Carbon dioxide and water vapor exchange in a warm temperate grassland. Oecologia 138:259–274
Pereira JS, Mateus JA, Aires LM, Pita G, Pio C, David JS, Andrade V, Banza J, David TS, Paco TA, Rodrigues A (2007) Net ecosystem carbon exchange in three contrasting Mediterranean ecosystems - the effect of drought. Biogeosciences 4:791–802
Pintér K, Nagy Z, Barcza Z, Balogh J, Czóbel Sz, Csintalan Z, Tuba Z (2008) Interannual variability of grasslands’ carbon balance depends on soil type. Commun Ecol 9:43–48
Reichstein M, Ciais P, Papale D, Valentini R, Running S, Viovy N, Cramer W, Granier A, Ogee J, Allard V, Aubinet M, Bernhofer C, Buchmann N, Carrara A, Grunwald T, Heimann M, Heinesch B, Knohl A, Kutsch W, Loustau D, Manca G, Matteucci G, Miglietta F, Ourcival JM (2007) Reduction of ecosystem productivity and respiration during the European summer 2003 climate anomaly: a joint flux tower, remote sensing and modelling analysis. Glob Change Biol 13:634–651
Schimel DS (1995) Terrestrial Ecosystems and the carbon-cycle. Glob Change Biol 1:77–91
Schulze E-D, Luyssaert S, Ciais P, Freibauer A, Janssens IA, Soussana JF, Smith P, Grace J, Levin I, Thiruchittampalam B, Heimann M, Dolman AJ, Valentini R, Bousquet P, Peylin P, Peters W, Rödenbeck C, Etiope G, Vuichard N, Wattenbach M, Nabuurs GJ, Poussi Z, Nieschulze J, Gash JH, the CarboEurope Team, (2009) Importance of methane and nitrous oxide for Europe’s terrestrial greenhouse-gas balance. Nat Geosci 2:842–850. doi:10.1038/ngeo686
Soussana JF, Allard V, Pilegaard K, Ambus P, Amman C, Campbell C, Ceschia E, Clifton-Brown J, Czobel Sz, Domingues R, Flechard C, Fuhrer J, Hensen A, Horvath L, Jones M, Kasper G, Martin C, Nagy Z, Neftel A, Raschi A, Baronti S, Rees RM, Skiba U, Stefani P, Manca G, Sutton M, Tuba Z (2007) An assessment of the greenhouse gas balance of nine European grassland sites. Agric Ecosyst Environ 121:121–134
Suni T, Berninger F, Vesala T, Markkanen T, Hari P, Mäkelä A, Ilvesniemi H, Hänninen H, Nikinmaa E, Huttula T, Laurila T, Aurela M, Grelle A, Lindroth A, Arneth A, Shibistova O, Lloyd J (2003) Air temperature triggers the recovery of evergreen boreal forest photosynthesis in spring. Glob Change Biol 9:1410–1426
Suyker AE, Verma SB (2001) Year-round observations of the net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide in a native tallgrass prairie. Glob Change Biol 7:279–289
van den Pol-van Dasselaar A, van Beusichem ML, Onema O (1998) Effects of soil moisture content and temperature on methane uptake by grasslands on sandy soils. Plant Soil 204:213–222
Xu LK, Baldocchi DD (2004) Seasonal variation in carbon dioxide exchange over a Mediterranean annual grassland in California. Agric For Meteorol 123:79–96
Yuste JC, Janssens IA, Carrara A, Ceulemans R (2004) Annual Q(10) of soil respiration reflects plant phenological patterns as well as temperature sensitivity. Glob Change Biol 10:161–169
Acknowledgments
The present work was supported by the Carboeurope-IP (EU GOCE-CT2003-505572), NITROEUROPE-IP (017810-2) of the European Comission’s 6th R&D Framework Programme, the Hungarian Ministry of Economy and Transport (GVOP-3.2.1.-2004-04-0107/3.0), and the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA K75638). The authors highly appreciate the help and contribution of Giorgio Alberti, Alessandro Peressotti (University of Udine, Udine, Italy), István Tóth (technician at the Hegyhátsál site), Susumu Yamamoto, Hiroaki Kondo, and Nobuko Saigusa (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nagy, Z. et al. (2011). Grasslands. In: Haszpra, L. (eds) Atmospheric Greenhouse Gases: The Hungarian Perspective. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9950-1_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9950-1_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9949-5
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-9950-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)