Abstract
Key message
Large-scale stem-girdling experiment reduced soil respiration for five consecutive years. Timing and magnitude of soil respiration declines are better explained by changes in leaf area rather than in soil microclimate.
Abstract
Soil respiration (Rs) represents the largest flux of carbon (C) from forests to the atmosphere, but the long-term influence of phloem-disrupting disturbance on Rs is poorly understood, limiting robust forecasts of ecosystem C balance. Using a decade of observations from the Forest accelerated succession experiment (FASET), we examined relationships among Rs, soil temperature, soil moisture, and leaf area index (LAI) following the stem girdling-induced mortality of 40% of all canopy trees within a 39-ha area. Mean annual Rs declined by about 20% relative to the control two years after disturbance, but recovered to near pre-disturbance values within five years; this reduction correlated with LAI losses and lower Rs temperature sensitivity (i.e., Q10), with the latter counteracting soil warming caused by partial canopy defoliation. These observations are consistent with progressive reductions in belowground labile C causing reductions in Rs. We conclude that the effects of stem girdling on Rs (1) were not immediate, occurring two years after the treatment, (2) were primarily influenced by biotic rather than soil microclimate changes, and (3) persisted for nearly a decade but were temporally dynamic, underscoring the value of long-term experiments.
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Availability of data and materials
All data have been previously published (see Bond-Lamberty et al. 2020; Gough et al. 2021a, b). All codes used are publicly available on Figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16958794.v1).
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology, Award 1655095 and by the Department of Energy AmeriFlux Core Site support to US-UMB and US-UMd sites. We thank the University of Michigan Biological Station for hosting and supporting our work.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology, Award 1655095 and by the Department of Energy AmeriFlux Core Site support to US-UMB and US-UMd sites.
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EAC and SIH wrote the original draft. SIH and CMG performed the statistical analysis. PSC, BBL, CC, KM, CSV, and CMG reviewed the original draft in several rounds.
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Clippard, E.A., Haruna, S.I., Curtis, P.S. et al. Decadal forest soil respiration following stem girdling. Trees 36, 1943–1949 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-022-02340-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-022-02340-x