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Fourteen Annually Repeated Droughts Suppressed Autotrophic Soil Respiration and Resulted in an Ecosystem Change

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Abstract

Predictions of future climate over the next 100 years show that the frequency of long periods of droughts in summer will increase in the Netherlands. This study investigated the effect of 14 annually repeated droughts on soil respiration at a Dutch heathland. Field measurements of total soil respiration (RS) and microbial respiration (RH) were modeled to determine annual C losses and to derive root respiration (RA) C losses. The application of repeated droughts resulted in suppression of the total soil C loss from 392 to 332 g C m−2 year−1 in 2010–2011 and from 427 to 358 g C m−2 year−1 in 2011–2012. The RH was the greatest contributor to heathland soil C loss (74–76%) and this was suppressed when directly exposed to drought conditions, although not significantly reduced on an annual basis. Annual RA was suppressed by 42% (2010–2011) and 45% (2011–2012) under repeated drought, indicating there was a greater effect of the repeated annual drought in roots than in microbes. Field observations of photosynthesis (PG) showed paradoxical results, with significantly greater ecosystem PG on the drought treatment than the control treatment. Inclusion of plant activity (PG) as a variable did not improve the fit of the models used in this study. However, other changes in plant composition and structure, such as increasing moss cover on the drought treatment, were noted to have occurred during the 14 years of annually repeated drought and these long term trends may help explain the effects of climate change (drought) on soil processes.

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Acknowledgments

This study was carried out and funded by European Commission under the FP7-Research Infrastructures Programme (Grant Agreement No. 227628) as a part of the Integrated Network on Climate Research Activities on Shrubland Ecosystems (INCREASE) project. The authors would like to thank Sharon Mason and Louise Andresen for their contributions to this paper, the University of Amsterdam (Universiteit van Amsterdam) for making this research possible and the Royal Netherlands Army (Koninklijke Landmacht) for access to the field site.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth Surface Science Research Group, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94240, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gillian R. Kopittke, Albert Tietema & Daan Asscheman

  2. Computational Geo-Ecology Research Group, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    E. Emiel van Loon

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  1. Gillian R. Kopittke
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  2. Albert Tietema
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  3. E. Emiel van Loon
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  4. Daan Asscheman
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Correspondence to Albert Tietema.

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Author Contributions

GRK, AT, and DA conceived and designed the study and contributed to performing the research. GRK and EEVL analyzed data and (together with AT) wrote the paper.

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Kopittke, G.R., Tietema, A., van Loon, E.E. et al. Fourteen Annually Repeated Droughts Suppressed Autotrophic Soil Respiration and Resulted in an Ecosystem Change. Ecosystems 17, 242–257 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-013-9720-x

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