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Soil temperature and biotic factors drive the seasonal variation of soil respiration in a maize (Zea mays L.) agricultural ecosystem

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Abstract

The diurnal and seasonal variation of soil respiration (SR) and their driving environmental factors were studied in a maize ecosystem during the growing season 2005. The diurnal variation of SR showed asymmetric patterns, with the minimum occurring around early morning and the maximum around 13:00 h. SR fluctuated greatly during the growing season. The mean SR rate was 3.16 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1, with a maximum of 4.87 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 on July 28 and a minimum of 1.32 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 on May 4. During the diurnal variation of SR, there was a significant exponential relationship between SR and soil temperature (T) at 10 cm depth: \( {\text{SR}} = \alpha \text{e} ^{\beta T} \). At a seasonal scale, the coefficient α and β fluctuated because the biomass (B) increased α, and the net primary productivity (NPP) of maize markedly increased β of the exponential equation. Based on this, we developed the equation \( {\text{SR}} = \left( {aB + b} \right)\text{e} ^{\left( {cNPP + d} \right)T} \) to estimate the magnitude of SR and to simulate its temporal variation during the growth season of maize. Most of the temporal variability (93%) in SR could be explained by the variations in soil temperature, biomass and NPP of maize. This model clearly demonstrated that soil temperature, biomass and NPP of maize combined to drive the seasonal variation of SR during the growing season. However, only taking into account the influence of soil temperature on SR, an exponential equation over- or underestimated the magnitude of SR and resulted in an erroneous representation of the seasonal variation in SR. Our results highlighted the importance of biotic factors for the estimation of SR during the growing season. It is suggested that the models of SR on agricultural sites should not only take into account the influence of soil temperature, but also incorporate biotic factors as they affect SR during the growing season.

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Abbreviations

SR:

Soil respiration

T :

Soil temperature

B :

Biomass

NPP:

Net primary productivity

SWC:

Soil water content

C:

Total carbon of soil

N:

Soil nitrogen

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Yuhui Wang, Dr Yanling Jiang, Dr Bingrui Jia, Dr Fengyu Wang, Dr Xu Wang, Dr Yijun Li, Dr Yunlong Wang, Dr Ensheng Weng and Ms Jian Song for their help during the experiments. This work was jointly supported by the National Key Project for Basic Research (2006CB400502) and the Knowledge Innovation Programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-SW-133) and the National Science Foundation of China (40625015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Quantitative Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, P.R. China

    Guangxuan Han, Guangsheng Zhou & Zhenzhu Xu

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, P.R. China

    Guangxuan Han

  3. Institute of Atmospheric Environment, China Meteorological Administration, Shenyang, 110016, P.R. China

    Guangsheng Zhou

  4. Meterological Bureau of Jinzhou, Jinzhou, 121001, P.R. China

    Yang Yang, Jingli Liu & Kuiqiao Shi

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  1. Guangxuan Han
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  3. Zhenzhu Xu
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Correspondence to Guangsheng Zhou.

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Han, G., Zhou, G., Xu, Z. et al. Soil temperature and biotic factors drive the seasonal variation of soil respiration in a maize (Zea mays L.) agricultural ecosystem. Plant Soil 291, 15–26 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-006-9170-8

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