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Soil carbon flux following pulse precipitation events in the shortgrass steppe

  • Original Article
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Ecological Research

Abstract

Pulses of water availability characterize semiarid and arid ecosystems. Most precipitation events in these ecosystems are small (≤10 mm), but can stimulate carbon flux. The large proportion of carbon stored belowground and small carbon inputs create the potential for these small precipitation events to have large effects on carbon cycling. Land-use change can modify these effects through alteration of the biota and soil resources. The goal of our research was to determine how small precipitation events (2, 5, and 10 mm) affected the dynamics of soil carbon flux and water loss in previously cultivated Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields and undisturbed shortgrass steppe. Total carbon loss and duration of elevated carbon flux increased as event size increased in all field types. Time since cultivation increased in importance for carbon flux as event size increased. A comparison of water loss rates to carbon flux suggests that water is limiting to carbon flux for the smallest events, but is less limiting for events above 5 mm. We also describe how water availability interacts with temperature in controlling carbon flux rate. We conclude that small precipitation events have the potential for large short-term losses of carbon in the shortgrass steppe.

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Acknowledgments

The Shortgrass Steppe LTER project and a Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) supplement (National Science Foundation Grant No. 0217631) supported this work. We would like to extend our gratitude to all Weld County, Colorado, CRP landowners who generously allowed us to sample in their fields. We also wish to thank Alan Knapp for allowing us to use his LI-COR, Jana Heisler-White and Joe von Fischer for helpful suggestions on sampling approaches, the SGS-LTER staff for their support, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions in revising this paper.

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Author notes

  1. Seth M. Munson

    Present address: USGS-Southwest Biological Science Center, Canyonlands Research Station, 2290 S. West Resource Blvd. Moab, Utah, 84532, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Seth M. Munson

  2. Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Seth M. Munson

  3. Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 80401, USA

    Tyler J. Benton

  4. SGS-LTER Research Experience for Undergraduates, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Tyler J. Benton

  5. Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    William K. Lauenroth

  6. Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Ingrid C. Burke

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  1. Seth M. Munson
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  2. Tyler J. Benton
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  4. Ingrid C. Burke
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Correspondence to Seth M. Munson.

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Munson, S.M., Benton, T.J., Lauenroth, W.K. et al. Soil carbon flux following pulse precipitation events in the shortgrass steppe. Ecol Res 25, 205–211 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-009-0651-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-009-0651-0

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