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Seasonal change in N2O flux from forest soils in a forest catchment in Japan

  • Special Feature: Original article
  • Soil nitrogen dynamics of forest ecosystems under environmental changes
  • Published:
Journal of Forest Research

Abstract

Temperate forest soils are one source of nitrous oxide (N2O), which is an important greenhouse gas and the most important ozone-depleting substance. To clarify N2O flux mechanisms in relation to soil temperature, moisture, and nitrification activity, we measured N2O fluxes and net nitrification rates over 3 years at the lower (Japanese cedar) and upper (deciduous broad-leaved trees) parts of a hill slope in a small forest catchment in the northern Kanto region of Japan. The N2O flux was measured by the closed-chamber technique every month, along with soil temperature and water-filled pore space (WFPS). At the lower slope, the N2O flux increased with increasing soil temperature (r 2 = 0.383, P < 0.01) owing to an increase in the nitrification rate. At the upper slope, no positive linear correlation of N2O flux with soil temperature, WFPS, or nitrification rate was observed. The low N2O flux at the upper slope during summer was caused by the low summertime WFPS there. We attributed the higher mean N2O fluxes observed at the lower slope (median 2.36 μg N m−2 h−1) than at the upper slope (median 1.10 μg N m−2 h−1) to a high soil moisture during summer season in the surface soil of the lower slope.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate Ibaraki District Forest Office, Kanto Regional Forest Office for giving us permission to use the national forest for this study. We also thank the staff of the Forest Technology Center, KANTO Regional Forest Office, and the Experimental Forest Office, FFPRI for felling trees. This study was financially supported in part by research grant #200003 from FFPRI; the research project “Enhancement of Material Cycling Functions in Forest, Farmland, and Inshore Ecosystems” of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Japan; a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (no. 18780049); and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (no. 18580156) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Ecosystem Dynamics Group, Shikoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), 2-915 Asakura-nishimachi, Kochi, Kochi, 780-8077, Japan

    Tomoaki Morishita

  2. Soil-Plant Ecosystem Group, Hokkaido Research Center, FFPRI, 7 Hitsujigaoka, Toyohira, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 062-8516, Japan

    Shuhei Aizawa

  3. Kyushu Research Center, FFPRI, 4-11-16 Kurokami, Kumamoto, Kumamoto, 860-0862, Japan

    Shuichiro Yoshinaga

  4. Department of Forest Site Environment, FFPRI, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

    Shinji Kaneko

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  1. Tomoaki Morishita
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  2. Shuhei Aizawa
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  3. Shuichiro Yoshinaga
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  4. Shinji Kaneko
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Correspondence to Tomoaki Morishita.

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Morishita, T., Aizawa, S., Yoshinaga, S. et al. Seasonal change in N2O flux from forest soils in a forest catchment in Japan. J For Res 16, 386–393 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-011-0285-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-011-0285-2

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