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The effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen amendments on subsurface CO2 production and concentration dynamics in a maturing pine forest

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Abstract

Profiles of subsurface soil CO2 concentration, soil temperature, and soil moisture, and throughfall were measured continuously during the years 2005 and 2006 in 16 locations at the free air CO2 enrichment facility situated within a temperate loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stand. Sampling at these locations followed a 4 by 4 replicated experimental design comprised of two atmospheric CO2 concentration levels (ambient [CO2]a, ambient + 200 ppmv, [CO2]e) and two soil nitrogen (N) deposition levels (ambient, ambient + fertilization at 11.2 gN m−2 year−1). The combination of these measurements permitted indirect estimation of belowground CO2 production and flux profiles in the mineral soil. Adjacent to the soil CO2 profiles, direct (chamber-based) measurements of CO2 fluxes from the soil–litter complex were simultaneously conducted using the automated carbon efflux system. Based on the measured soil CO2 profiles, neither [CO2]e nor N fertilization had a statistically significant effect on seasonal soil CO2, CO2 production, and effluxes from the mineral soil over the study period. Soil moisture and temperature had different effects on CO2 concentration depending on the depth. Variations in CO2 were mostly explained by soil temperature at deeper soil layers, while water content was an important driver at the surface (within the first 10 cm), where CO2 pulses were induced by rainfall events. The soil effluxes were equal to the CO2 production for most of the time, suggesting that the site reached near steady-state conditions. The fluxes estimated from the CO2 profiles were highly correlated to the direct measurements when the soil was neither very dry nor very wet. This suggests that a better parameterization of the soil CO2 diffusivity is required for these soil moisture extremes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Judd Edeburn and the Duke Forest staff, and Keith Lewin and the Brookhaven National Laboratories staff, in particular Robert Nettles, for their assistance at the Duke Forest FACE site. E. D. thanks Luca Grossini for his help with some of the analyses. The authors also thank T. Christensen and an anonymous reviewer for their suggestions. This research was supported by the Office of Science (BER), U.S. Department of Energy, Grant no. DE-FG02-95ER62083.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Building 60, Clayton Campus, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Edoardo Daly

  2. Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Sari Palmroth, Mario Siqueira, A. Christopher Oishi, Ram Oren, Amilcare Porporato & Gabriel G. Katul

  3. School of GeoSciences, Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JN, UK

    Paul Stoy

  4. Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil

    Mario Siqueira

  5. Department of Geography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jehn-Yih Juang

  6. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Amilcare Porporato & Gabriel G. Katul

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  1. Edoardo Daly
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Daly, E., Palmroth, S., Stoy, P. et al. The effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen amendments on subsurface CO2 production and concentration dynamics in a maturing pine forest. Biogeochemistry 94, 271–287 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-009-9327-7

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