『Abstract
Most rangelands in temperate semiarid steppes have degraded due
to over-grazing. However, the exchanges of greenhouse gases (GHG)
between the degraded steppes have been poorly studied. In this
study we investigated the fluxes of methane (CH4), nitrous oxide
(N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2)
as ecosystem respiration during the growing season and their responses
to simulated increases in water availability and nitrogen supply
at a degraded steppe in Inner Mongolia, China. Temporal variation
of ecosystem respiration (i.e., CO2 flux)
was dominated by the interaction of soil temperature and moisture,
whereas N2O emissions were mainly dependent
on soil moisture. The ambient degraded steppe (i.e., not receiving
additional water and nitrogen supplies) was a sink of CH4 (- 1.41±0.04 kg C ha-1) and a source
of N2O (0.17±0.09 kg N ha-1) during
the growing season, respectively. Increases in water and nitrogen
supplies significantly stimulated N2O emissions
by 65-94% (p<0.05) and promoted ecosystem respiration by 47-70%
(p<-.-1), but did not significantly change CH4
uptake during the growing season in degraded plots. This result
indicates that soil source of N2O and ecosystem
respiration in degraded semiarid steppe may be strengthened with
increasing precipitation and atmospheric nitrogen deposition.
However, this conclusion should be examined at the annual scale
in future studies.
Keywords: Greenhouse gas; Grassland; Grazing; Degradation; Global
warming potential; Inner Mongolia』
1. Introduction
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Site description
2.2. Experimental design
2.3. GHG flux measurements
2.4. Ancillary measurements
2.5. Statistical analysis
3. Results
3.1. Environmental variables
3.2. Ecosystem respiration
3.3. Methane fluxes
3.4. Nitrous oxide fluxes
3.5. Relationships of GHG fluxes and soil temperature and moisture
4. Discussion
4.1. Ecosystem respiration
4.2. Methane
4.3. Nitrous oxide
5. Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References