Elevated CO2 decreases soil carbon stability in Tibetan Plateau
The lack of ecosystem-scale CO _2 enrichment experiments in alpine regions considerably restricts our ability to predict the feedback of the global carbon (C) cycle to climate change. Here we investigate soil C response in an experiment with 5-year CO _2 enrichment and nitrogen (N) fertilization in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abbb50 |
| _version_ | 1827870264129486848 |
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| author | Guang Zhao Chao Liang Xiaojuan Feng Lingli Liu Juntao Zhu Ning Chen Yao Chen Li Wang Yangjian Zhang |
| author_facet | Guang Zhao Chao Liang Xiaojuan Feng Lingli Liu Juntao Zhu Ning Chen Yao Chen Li Wang Yangjian Zhang |
| author_sort | Guang Zhao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The lack of ecosystem-scale CO _2 enrichment experiments in alpine regions considerably restricts our ability to predict the feedback of the global carbon (C) cycle to climate change. Here we investigate soil C response in an experiment with 5-year CO _2 enrichment and nitrogen (N) fertilization in a Tibetan meadow (4585 m above the sea level). We found that despite non-significant increase in bulk soil C pool, elevated CO _2 dramatically altered the allocation of C in different soil fractions and soil mineralization potentials. By changing soil microbial composition and enhancing enzyme activities, elevated CO _2 significantly accelerated soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization rates and stimulated the microbial utilization of ‘old C’ relative to that of ‘new C’. Furthermore, N fertilization under elevated CO _2 altered the decomposition process, increased the fungi to bacteria ratio, and decreased the coarse particulate organic matter pool and enzyme activities, indicating that N fertilization counters the CO _2 fertilization effect. Overall, our findings suggest a growing threat of elevated CO _2 in reducing SOM stability, and highlight the key role of N availability in driving soil C turnover under elevated CO _2 . |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:55:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-12fb2753455140a78ebc2e12a95b6d6e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:55:24Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-12fb2753455140a78ebc2e12a95b6d6e2023-08-09T14:56:47ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-01151111400210.1088/1748-9326/abbb50Elevated CO2 decreases soil carbon stability in Tibetan PlateauGuang Zhao0Chao Liang1Xiaojuan Feng2Lingli Liu3Juntao Zhu4Ning Chen5Yao Chen6Li Wang7Yangjian Zhang8Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 11 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaInstitute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 11 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 11 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 11 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaPeking University Shenzhen Graduate School , Shenzhen 518055, People’s Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 11 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; CAS center for excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences , Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaThe lack of ecosystem-scale CO _2 enrichment experiments in alpine regions considerably restricts our ability to predict the feedback of the global carbon (C) cycle to climate change. Here we investigate soil C response in an experiment with 5-year CO _2 enrichment and nitrogen (N) fertilization in a Tibetan meadow (4585 m above the sea level). We found that despite non-significant increase in bulk soil C pool, elevated CO _2 dramatically altered the allocation of C in different soil fractions and soil mineralization potentials. By changing soil microbial composition and enhancing enzyme activities, elevated CO _2 significantly accelerated soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization rates and stimulated the microbial utilization of ‘old C’ relative to that of ‘new C’. Furthermore, N fertilization under elevated CO _2 altered the decomposition process, increased the fungi to bacteria ratio, and decreased the coarse particulate organic matter pool and enzyme activities, indicating that N fertilization counters the CO _2 fertilization effect. Overall, our findings suggest a growing threat of elevated CO _2 in reducing SOM stability, and highlight the key role of N availability in driving soil C turnover under elevated CO _2 .https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abbb50alpinenitrogen additionsoil density fractionationsoil carbon partitioningenzyme activitymicroorganism |
| spellingShingle | Guang Zhao Chao Liang Xiaojuan Feng Lingli Liu Juntao Zhu Ning Chen Yao Chen Li Wang Yangjian Zhang Elevated CO2 decreases soil carbon stability in Tibetan Plateau Environmental Research Letters alpine nitrogen addition soil density fractionation soil carbon partitioning enzyme activity microorganism |
| title | Elevated CO2 decreases soil carbon stability in Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Elevated CO2 decreases soil carbon stability in Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Elevated CO2 decreases soil carbon stability in Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Elevated CO2 decreases soil carbon stability in Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Elevated CO2 decreases soil carbon stability in Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | elevated co2 decreases soil carbon stability in tibetan plateau |
| topic | alpine nitrogen addition soil density fractionation soil carbon partitioning enzyme activity microorganism |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abbb50 |
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