Effects of warming and litter positions on litter decomposition in a boreal peatland
Litter decomposition is an important source of carbon accumulation in the permafrost peatlands. Climate warming has led to shrub expansions and accelerated litter mixing with soils and fluctuations in the water table. However, little is known about how changes in the position of the litter will affe...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.1078104/full |
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| author | Guobao Ma Guobao Ma Xianwei Wang Xiaoxin Sun Xiaoxin Sun Shujie Wang Shujie Wang Yu Du Jingyi Jiang Jingyi Jiang |
| author_facet | Guobao Ma Guobao Ma Xianwei Wang Xiaoxin Sun Xiaoxin Sun Shujie Wang Shujie Wang Yu Du Jingyi Jiang Jingyi Jiang |
| author_sort | Guobao Ma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Litter decomposition is an important source of carbon accumulation in the permafrost peatlands. Climate warming has led to shrub expansions and accelerated litter mixing with soils and fluctuations in the water table. However, little is known about how changes in the position of the litter will affect litter decomposition under climate warming. To reveal the mechanisms of response of the location of litter in the soil and climate warming to litter decomposition in permafrost peatlands. Here, we selected the evergreen shrub, Chamaedaphne calyculata, and the deciduous shrub, Vaccinium uliginosum, from the permafrost peatlands of the Greater Hing’an Mountains, China. The leaf litter was placed on the soil surface (no-mixing) and mixed with the soil (soil-litter mixing), and then it was incubated for 124 days at 15°C (control) and 20°C (warming). Our results showed that warming significantly increased the CO2 emission rates of C. calyculata and V. uliginosum by 19.9 and 17.4%, respectively. When compared to no-mixing, the CO2 emission rates were reduced (not significantly) by 1.5 (C. calyculata) and increased 13.6% (V. uliginosum) with soil-litter mixing. Interestingly, soil-litter mixing suppressed the positive effect of warming on the CO2 emission rates relative to no-mixing, and the suppressing effects in the V. uliginosum subplot were stronger than those in the C. calyculata subplot. Specifically, warming significantly increased the CO2 emissions of C. calyculata by 27.4% under no-mixing but the increase decreased to 13.1% under soil-litter mixing. Similarly, warming induced significant increases in the CO2 emissions of V. uliginosum, with an increase of 38.8% under no-mixing but non-significant increases (1.9%) were observed under soil-litter mixing. The combination of the enzyme activities of β-1,4-glucosidase, β-1,4-xylosidase and β-D-1,4-cellobiosidase and laccase and phenolics explained more than 60.0% of the variability in the CO2 emissions of C. calyculata and V. uliginosum, respectively. Our study highlights the importance of litter positions in mediating the responses of litter decomposition to climate warming and shrub expansions in the northern peatlands. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:01:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1e321c8d37484cea9bfc38763e885c2e |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:01:02Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-1e321c8d37484cea9bfc38763e885c2e2022-12-22T03:52:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2022-12-011010.3389/fevo.2022.10781041078104Effects of warming and litter positions on litter decomposition in a boreal peatlandGuobao Ma0Guobao Ma1Xianwei Wang2Xiaoxin Sun3Xiaoxin Sun4Shujie Wang5Shujie Wang6Yu Du7Jingyi Jiang8Jingyi Jiang9Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, ChinaKey Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaKey Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, ChinaKey Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaHeilongjiang Sanjiang Plain Wetland Ecosystem Research Station, Fuyuan, ChinaKey Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, ChinaKey Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaKey Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, ChinaKey Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, ChinaKey Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, ChinaLitter decomposition is an important source of carbon accumulation in the permafrost peatlands. Climate warming has led to shrub expansions and accelerated litter mixing with soils and fluctuations in the water table. However, little is known about how changes in the position of the litter will affect litter decomposition under climate warming. To reveal the mechanisms of response of the location of litter in the soil and climate warming to litter decomposition in permafrost peatlands. Here, we selected the evergreen shrub, Chamaedaphne calyculata, and the deciduous shrub, Vaccinium uliginosum, from the permafrost peatlands of the Greater Hing’an Mountains, China. The leaf litter was placed on the soil surface (no-mixing) and mixed with the soil (soil-litter mixing), and then it was incubated for 124 days at 15°C (control) and 20°C (warming). Our results showed that warming significantly increased the CO2 emission rates of C. calyculata and V. uliginosum by 19.9 and 17.4%, respectively. When compared to no-mixing, the CO2 emission rates were reduced (not significantly) by 1.5 (C. calyculata) and increased 13.6% (V. uliginosum) with soil-litter mixing. Interestingly, soil-litter mixing suppressed the positive effect of warming on the CO2 emission rates relative to no-mixing, and the suppressing effects in the V. uliginosum subplot were stronger than those in the C. calyculata subplot. Specifically, warming significantly increased the CO2 emissions of C. calyculata by 27.4% under no-mixing but the increase decreased to 13.1% under soil-litter mixing. Similarly, warming induced significant increases in the CO2 emissions of V. uliginosum, with an increase of 38.8% under no-mixing but non-significant increases (1.9%) were observed under soil-litter mixing. The combination of the enzyme activities of β-1,4-glucosidase, β-1,4-xylosidase and β-D-1,4-cellobiosidase and laccase and phenolics explained more than 60.0% of the variability in the CO2 emissions of C. calyculata and V. uliginosum, respectively. Our study highlights the importance of litter positions in mediating the responses of litter decomposition to climate warming and shrub expansions in the northern peatlands.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.1078104/fullboreal peatlandlitter decompositionsoil-litter incubationCO2 fluxesenzyme activity |
| spellingShingle | Guobao Ma Guobao Ma Xianwei Wang Xiaoxin Sun Xiaoxin Sun Shujie Wang Shujie Wang Yu Du Jingyi Jiang Jingyi Jiang Effects of warming and litter positions on litter decomposition in a boreal peatland Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution boreal peatland litter decomposition soil-litter incubation CO2 fluxes enzyme activity |
| title | Effects of warming and litter positions on litter decomposition in a boreal peatland |
| title_full | Effects of warming and litter positions on litter decomposition in a boreal peatland |
| title_fullStr | Effects of warming and litter positions on litter decomposition in a boreal peatland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of warming and litter positions on litter decomposition in a boreal peatland |
| title_short | Effects of warming and litter positions on litter decomposition in a boreal peatland |
| title_sort | effects of warming and litter positions on litter decomposition in a boreal peatland |
| topic | boreal peatland litter decomposition soil-litter incubation CO2 fluxes enzyme activity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.1078104/full |
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