Soil Respiration in Tibetan Alpine Grasslands: Belowground Biomass and Soil Moisture, but Not Soil Temperature, Best Explain the Large-Scale Patterns

Yan Geng; Yonghui Wang; Kuo Yang; Shaopeng Wang; Hui Zeng; Frank Baumann; Peter Kuehn; Thomas Scholten; Jin-Sheng He

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034968

Loading metrics

Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Soil Respiration in Tibetan Alpine Grasslands: Belowground Biomass and Soil Moisture, but Not Soil Temperature, Best Explain the Large-Scale Patterns

Yan Geng,

Affiliations Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China, Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China
⨯
Yonghui Wang,

Affiliation Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
⨯
Kuo Yang,

Affiliation Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
⨯
Shaopeng Wang,

Affiliation Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
⨯
Hui Zeng,

Affiliations Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Circular Economy, Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University, Shenzhen, China
⨯
Frank Baumann,

Affiliation Department of Geoscience, Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
⨯
Peter Kuehn,

Affiliation Department of Geoscience, Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
⨯
Thomas Scholten,

Affiliation Department of Geoscience, Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
⨯
Jin-Sheng He

* E-mail: jshe@nwipb.cas.cn

Affiliations Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China, Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China
⨯

Soil Respiration in Tibetan Alpine Grasslands: Belowground Biomass and Soil Moisture, but Not Soil Temperature, Best Explain the Large-Scale Patterns

Yan Geng,
Yonghui Wang,
Kuo Yang,
Shaopeng Wang,
Hui Zeng,
Frank Baumann,
Peter Kuehn,
Thomas Scholten,
Jin-Sheng He

Published: April 11, 2012
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034968

Reader Comments

Post a new comment on this article

Unexpected controls on regional-scale soil respiration

Posted by bondlamberty on 17 Apr 2012 at 13:06 GMT

Linking small-scale (< 1 m2) measurements of soil respiration, the soil-to-atmosphere CO2 flux, with larger-scale climate and vegetation dynamics is a challenging problem. In this study He et al. used a spatially extensive set of such measurements, all made in alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau, to examine how vegetation biomass and soil temperature influence this carbon flux. Using regression tree and structural equation modeling, the authors found that belowground biomass and soil moisture were the dominant effects; interestingly, temperature was not a significant factor. This work will help in estimating soil respiration dynamics at regional scales.

No competing interests declared.

Subject Areas
?

For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click here.
We want your feedback. Do these Subject Areas make sense for this article? Click the target next to the incorrect Subject Area and let us know. Thanks for your help!

Soil respiration
Is the Subject Area "Soil respiration" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Ecosystems
Is the Subject Area "Ecosystems" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Grasslands
Is the Subject Area "Grasslands" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Carbon dioxide
Is the Subject Area "Carbon dioxide" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Tibetan Plateau
Is the Subject Area "Tibetan Plateau" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Biomass
Is the Subject Area "Biomass" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Seasons
Is the Subject Area "Seasons" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.
Decision trees
Is the Subject Area "Decision trees" applicable to this article?

Thanks for your feedback.

Soil Respiration in Tibetan Alpine Grasslands: Belowground Biomass and Soil Moisture, but Not Soil Temperature, Best Explain the Large-Scale Patterns

Soil Respiration in Tibetan Alpine Grasslands: Belowground Biomass and Soil Moisture, but Not Soil Temperature, Best Explain the Large-Scale Patterns

Reader Comments

Post Your Discussion Comment

Why should this posting be reviewed?

Thank You!

Unexpected controls on regional-scale soil respiration

Posted by bondlamberty on 17 Apr 2012 at 13:06 GMT