Soil respiration in Patagonian semiarid grasslands under contrasting environmental and use conditions

Grasslands comprise 85% of Southern Patagonia land area and play a critical role in the global carbon cycle. We evaluated seasonal dynamics to identify differences in soil respiration rates between contrasting grasslands across a climate gradient (rainfall), long term grazing intensity (moderate and high stocking rates) and land uses (silvopastoral system, primary forest and grassland). Soil respiration varied from 0.09 g CO2 h 1 m 2 in winter to a maximum of 1.43 g CO2 h 1 m 2 in spring. We found that the soil respiration rate was 30% higher in moderately grazed grasslands than in heavily grazed grasslands. Landuse changes showed that soil respiration followed the order silvopastoral system > native forest > grassland. While almost all plant and soil variables had a significant effect on soil respiration, soil carbon concentration, litter cover and depth and bare soil cover were the main factors explaining 78 e83% of the variance in soil respiration. Soil respiration rates were correlated strongly to air and soil temperatures and to a lesser extent with mean monthly rainfall and soil volumetric water content. The information provided in the present work about soil respiration is essential to estimate carbon balance for a range of important and widespread ecosystems in Patagonia.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Peri, Pablo Luis, Bahamonde, Héctor Alejandro, Christiansen, Rodolfo
Format:	info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	Elsevier 2015-08
Subjects:	Respiración del Suelo, Pastizales, Factores Ambientales, Usos, Pastoreo, Estepas, Contenido de Agua en el Suelo, Temperatura, Zona Semiárida, Soil Respiration, Pastures, Environmental Factors, Uses, Grazing, Steppes, Soil Water Content, Temperature, Semiarid Zones, Región Patagónica, Soil Moisture, Southern Patagonia,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3167 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196315000828?via%3Dihub https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2015.03.008
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