Soil Respiration of the Dahurian Larch (Larix gmelinii) Forest and the Response to Fire Disturbance in Da Xing’an Mountains, China

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 2967 - 10
• Main Authors: Hu, Tongxin, Sun, Long, Hu, Haiqing, Weise, David R., Guo, Futao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 07.06.2017; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 704/158/2449; 704/158/2465; Boreal forests; Burning; Carbon Cycle; Carbon dioxide; China; Ecosystem; Environment; Environmental factors; Forests; Humanities and Social Sciences; Larix gmelinii; Mountains; multidisciplinary; Respiration; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Soil; Soil Microbiology; Soil temperature; Taiga; Tenericutes - physiology; Wildfires; China
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-03325-4

Despite the high frequency of wildfire disturbances in boreal forests in China, the effects of wildfires on soil respiration are not yet well understood. We examined the effects of fire severity on the soil respiration rate ( R s) and its component change in a Dahurian Larch ( Larix gmelinii ) in Northeast China. The results showed that R s decreased with fire burning severity. Compared with the control plots, R s in the low burning severity plots decreased by 19%, while it decreased by 28% in the high burning severity plots. The R s decrease was mainly due to a decreased autotrophic respiration rate ( R a). The temperature sensitivity ( Q 10 ) of R s increased after the low severity fire disturbances, but it decreased after the high severity fire disturbance. The R s were triggered by the soil temperature, which may explain most of the R s variability in this area. Our study, for the first time, provides the data-based foundation to demonstrate the importance of assessing CO 2 fluxes considering both fire severity and environmental factors post-fire in boreal forests of China.