Initial responses of soil CO2 efflux and C, N pools to experimental warming in two contrasting forest ecosystems, Eastern Tibetan Plateau, China

Alpine ecosystems are harsh environments where low temperatures are generally a limiting factor. Predicted global warming is thus expected to have a profound impact on alpine ecosystems in the future. This study was conducted to compare the effect of experimental warming on soils in two contrasting forest ecosystems (a dragon spruce plantation and a natural forest) using the open top chamber (OTC) method in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau of China. The OTC enhanced average daily mean soil temperatures by 0.61A degrees C (plantation) and 0.55A degrees C (natural forest), respectively, throughout the growing season. Conversely, soil volumetric moisture declined by 4.10% in the plantation and by 2.55% in the natural forest. Across all measuring dates, warming increased average soil CO2 efflux by 10.6% in the plantation and by 15.4% in the natural forest. However, elevated temperatures did not affect the respiration quotient in either forest. Two-stage sulfuric acid hydrolysis was used to quantify labile and recalcitrant C and N fractions in the two contrasting soils. Warming significantly reduced labile C and N fractions in both ecosystems but did not influence the total, recalcitrant and microbial biomass C and N pools. Labile C, N and microbial biomass C showed significant interactions in warming x forest type x season. Irrespective of warming treatments, all measured pools were significantly larger in the natural forest compared to the plantation. Taken together, our results indicate that the lowered soil labile C and N pools may be induced by the increased soil CO2 efflux. The responses of the natural forest soil were more sensitive to experimental warming than those of the plantation. We conclude that reforestation dramatically lowers soil C and N pools, further affecting the responses of forest soils to future global warming.