The effect of temperature and moisture on trace gas emissions from deciduous and coniferous leaf litter

The forest litter layer lies at the boundary between soil and atmosphere and is a major factor in biogeochemical cycles. While there are several studies on how the litter layer controls soil trace gas emissions, litter emissions itself are less well understood, and it is still unclear how important gases respond to changing temperature and moisture. In order to assess leaf litter gas exchange, we conducted laboratory incubation experiments in which the full set of climate relevant gases, i.e., carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and nitric oxide (NO) coming from deciduous and coniferous leaf litter were measured at five temperatures and seven moisture contents. In addition, we compared litter and soil from different origin in terms of temperature/moisture responses of gas fluxes and investigated possible interactions between the two climate factors. Deciduous litter emitted more CO2 (up to 335mg CO2-Ckg(-1)h(-1)) than coniferous litter, whereas coniferous litter released maximum amounts of NO (207 mu gNO-Nkg(-1)h(-1)). N2O was only emitted from litter under very moist and warm conditions (>70% wet weight, >10 degrees C). CH4 emissions were close to zero. Temperature sensitivities of litter emissions were generally lower than for soil emissions. Nevertheless, wet and warm conditions always enhanced litter emissions, suggesting a strong feedback effect of the litter layer to predicted future climate change.