Linking belowground carbon allocation to anaerobic CH4 and CO2 production in a forested peatland, New York state

Heterotrophic soil microorganisms rely on carbon (C) allocated belowground in plant production, but belowground C allocation (BCA) by plants is a poorly quantified part of ecosystem C cycling, especially, in peat soil. We applied a C balance approach to quantify BCA in a mixed conifer-red maple (Acer rubrum) forest on deep peat soil. Direct measurements of CH4 and CO2 fluxes across the soil surface (soil respiration), production of fine and small plant roots, and aboveground litterfall were used to estimate respiration by roots, by mycorrhizae and by free-living soil microorganisms. Measurements occurred in two consecutive years. Soil respiration rates averaged 1.2 bm mumol m(-2) s(-1) for CO2 and 0.58 nmol m(-2) s(-1) for CH4 (371 to 403 g C m(-2) year- 1). Carbon in aboveground litter (144 g C m(-2) year(-1)) was 84% greater than C in root production (78 g C m(-2) year(-1)). Complementary in vitro assays located high rates of anaerobic microbial activity, including methanogenesis, in a dense layer of roots overlying the peat soil and in large-sized fragments within the peat matrix. Large-sized fragments were decomposing roots and aboveground leaf and twig litter, indicating that relatively fresh plant production supported most of the anaerobic microbial activity. Respiration by free-living soil microorganisms in deep peat accounted for, at most, 29 to 38 g C m(-2) year(-1). These data emphasize the close coupling between plant production, ecosystem-level C cycling and soil microbial ecology, which BCA can help reveal.