The Impact of Warming and Species Removal on Soil Respiration at Low and High Elevations

Abstract

Warming temperatures are altering ecosystems, including the plants and soil communities that regulate the carbon cycle. Warming can directly alter the carbon cycle by altering plant and soil community respiration; however, altering plant communities can also have impacts on the carbon cycle. The dominant species in ecosystems also play a large role in ecosystem carbon dynamics because of the unique plant traits present in the ecosystem and plant and soil communities being formed by plant interactions. Soil respiration (carbon efflux) is produced by plant roots as well as soil community respiration and thus is a good integrator of how the soil and plant system may respond to warming and species removal. This study is a part of a long term (6+ year) warming and species removal in Mountains (WaRM) experiment to explore how warming (+2°C) and species removal altered soil respiration. Open-top chambers increased the overall air and soil temperatures and species were removed by cutting all dominant individuals at the soil surface. At each experimental site, a total of 32 plots implemented four treatments (control, warming, removal, and warming + removal) where soil respiration, temperature, and moisture was measured at approximately peak biomass. We found a significant site by warming interaction (df = 1/184, F= 27.60, P < 0.001) where warming increased soil respiration by 104% at the low elevation site, but not the high site. We also determined while the removal treatment at the two sites had no significant impact on soil respiration (df= 1/184, F=0.14, P= 0.71). These results suggest that warming has a large impact on soil respiration compared to plant community interactions at lower elevations.

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