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- Title
Seasonality, drivers, and isotopic composition of soil CO2 fluxes from tropical forests of the Congo Basin.
- Authors
Baumgartner, Simon; Barthel, Matti; Drake, Travis William; Bauters, Marijn; Makelele, Isaac Ahanamungu; Mugula, John Kalume; Summerauer, Laura; Gallarotti, Nora; Cizungu Ntaboba, Landry; Van Oost, Kristof; Boeckx, Pascal; Doetterl, Sebastian; Werner, Roland Anton; Six, Johan
- Abstract
Soil respiration is an important carbon flux and key process determining the net ecosystem production of terrestrial ecosystems. To address the lack of quantification and understanding of seasonality in soil respiration of tropical forests in the Congo Basin, soil CO 2 fluxes and potential controlling factors were measured annually in two dominant forest types (lowland and montane) of the Congo Basin over 2 years at varying temporal resolution. Soil CO 2 fluxes from the Congo Basin resulted in 3.45 ± 1.14 and 3.13 ± 1.22 µ mol CO 2 m -2 s -1 for lowland and montane forests, respectively. Soil CO 2 fluxes in montane forest soils showed a clear seasonality with decreasing flux rates during the dry season. Montane forest soil CO 2 fluxes were positively correlated with soil moisture, while CO 2 fluxes in the lowland forest were not. Smaller differences of δ13 C values of leaf litter, soil organic carbon (SOC), and soil CO 2 indicated that SOC in lowland forests is more decomposed than in montane forests, suggesting that respiration is controlled by C availability rather than environmental factors. In general, C in montane forests was more enriched in 13 C throughout the whole cascade of carbon intake via photosynthesis, litterfall, SOC, and soil CO 2 compared to lowland forests, pointing to a more open system. Even though soil CO 2 fluxes are similarly high in lowland and montane forests of the Congo Basin, the drivers of them seem to be different, i.e., soil moisture for montane forest and C availability for lowland forest.
- Subjects
CONGO River Watershed; TROPICAL forests; SOIL composition; CARBON dioxide; MOUNTAIN forests; FOREST litter
- Publication
Biogeosciences, 2020, Vol 17, Issue 23, p6207
- ISSN
1726-4170
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5194/bg-17-6207-2020