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More new carbon in the mineral soil of a poplar plantation under Free Air Carbon Enrichment (POPFACE): Cause of increased priming effect?
Author(s) -
Hoosbeek Marcel R.,
Lukac Martin,
van Dam Douwe,
Godbold Douglas L.,
Velthorst Eef J.,
Biondi Francesco A.,
Peressotti Alessandro,
Cotrufo M. Francesca,
de Angelis Paolo,
ScarasciaMugnozza Giuseppe
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/2003gb002127
Subject(s) - litter , carbon fibers , soil carbon , chemistry , ecosystem , environmental chemistry , decomposition , terrestrial ecosystem , isotopes of carbon , soil organic matter , environmental science , soil water , total organic carbon , agronomy , soil science , ecology , biology , mathematics , organic chemistry , composite number , algorithm
In order to establish suitability of forest ecosystems for long‐term storage of C, it is necessary to characterize the effects of predicted increased atmospheric CO 2 levels on the pools and fluxes of C within these systems. Since most C held in terrestrial ecosystems is in the soil, we assessed the influence of Free Air Carbon Enrichment (FACE) treatment on the total soil C content (C total ) and incorporation of litter derived C (C new ) into soil organic matter (SOM) in a fast growing poplar plantation. C new was estimated by the C3/C4 stable isotope method. C total contents increased under control and FACE respectively by 12 and 3%, i.e., 484 and 107 gC/m 2 , while 704 and 926 gC/m 2 of new carbon was sequestered under control and FACE during the experiment. We conclude that FACE suppressed the increase of C total and simultaneously increased C new . We hypothesize that these opposite effects may be caused by a priming effect of the newly incorporated litter, where priming effect is defined as the stimulation of SOM decomposition caused by the addition of labile substrates.