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Winter soil frost conditions in boreal forests control growing season soil CO 2 concentration and its atmospheric exchange
Author(s) -
ÖQUIST M. G.,
LAUDON H.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01669.x
Subject(s) - environmental science , frost (temperature) , soil respiration , growing season , taiga , soil water , agronomy , atmospheric sciences , soil science , ecology , geology , biology , geomorphology
The impact of changes in winter soil frost regime on soil CO 2 concentration and its atmospheric exchange in a boreal Norway spruce forest was investigated using a field‐scale soil frost manipulation experiment. The experiment comprised three treatments: deep soil frost, shallow soil frost and control plots ( n = 3). Winter soil temperatures and soil frost distribution were significantly altered by the different treatments. The average soil CO 2 concentrations during the growing season were significantly lower in plots with deep soil frost than in plots with shallow soil frost. The average CO 2 soil–atmosphere exchange rate exhibited the same pattern, and differences in soil respiration rates among the treatments were statistically significant. Both the variation in soil CO 2 concentration and the CO 2 soil–atmosphere exchange rate could statistically be explained by the differences in the maximum soil frost depth during the previous winter. A response model for growing season soil respiration rates suggests that every 1 cm change in winter soil frost depth will change the emission rates by ca. 0.01 g CO 2 m −2 day −1 , corresponding to 0.2–0.5% of the estimated net ecosystem productivity (NEP). This suggests that the soil frost regime has a significant influence on the C balance of the system, because interannual variations in soil frost up to 60 cm have been recorded at the site. We conclude that winter climate conditions can be important in controlling C balances in northern terrestrial ecosystems, and also that indirect effects of the winter season must be taken into account, because these can affect the prevailing conditions during the growing season.