Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Changes in temperature sensitivity and activation energy of soil organic matter decomposition in different Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grasslands

Li, Jie ; He, Nianpeng ; Wei, Xuehong ; Gao, Yang and Zuo, Yao LU (2015) In PLoS ONE 10(7).
Abstract

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grasslands are unique geographical regions and store substantial soil organic matter (SOM) in the soil surface, which make them very sensitive to global climate change. Here, we focused on three main grassland types (alpine meadow, steppe, and desert) and conducted a soil incubation experiment at five different temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25°C) to investigate SOM decomposition rates (R), temperature sensitivity (Q10), and activation energy (Ea). The results showed that grassland type and incubation temperature had significant impact on R (P < 0.001), and the values of R were exponential correlated with incubation temperature in three alpine grasslands. At the same temperature, R was in... (More)

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grasslands are unique geographical regions and store substantial soil organic matter (SOM) in the soil surface, which make them very sensitive to global climate change. Here, we focused on three main grassland types (alpine meadow, steppe, and desert) and conducted a soil incubation experiment at five different temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25°C) to investigate SOM decomposition rates (R), temperature sensitivity (Q10), and activation energy (Ea). The results showed that grassland type and incubation temperature had significant impact on R (P < 0.001), and the values of R were exponential correlated with incubation temperature in three alpine grasslands. At the same temperature, R was in the following order: alpine meadow > alpinesteppe > alpine desert. The Q10 values differed significantly among different grasslands, and the overall trends were as follows: alpine meadow (1.56 0.09) < alpine steppe (1.88 0.23) < alpine desert (2.39 0.32). Moreover, the Ea values differed significantly across different grassland types (P < 0.001) and increased with increasing incubation time. The exponential negative correlations between Ea and R at 20°C across all grassland types (all Ps < 0.001) indicated that the substrate- quality temperature hypothesis is applicable to the alpine grasslands. Our findings provide new insights for understanding the responses of SOM decomposition and storage to warming scenarios in this Plateau.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLoS ONE
volume
10
issue
7
article number
e0132795
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:84941335541
  • pmid:26176705
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0132795
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
23201ca3-d227-4e66-a76a-9c6c8137bda8
date added to LUP
2019-11-13 11:06:48
date last changed
2024-07-24 09:08:00
@article{23201ca3-d227-4e66-a76a-9c6c8137bda8,
  abstract     = {{<p>Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grasslands are unique geographical regions and store substantial soil organic matter (SOM) in the soil surface, which make them very sensitive to global climate change. Here, we focused on three main grassland types (alpine meadow, steppe, and desert) and conducted a soil incubation experiment at five different temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25°C) to investigate SOM decomposition rates (R), temperature sensitivity (Q<sub>10</sub>), and activation energy (E<sub>a</sub>). The results showed that grassland type and incubation temperature had significant impact on R (P &lt; 0.001), and the values of R were exponential correlated with incubation temperature in three alpine grasslands. At the same temperature, R was in the following order: alpine meadow &gt; alpinesteppe &gt; alpine desert. The Q<sub>10</sub> values differed significantly among different grasslands, and the overall trends were as follows: alpine meadow (1.56 0.09) &lt; alpine steppe (1.88 0.23) &lt; alpine desert (2.39 0.32). Moreover, the E<sub>a</sub> values differed significantly across different grassland types (P &lt; 0.001) and increased with increasing incubation time. The exponential negative correlations between E<sub>a</sub> and R at 20°C across all grassland types (all Ps &lt; 0.001) indicated that the substrate- quality temperature hypothesis is applicable to the alpine grasslands. Our findings provide new insights for understanding the responses of SOM decomposition and storage to warming scenarios in this Plateau.</p>}},
  author       = {{Li, Jie and He, Nianpeng and Wei, Xuehong and Gao, Yang and Zuo, Yao}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{7}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Changes in temperature sensitivity and activation energy of soil organic matter decomposition in different Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grasslands}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132795}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0132795}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}