Long-term warming increased carbon sequestration capacity in a humid subtropical forest.
Glob Chang Biol
; 30(1): e17072, 2024 Jan.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38273547
ABSTRACT
Tropical and subtropical forests play a crucial role in global carbon (C) pools, and their responses to warming can significantly impact C-climate feedback and predictions of future global warming. Despite earth system models projecting reductions in land C storage with warming, the magnitude of this response varies greatly between models, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. Here, we conducted a field ecosystem-level warming experiment in a subtropical forest in southern China, by translocating mesocosms (ecosystem composed of soils and plants) across 600 m elevation gradients with temperature gradients of 2.1°C (moderate warming), to explore the response of ecosystem C dynamics of the subtropical forest to continuous 6-year warming. Compared with the control, the ecosystem C stock decreased by 3.8% under the first year of 2.1°C warming; but increased by 13.4% by the sixth year of 2.1°C warming. The increased ecosystem C stock by the sixth year of warming was mainly attributed to a combination of sustained increased plant C stock due to the maintenance of a high plant growth rate and unchanged soil C stock. The unchanged soil C stock was driven by compensating and offsetting thermal adaptation of soil microorganisms (unresponsive soil respiration and enzyme activity, and more stable microbial community), increased plant C input, and inhibitory C loss (decreased C leaching and inhibited temperature sensitivity of soil respiration) from soil drying. These results suggest that the humid subtropical forest C pool would not necessarily diminish consistently under future long-term warming. We highlight that differential and asynchronous responses of plant and soil C processes over relatively long-term periods should be considered when predicting the effects of climate warming on ecosystem C dynamics of subtropical forests.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Ecosistema
/
Secuestro de Carbono
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Glob Chang Biol
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
China