Dynamics of soil respiration in sparse Ulmus pumila woodland under semi-arid climate

Sparse Ulmus pumila woodlands play an important role in contributing to ecosystem function in semi-arid grassland of northern China. To understand the key attributes of soil carbon cycling in U. pumila woodland, we studied dynamics of soil respiration in the canopy field (i.e., the projected crown cover area) and the open field at locations differing in distance (i.e., at 1–1.5, 3–4, 10, and >15 m) to tree stems from July through September of 2005, and measured soil biotic factors (e.g., fine root mass, soil microbial biomass, and activity) and abiotic factors [e.g., soil water content (SWC) and organic carbon] in mid-August. Soil respiration was further separated into root component and microbial component at the end of the field measurement in September. Results showed that soil respiration had a significant exponent relationship with soil temperature at 10-cm depth. The temperature sensitivity index of soil respiration, Q 10 , was lower than the global average of 2.0, and declined significantly ( P < 0.05) with distance. The rate of soil respiration was generally greater in the canopy field than in the open field; monthly mean of soil respiration was 305.5–730.8 mg CO 2 m −2 h −1 in the canopy field and 299.6–443.1 mg CO 2 m −2 h −1 in the open field from July through September; basal soil respiration at 10°C declined with distance, and varied from ~250 mg CO 2 m −2 h −1 near tree stems to <200 mg CO 2 m −2 h −1 in the open field. Variations in soil respiration with distance were consistent with patterns of SWC, fine root mass, microbial biomass and activities. Regression analysis indicated that soil respiration was tightly coupled with microbial respiration and only weakly related to root respiration. Overall, variations in SWC, soil nutrients, microbial biomass, and microbial activity are largely responsible for the spatial heterogeneity of soil respiration in this semi-arid U. pumila woodland.