Dataset Information

Increased precipitation enhances soil respiration in a semi-arid grassland on the Loess Plateau, China.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Precipitation influences the vulnerability of grassland ecosystems, especially upland grasslands, and soil respiration is critical for carbon cycling in arid grassland ecosystems which typically experience more droughty conditions.

Methods

We used three precipitation treatments to understand the effect of precipitation on soil respiration of a typical arid steppe in the Loess Plateau in north-western China. Precipitation was captured and relocated to simulate precipitation rates of 50%, 100%, and 150% of ambient precipitation.

Results and discussion

Soil moisture was influenced by all precipitation treatments. Shoot biomass was greater, though non-significantly, as precipitation increased. However, both increase and decrease of precipitation significantly reduced root biomass. There was a positive linear relationship between soil moisture and soil respiration in the study area during the summer (July and August), when most precipitation fell. Soil moisture, soil root biomass, pH, and fungal diversity were predictors of soil respiration based on partial least squares regression, and soil moisture was the best of these.

Conclusion

Our study highlights the importance of increased precipitation on soil respiration in drylands. Precipitation changes can cause significant alterations in soil properties, microbial fungi, and root biomass, and any surplus or transpired moisture is fed back into the climate, thereby affecting the rate of soil respiration in the future.

SUBMITTER: Wang Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7863787 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Increased precipitation enhances soil respiration in a semi-arid grassland on the Loess Plateau, China.

Wang Yutao Y Xie Yingzhong Y Rapson Gillian G Ma Hongbin H Jing Le L Zhang Yi Y Zhang Juan J Li Jianping J Li Jianping J

PeerJ 20210202

<h4>Background</h4>Precipitation influences the vulnerability of grassland ecosystems, especially upland grasslands, and soil respiration is critical for carbon cycling in arid grassland ecosystems which typically experience more droughty conditions.<h4>Methods</h4>We used three precipitation treatments to understand the effect of precipitation on soil respiration of a typical arid steppe in the Loess Plateau in north-western China. Precipitation was captured and relocated to simulate precipitat ...[more]

PMID: 33604176

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Project description:A change in precipitation can profoundly change the structure of soil microbial communities, especially in arid and semi-arid areas which are limited by moisture conditions. Therefore, it is crucial to explore how soil bacterial community composition and diversity will respond to variation in precipitation. Here we conducted a precipitation control experiment to simulate precipitation change by reducing and increasing rainfall by 25%, 50%, and 75% in the alpine grasslands of northern Tibet. The composition, diversity, and species interaction network of soil microbial community were studied by high-throughput sequencing, and the relationship between microbial community species and soil environmental factors was analyzed. Our results showed that Proteobacteria (45%-52%) and Actinobacteria (37%-45%) were the dominant bacteria in the soil. The alpha diversity index based on Shannon, Chao1, and Simpson indices revealed that precipitation change had no significant effect on richness and evenness of soil microbial communities. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) showed that a clear separation of soil microbial communities between D2(-50%),D3(-75%) and W2(+50%), W3(+75%) treatments. The microbial interaction network indicated that the water-increasing treatment group had closer connections, and Proteobacteria and Actinomycetes were the core species. Furthermore, there was a stronger positive correlation between species in the water-reducing treatment group, the contribution of Proteobacteria decreased significantly, the role of connecting hub decreased, and Actinomycetes became the most important core microbial species. In addition, soil water content (SWC) and available phosphorus (AP) were closely related to the variations in soil microbial compositions. The findings of this study provide a theoretical basis for the driving mechanism of global climate change on soil microbial community and grassland ecosystem in alpine grassland.

Dataset Information

Increased precipitation enhances soil respiration in a semi-arid grassland on the Loess Plateau, China.

Background

Methods

Results and discussion

Conclusion

Publications

Increased precipitation enhances soil respiration in a semi-arid grassland on the Loess Plateau, China.

Similar Datasets

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