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Decreased mass specific respiration under experimental warming is robust to the microbial biomass method employed.

Formally Refereed

Abstract

Hartley et al. question whether reduction in Rmass, under experimental warming, arises because of the biomass method. We show the method they treat as independent yields the same result. We describe why the substrate-depletion hypothesis may not solely explain observed responses, and urge caution in interpretation of the seasonal data.

Keywords

acclimation, adaptation, carbon cycling, climate change, climate warming, CO2, microbial, biomass, soil respiration, temperature, thermal biology

Citation

Bradford, Mark A.; Wallenstein, Matthew D.; Allison, Steven D.; Treseder, Kathleen K.; Frey, Serita D.; Watts, Brian W.; Davies, Christian A.; Maddox, Thomas R.; Melillo, Jerry M.; Mohan, Jacqueline E.; Reynolds, James F. 2009. Decreased mass specific respiration under experimental warming is robust to the microbial biomass method employed. Ecology Letters. 12: E15-E18. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01332.x
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/33871