Effects of fertilization and irrigation on components of soil carbon efflux and soil respiration in loblolly pine plantations

Abstract

Soil carbon dioxide (CO₂) evolution is a combined product of the metabolic activity of plant roots and both free-living and symbiotic heterotrophs. Soil CO₂ efflux (S_f) rates are the second largest carbon flux in the global carbon cycle and the largest terrestrial contributor of CO₂ (Raich and Schlesinger 1992). The components of S_f can be broken down into heterotrophic respiration (R_H) and autotropic root respiration (R_R). Quantifying S_f and understanding the contribution of R_H and R_R on intensively managed sites is fundamental to understanding the carbon cycle and implications for carbon sequestration (McElligott and others 2016).

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 20th Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference

Keywords

soil, carbon flux, root respiration

Citation

Anderson, Peter H.; Maier, Christopher A. 2020. Effects of fertilization and irrigation on components of soil carbon efflux and soil respiration in loblolly pine plantations. In: Bragg, Don C.; Koerth, Nancy E.; Holley, A. Gordon, eds. 2020. Proceedings of the 20th biennial southern silvicultural research conference. e–Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–253. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 174-176.