Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Soil respiration as related to abiotic and remotely sensed variables in varying overstories and understories in a high elevation southern Appalachian forest

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Forests capture carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. However, forests also respire carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Soil respiration (Rs) is a significant source of atmospheric carbon dioxide. A portion of Rs comes from the process of microorganisms breaking down carbon sources in the soil while another portion is from respiring roots (Gough and others 2008). Even small changes in Rs can have a significant impact on whether a forest will behave as a carbon source or a carbon sink (Schlesinger and Andrews 2000). Therefore, considerable attention has recently been focused on accurate predictions of Rs.

Parent Publication

Keywords

soil respiration, carbon source, carbon sink, forests

Citation

Hammer, Rachel; Seiler, John; Thomas, Valerie; Strahm, Brian. 2020. Soil respiration as related to abiotic and remotely sensed variables in varying overstories and understories in a high elevation southern Appalachian forest. 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: 166-167.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/61602