Abstract
Aims
In tropical rainforests, soil respiration accounts for the major part of ecosystem respiration, yet a deep understanding of the influence of forest type and species composition is still lacking. We therefore selected patches of the rainforest in the Central Congo basin differing in their species composition, some patches under the Scorodophloeus zenkeri Harms mixed forests (MIF) and others in the Gilbertiodendron dewevrei (De Wild.) J.Léonard monodominant forests (MOF). We measured daily soil respiration over a one-year period.
Methods
By fitting a simple conceptual model of soil respiration, including fine root biomass, soil organic C stocks and ground climate measurements (soil moisture and temperature), we attempted to distinguish autotrophic and heterotrophic soil respiration, and to better understand the drivers behind total soil respiration.
Results
On an annual basis, soil respiration was 10% higher under MOF (22.10 Mg C ha−1 y−1) compared to MIF (20.01 Mg C ha−1 y−1) (p < 10−3). While the estimated autotrophic and heterotrophic soil respiration contributed about equally to soil respiration in MOF, autotrophic soil respiration slightly dominated (59%) in MIF. In both forests, the combined contribution of litterfall inputs and fine roots productivity was lower than the heterotrophic flux, with the largest difference observed under MOF (−6.16 Mg C ha−1 year−1) compared to MIF (−2.62 Mg C ha−1 year−1). The sensitivity analysis of the model showed that the higher heterotrophic soil respiration under MOF was driven by the twofold C accumulation in MOF topsoil compared to MIF. Soil moisture was a major driver of temporal changes in soil respiration, but hardly impacted the differences in annual soil respiration between forests.
Conclusion
While the difference in SOC accumulation between forests was driven by the low nutrient to C ratios of Gilbertiodendron dewevrei tissues, additional research is needed to identify the causes behind the unbalanced C budget.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bréchet L, Ponton S, Roy J et al (2009) Do tree species characteristics influence soil respiration in tropical forests? A test based on 16 tree species planted in monospecific plots. Plant Soil 319:235–246
Bréchet L, Ponton S, Alméras T, Bonal D, Epron D (2011) Does spatial distribution of tree size account for spatial variation in soil respiration in a tropical forest? Plant Soil 347:293–303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0848-1
Bréchet L, Le Dantec V, Ponton S et al (2017) Short- and long-term influence of litter quality and quantity on simulated heterotrophic soil respiration in a lowland tropical Forest. Ecosystems 20:1190–1204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0104-x
Bréchet LM, Luis Lopez-Sangil |, George C, et al (2018) Distinct responses of soil respiration to experimental litter manipulation in temperate woodland and tropical forest. Ecol Evol 8:3787. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3945, 3796
Brunner I, Bakker MR, Björk RG, Hirano Y, Lukac M, Aranda X, Børja I, Eldhuset TD, Helmisaari HS, Jourdan C, Konôpka B, López BC, Miguel Pérez C, Persson H, Ostonen I (2013) Fine-root turnover rates of European forests revisited: an analysis of data from sequential coring and ingrowth cores. Plant Soil 362:357–372
Cariboni J, Gatelli D, Liska R, Saltelli A (2007) The role of sensitivity analysis in ecological modelling. Ecol Model 203:167–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2005.10.045
Cassart B, Angbonga Basia A, Titeux H, et al (2017) Contrasting patterns of carbon sequestration between Gilbertiodendron dewevrei monodominant forests and Scorodophloeus zenkeri mixed forests in the Central Congo basin. Plant Soil 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3130-8
Cassart B, Angbonga Basia A, Jonard M, Ponette Q (2020) Average leaf litter quality drives the decomposition of single-species, mixed-species and transplanted leaf litters for two contrasting tropical forest types in the Congo Basin (DRC). Ann For Sci 77:1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-020-00942-4
Cavaleri MA, Reed SC, Smith WK, Wood TE (2015) Urgent need for warming experiments in tropical forests. Glob Chang Biol 21:2111–2121. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12860
Chen G, Yang Y, Robinson D (2013) Allocation of gross primary production in forest ecosystems: allometric constraints and environmental responses. New Phytol 200:1176–1186. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12426
Clark DA (2004) Sources or sinks? The responses of tropical forests to current and future climate and atmospheric composition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser B Biol Sci 359:477–491. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2003.1426
Connell JH, Lowman MD (1989) Low-diversity tropical rain forests: some possible mechanisms for their existence. Am Nat 134:88–119. https://doi.org/10.1086/284967
Cuevas E, Medina E (1988) Nutrient dynamics within amazonian forests. Oecologia 76:222–235. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379956
Davidson EA, Verchot LV, Cattânio JH, Ackerman IL, Carvalho JEM (2000) Effects of soil water content on soil respiration in forests and cattle pastures of eastern Amazonia. Biogeochemistry 48:53–69. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006204113917
Davidson EA, Savage K, Bolstad P, Clark DA, Curtis PS, Ellsworth DS, Hanson PJ, Law BE, Luo Y, Pregitzer KS, Randolph JC, Zak D (2002) Belowground carbon allocation in forests estimated from litterfall and IRGA-based soil respiration measurements. Agric For Meteorol 113:39–51
De Deyn GB, Cornelissen JHC, Bardgett RD (2008) Plant functional traits and soil carbon sequestration in contrasting biomes. Ecol Lett 11:516–531. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01164.x
Dexter AR (2004) Soil physical quality: part I. theory, effects of soil texture, density, and organic matter, and effects on root growth. Geoderma 120:201–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2003.09.004
Epron D (2009) Separating autotrophic and heterotrophic components of soil respiration: lessons learned from trenching and related root-exclusion experiments. In: Bahn M, Heinemeyer A (eds) Kutsch WL. Soil Carbon Dynamics, An Integrated Methodology, pp 157–168
Epron D, Nouvellon Y, Roupsard O, Mouvondy W, Mabiala A, Saint-André L, Joffre R, Jourdan C, Bonnefond JM, Berbigier P, Hamel O (2004) Spatial and temporal variations of soil respiration in a Eucalyptus plantation in Congo. For Ecol Manag 202:149–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2004.07.019
Epron D, Bosc A, Bonal D, Freycon V (2006) Spatial variation of soil respiration across a topographic gradient in a tropical rain forest in French Guiana. J Trop Ecol 22:565–574. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467406003415
Finér L, Ohashi M, Noguchi K, Hirano Y (2011) Fine root production and turnover in forest ecosystems in relation to stand and environmental characteristics. For Ecol Manag 262:2008–2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2011.08.042
Frey SD (2019) Mycorrhizal Fungi as mediators of soil organic matter dynamics. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 50:237–259
Hall JS, Harris DJ, Saltonstall K, Medjibe VP, Ashton MS, Turner BL (2020) Resource acquisition strategies facilitate Gilbertiodendron dewevrei monodominance in African lowland forests. J Ecol 108:433–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13278
Hamby DM (1994) A review of techniques for parameter sensitivity analysis of environmental models. Environ Monit Assess 32:135–154. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00547132
Hart TB, Hart JA, Murphy PG (1989) Monodominant and species-rich forests of the humid tropics: causes for their co-occurrence. Am Nat 133:613–633
Hashimoto S, Carvalhais N, Ito A, Migliavacca M, Nishina K, Reichstein M (2015) Global spatiotemporal distribution of soil respiration modeled using a global database. Biogeosciences 12:4121–4132. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4121-2015
Hättenschwiler S, Coq S, Barantal S, Handa IT (2011) Leaf traits and decomposition in tropical rainforests: revisiting some commonly held views and towards a new hypothesis. New Phytol 189:950–965
Högberg P, Nordgren A, Buchmann N, Taylor AFS, Ekblad A, Högberg MN, Nyberg G, Ottosson-Löfvenius M, Read DJ (2001) Large-scale forest girdling shows that current photosynthesis drives soil respiration. Nature 411:789–792. https://doi.org/10.1038/35081058
Holland EA, Neff JC, Townsend AR, McKeown B (2000) Uncertainties in the temperature sensitivity of decomposition in tropical and subtropical ecosystems: implications for models. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 14:1137–1151. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GB001264
Hopkins F, Gonzalez-Meler MA, Flower CE, Lynch DJ, Czimczik C, Tang J, Subke JA (2013) Ecosystem-level controls on root-rhizosphere respiration. New Phytol 199:339–351. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12271
John TVS (1983) Response of tree roots to decomposing organic matter in two lowland Amazonian rain forests. Can J For Res 13:346–349. https://doi.org/10.1139/x83-050
Jones DL, Hodge A, Kuzyakov Y (2004) Plant and mycorrhizal regulation of rhizodeposition. New Phytol 163:459–480. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01130.x
Katayama A, Kume T, Komatsu H, Ohashi M, Nakagawa M, Yamashita M, Otsuki K, Suzuki M, Kumagai T’ (2009) Effect of forest structure on the spatial variation in soil respiration in a Bornean tropical rainforest. Agric For Meteorol 149:1666–1673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2009.05.007
Kearsley E, Verbeeck H, Hufkens K, van de Perre F, Doetterl S, Baert G, Beeckman H, Boeckx P, Huygens D (2017) Functional community structure of African monodominant Gilbertiodendron dewevrei forest influenced by local environmental filtering. Ecol Evol 7:295–304. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2589
Keith H, Wong SC (2006) Measurement of soil CO2 efflux using soda lime absorption: both quantitative and reliable. Soil Biol Biochem 38:1121–1131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2005.09.012
Keller A, Reed SC, Townsend AR, Cleveland CC (2013) Effects of canopy tree species on belowground biogeochemistry in a lowland wet tropical forest. Soil Biol Biochem 58:61–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SOILBIO.2012.10.041
Laclau JP, Toutain F, M’Bou AT et al (2004) The function of the superficial root mat in the biogeochemical cycles of nutrients in congolese Eucalyptus plantations. Ann Bot 93:249–261. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mch035
Leff JW, Wieder WR, Taylor PG, Townsend AR, Nemergut DR, Grandy AS, Cleveland CC (2012) Experimental litterfall manipulation drives large and rapid changes in soil carbon cycling in a wet tropical forest. Glob Chang Biol 18:2969–2979. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02749.x
Litton CM, Raich JW, Ryan MG (2007) Carbon allocation in forest ecosystems. Glob Chang Biol 13:2089–2109
Liu L, King JS, Booker F et al (2009) Enhanced litter input rather than changes in litter chemistry drive soil carbon and nitrogen cycles under elevated CO 2 : a microcosm study. Glob Chang Biol 15:441–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01747.x
Lloyd J, Taylor JA (1994) On the temperature dependence of soil respiration. Funct Ecol 8:315. https://doi.org/10.2307/2389824
Luo Y, Zhou X (2006) Soil respiration and the environment. Elsevier Academic Press
Luyssaert S, Inglima I, Jung M et al (2007) CO2 balance of boreal, temperate, and tropical forests derived from a global database. Glob Chang Biol 13:2509–2537. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01439.x
Makita N, Kosugi Y, Dannoura M, Takanashi S, Niiyama K, Kassim AR, Nik AR (2012) Patterns of root respiration rates and morphological traits in 13 tree species in a tropical forest. Tree Physiol 32:303–312. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tps008
Malhi Y, Baldocchi DD, Jarvis PG (1999) The carbon balance of tropical, temperate and boreal forests. Plant Cell Environ 22:715–740
Metcalfe DB, Fisher RA, Wardle DA (2011) Plant communities as drivers of soil respiration: pathways, mechanisms, and significance for global change. Biogeosciences 8:2047–2061. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-2047-2011
Motavalli PP, Palm CA, Parton WJ, Elliott ET, Frey SD (1995) Soil pH and organic C dynamics in tropical forest soils: evidence from laboratory and simulation studies. Soil Biol Biochem 27:1589–1599. https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(95)00082-P
Nilsson LO, Giesler R, Bååth E, Wallander H (2005) Growth and biomass of mycorrhizal mycelia in coniferous forests along short natural nutrient gradients. New Phytol 165:613–622. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01223.x
Olson JS (1963) Energy storage and the balance of producers and decomposers in ecological systems. Ecology 44:322–331. https://doi.org/10.2307/1932179
Onguene NA, Kuyper TW (2001) Mycorrhizal associations in the rain forest of South Cameroon. For Ecol Manag 140:277–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(00)00322-4
Peh KSH, Lewis SL, Lloyd J (2011) Mechanisms of monodominance in diverse tropical tree-dominated systems. J Ecol 99:891–898
Peh KSH, Sonké B, Taedoung H, Séné O, Lloyd J, Lewis SL (2012) Investigating diversity dependence of tropical forest litter decomposition: experiments and observations from Central Africa. J Veg Sci 23:223–235
Perot T, Mårell A, Korboulewsky N, Seigner V, Balandier P (2017) Modeling and predicting solar radiation transmittance in mixed forests at a within-stand scale from tree species basal area. For Ecol Manag 390:127–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2017.01.023
Phillips RP, Erlitz Y, Bier R, Bernhardt ES (2008) New approach for capturing soluble root exudates in forest soils. Funct Ecol 22:990–999. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01495.x
Phillips RP, Brzostek E, Midgley MG (2013) The mycorrhizal-associated nutrient economy: a new framework for predicting carbon-nutrient couplings in temperate forests. New Phytol 199:41–51
Raich J (2017) Temporal variability of soil respiration in experimental tree plantations in lowland Costa Rica. Forests 8:40. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8020040
Raich JW, Nadelhoffer KJ (1989) Belowground carbon allocation in forest ecosystems: global trends. Ecology 70:1346–1354
Raich JW, Tufekciogul A (2000) Vegetation and soil respiration: correlations and controls. Biogeochemistry 48:71–90. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006112000616
Rodella AA, Saboya LV (1999) Calibration for conductimetric determination of carbon dioxide. Soil Biol Biochem 31:2059–2060
Rubio VE, Detto M (2017) Spatiotemporal variability of soil respiration in a seasonal tropical forest. Ecol Evol 7:7104–7116. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3267
Sotta ED, Meir P, Malhi Y et al (2004) Soil CO2 efflux in a tropical forest in the Central Amazon. Glob Chang Biol 10:601–617
Sotta ED, Veldkamp E, Guimarães BR, Paixão RK, Ruivo MLP, Almeida SS (2006) Landscape and climatic controls on spatial and temporal variation in soil CO2 efflux in an eastern Amazonian rainforest, Caxiuanã, Brazil. For Ecol Manag 237:57–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2006.09.027
Subke J-A, Inglima I, Cotrufo MF (2006) Trends and methodological impacts in soil CO2 efflux partitioning: a metaanalytical review. Glob Chang Biol 12:921–943. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01117.x
Sullivan MJP, Talbot J, Lewis SL, Phillips OL, Qie L, Begne SK, Chave J, Cuni-Sanchez A, Hubau W, Lopez-Gonzalez G, Miles L, Monteagudo-Mendoza A, Sonké B, Sunderland T, ter Steege H, White LJT, Affum-Baffoe K, Aiba SI, de Almeida EC, de Oliveira EA, Alvarez-Loayza P, Dávila EÁ, Andrade A, Aragão LEOC, Ashton P, Aymard C. GA, Baker TR, Balinga M, Banin LF, Baraloto C, Bastin JF, Berry N, Bogaert J, Bonal D, Bongers F, Brienen R, Camargo JLC, Cerón C, Moscoso VC, Chezeaux E, Clark CJ, Pacheco ÁC, Comiskey JA, Valverde FC, Coronado ENH, Dargie G, Davies SJ, de Canniere C, Djuikouo K. MN, Doucet JL, Erwin TL, Espejo JS, Ewango CEN, Fauset S, Feldpausch TR, Herrera R, Gilpin M, Gloor E, Hall JS, Harris DJ, Hart TB, Kartawinata K, Kho LK, Kitayama K, Laurance SGW, Laurance WF, Leal ME, Lovejoy T, Lovett JC, Lukasu FM, Makana JR, Malhi Y, Maracahipes L, Marimon BS, Junior BHM, Marshall AR, Morandi PS, Mukendi JT, Mukinzi J, Nilus R, Vargas PN, Camacho NCP, Pardo G, Peña-Claros M, Pétronelli P, Pickavance GC, Poulsen AD, Poulsen JR, Primack RB, Priyadi H, Quesada CA, Reitsma J, Réjou-Méchain M, Restrepo Z, Rutishauser E, Salim KA, Salomão RP, Samsoedin I, Sheil D, Sierra R, Silveira M, Slik JWF, Steel L, Taedoumg H, Tan S, Terborgh JW, Thomas SC, Toledo M, Umunay PM, Gamarra LV, Vieira ICG, Vos VA, Wang O, Willcock S, Zemagho L (2017) Diversity and carbon storage across the tropical forest biome. Sci Rep 7:39102. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39102
Tan Z-H, Zhang Y-P, Liang N, Song QH, Liu YH, You GY, Li LH, Yu L, Wu CS, Lu ZY, Wen HD, Zhao JF, Gao F, Yang LY, Song L, Zhang YJ, Munemasa T, Sha LQ (2013) Soil respiration in an old-growth subtropical forest: patterns, components, and controls. J Geophys Res Atmos 118:2981–2990. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50300
Tian H, Lu C, Yang J et al (2015) Global patterns and controls of soil organic carbon dynamics as simulated by multiple terrestrial biosphere models: current status and future directions. Global Biogeochem cycles 29:2014GB005021. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GB005021
Torti SD, Coley PD, Kursar TA (2001) Causes and consequences of monodominance in tropical lowland forests. Am Nat 157:141–153. https://doi.org/10.1086/318629
van Delft B, de Waal RW, Kemmers RH et al (2006) Field guide humus forms. Description and Classification of Humus Forms for Ecological Applications. Alterra, Wageningen, In
Van Ranst E, Baert G, Ngongo M, Mafuka P (2010) Carte pédologique de Yangambi, planchette 2: Yangambi, échelle 1:50.000. UGent ; Hogent ; UNILU ; UNIKIN
Vargas R, Detto M, Baldocchi D, Allen M (2010) Multiscale analysis of temporal variability of soil CO 2 production as influenced by weather and vegetation. Glob Chang Biol 16:1589–1605. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02111.x
Wang W, Peng S, Fang J (2010) Root respiration and its relation to nutrient contents in soil and root and EVI among 8 ecosystems, northern China. Plant Soil 333:391–401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0354-x
Wei W, Weile C, Shaopeng W (2010) Forest soil respiration and its heterotrophic and autotrophic components: global patterns and responses to temperature and precipitation. Soil Biol Biochem 42:1236–1244. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SOILBIO.2010.04.013
Wofsy SC, Harriss RC, Kaplan WA (1988) Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the Amazon Basin. J Geophys Res Atmos 93:1377–1387. https://doi.org/10.1029/JD093iD02p01377
Wood TE, Detto M, Silver WL (2013) Sensitivity of soil respiration to variability in soil moisture and temperature in a humid tropical forest PLoS One 8:e80965. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080965
Wurzburger N, Brookshire ENJ (2017) Experimental evidence that mycorrhizal nitrogen strategies affect soil carbon. Ecology 98:1491–1497. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1827
Yin H, Wheeler E, Phillips RP (2014) Root-induced changes in nutrient cycling in forests depend on exudation rates. Soil Biol Biochem 78:213–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.07.022
Zhou T, Shi P, Hui D, Luo Y (2009) Global pattern of temperature sensitivity of soil heterotrophic respiration (Q10) and its implications for carbon-climate feedback. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 114:G02016. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JG000850
Acknowledgments
Benoît Cassart obtained a PhD grant from the ‘Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique’ (FNRS-FRIA), and received additional support for field work and laboratory analyses from a joint WBI-ERAIFT grant. Albert Angbonga Basia was funded by the ‘AFORCO – Appui à l’organisation d’un master en aménagement forestier pour le renforcement des capacités des chercheurs congolais en vue de la relance socio-économique de la République Démocratique du Congo’ project, funded by the ‘Commission Universitaire au Développement’ (CUD, ARES-CCD) and coordinated by Prof. Jan Bogaert (ULiège – Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech). All authors thank the numerous persons who contributed to the field work in DRC. They are also greateful to Karine Henin who carried out most of the chemical analyses. We would also like to thank Bernard Longdoz for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. Finally, we are debtful to the Section Editor as well as to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that greatly improved a previous version of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Timothy J. Fahey.
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
BC and QP conceived and designed the experiments. ABA and BC performed the experiments. BC, MJ and QP analysed the data
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cassart, B., Angbonga Basia, A., Jonard, M. et al. Functional traits drive the difference in soil respiration between Gilbertiodendron dewevrei monodominant forests patches and Scorodophloeus zenkeri mixed forests patches in the Central Congo basin.. Plant Soil 460, 313–331 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04808-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04808-6