TY - JOUR
AU1 - Reed, Cody C.
AU2 - Merrill, Amy G.
AU3 - Drew, W. Mark
AU4 - Christman, Beth
AU5 - Hutchinson, Rachel A.
AU6 - Keszey, Levi
AU7 - Odell, Melissa
AU8 - Swanson, Sherman
AU9 - Verburg, Paul S. J.
AU1 - Wilcox, Jim
AU1 - Hart, Stephen C.
AU1 - Sullivan, Benjamin W.
AB - As the largest biogeochemically active terrestrial reserve of carbon (C), soils have the potential to either mitigate or amplify rates of climate change. Ecosystems with large C stocks and high rates of soil C sequestration, in particular, may have outsized impacts on regional and global C cycles. Montane meadows have large soil C stocks relative to surrounding ecosystems. However, anthropogenic disturbances in many meadows may have altered the balance of C inputs and outputs, potentially converting these soils from net C sinks to net sources of C to the atmosphere. Here, we quantified ecosystem-level C inputs and outputs to estimate the annual net soil C flux from 13 montane meadows spanning a range of conditions throughout the California Sierra Nevada. Our results suggest that meadow soils can be either large net C sinks (577.6 ± 250.5 g C m−2 y−1) or sources of C to the atmosphere (− 391.6 ± 154.2 g C m−2 y−1). Variation in the direction and magnitude of net soil C flux appears to be driven by belowground C inputs. Vegetation species and functional group composition were not associated with the direction of net C flux, but climate and watershed characteristics were. Our results demonstrate that, per unit area, montane meadows hold a greater potential for C sequestration than the surrounding forest. However, legacies of disturbance have converted some meadows to strong net C sources. Accurate quantification of ecosystem-level C fluxes is critical for the development of regional C budgets and achieving global emissions goals.
TI - Montane Meadows: A Soil Carbon Sink or Source?
JF - Ecosystems
DO - 10.1007/s10021-020-00572-x
DA - 2020-11-06
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/springer-journals/montane-meadows-a-soil-carbon-sink-or-source-oDOYX5BEWA
SP - 1125
EP - 1141
VL - 24
IS - 5
DP - DeepDyve
ER -