Carbon mineralization of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) soils under different temperature and humidity conditions

Burned and unburned mineral soils (0–10 cm) from a 40-year-old Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) forest in Nanping, Fujian, China were incubated for 90 days at different temperatures (25 °C and 35 °C) and humidity [25%, 50%, and 75% of water holding capacity (WHC)] conditions. Carbon (C) mineralization of all soils was determined using CO2 respiration method. The results showed that CO2 evolution rates of the burned and control soils exhibited similar temporal patterns, and similar responses to temperature and moisture. CO2 evolution rates for all soil samples decreased with incubation time. At different humidity conditions, average rate of C mineralization and cumulative mineralized C from burned and control soils were significantly higher at 35 °C than at 25 °C. This implied that C mineralization was less sensitive to soil moisture than to temperature. In both soils at 25 °C or 35 °C, the amount of soil evolved CO2 over the 90 days incubation increased with increasing moisture content from 25% to 75% WHC. A temperature coefficient (Q10) varied with soil moisture contents. The maximum values recorded for Q10 were 1.7 in control soil and 1.6 in burned soil both at 25% WHC. However, there were no significant differences in Q10 values between the control and burned soils over all moisture ranges (P > 0.05). The data of cumulative C–CO2 released from control and burned soils were fitted to two different kinetic models. The two simultaneous reactions model described mineralization better than the first-order exponential model, which reflected the heterogeneity of substrate quality. Based on these results, it is possible to conclude that temperature and moisture are important in the controls of C mineralization, and the combined effects of these variables need to be considered to understand and predict the response of CO2 release in subtropical ecosystems to climate change.