Debris manipulation alters soil CO2 efflux in a subtropical plantation forest

Potential changes in the quality and quantity of C inputs in soil during environmental changes may affect soil CO2 efflux in forest ecosystems. Therefore, a field debris exclusion experiment and a laboratory debris addition experiment were conducted to assess the response of soil CO2 efflux to C input manipulation. Our experiments were the first to be conducted in a subtropical Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantation. The field debris exclusion experiment included the following treatments: leaf litter exclusion (NL), leaf litter and root exclusion (NLR), and control (CT). In the laboratory experiment, leaf litter and fine and coarse roots were added to soils collected from the same site and incubated for 100 days at 15.0 °C using the isotopic partitioning approach to determine the priming effect on soil C. The field-experimental results showed that soil CO2 efflux decreased significantly by 22.9% and 49.1% in the NL and NLR plots, respectively, compared with the CT plots. However, debris exclusion did not affect the diurnal and seasonal patterns of soil CO2 efflux. The contributions of leaf litter and roots to total soil CO2 efflux were 22.9% and 26.2%, respectively, which were positively related to soil temperature and moisture. In the laboratory experiment, the cumulative amount of soil CO2 efflux increased 1.25, 0.51, and 0.43 times in the soils with leaf litter, fine root, and coarse root additions, respectively, compared with the control soil (without debris addition) at the end of the incubation period. The amount of CO2 derived from leaf litter, fine root, and coarse root additions accounted for 44.0%, 31.1%, and 27.9% of the total amount of soil CO2 efflux, respectively. During the experimental period, the priming effect induced by fast-decomposing leaf litter (25.9%) was significantly higher than the priming effect induced by slow-decomposing fine roots (3.8%) and coarse roots (2.9%). The priming effect was negatively correlated with the initial lignin content and the lignin:N ratios of the added debris. The similar contributions of leaf litter and roots to soil CO2 efflux from the field experiment and the greater contributions of the priming of leaf litters to the fluxes from the laboratory experiment suggest that root inputs are more important than litter inputs in regulating soil C storage in Chinese fir forests.

► This was the first study conducted in a subtropical Chinese fir plantation.
► Examine in situ the effects of leaf litter and root removal on soil CO2 efflux.
► Leaf litter and/or root exclusion significantly decreased soil respiration.
► Contributions of leaf litter and roots to soil respiration were similar.
► Root rather than litter inputs are more important in regulating soil C storage.