Original Research ArticleRiparian land uses affect the dry season soil CO2 efflux under dry tropical ecosystems

- Soil CO2 efflux increased across riparian land uses from moist sandy flat to agricultural land use.
- Soil organic C, soil moisture, microbial biomass and soil pH were the key regulators of soil CO2 efflux.
- Proper management of herbaceous patches of riparian ecosystem may act as sink of CO2.

Riparian ecosystems are amongst the most vulnerable ecosystems of the world. The natural gradients and increasing human perturbations under these ecosystems can be explored for understanding the soil carbon (C) dynamics, especially soil carbon dioxide (CO2) efflux. However, studies on soil CO2 efflux and its governing variables under different land uses of dry tropical riparian ecosystems are limited. Therefore, the present study aimed (1) to assess the impact of riparian land use on soil CO2 efflux, and (2) to identify the key drivers of soil CO2 efflux along the river Ganga, Varanasi, India. The riparian land uses taken in this study were moist sandy flat (MSF), uncultivated sandy land (USL) and cultivated sandy land (CSL) depending upon their slope and distance from river body to upland, respectively. Soil CO2 efflux and other soil biophysical properties were measured at 54 locations distributed in six sites having these land uses, in dry season of 2014-15. Soil biophysical properties considered in this study were soil organic C, soil moisture, bulk density, porosity, fine particles, microbial biomass C and soil pH. Riparian land uses were found to have significant impact over soil CO2 efflux with a respective increase of 222, 424 and 63%, for MSF to USL, MSF to CSL, and USL to CSL land use transitions (P < 0.01), respectively. Similarly, the regulators of soil CO2 efflux varied with the land uses. It showed strong positive correlation with soil organic C (r = 0.81), fine particles (r = 0.64) and porosity (r = 0.61), whereas negative correlation with soil moisture (r = 0.61) and bulk density (r = 0.62) for overall dataset. However, soil organic C, fine particles, microbial biomass C and soil pH at MSF; soil organic C and microbial biomass C at USL; and soil moisture, porosity and microbial biomass C at CSL land uses were observed to regulate soil CO2 efflux. The findings revealed that riparian land uses have significant control over soil CO2 efflux and its biophysical regulators which have relative control over it. Soil organic C, soil moisture, fine particles, porosity and microbial biomass C were identified as prevalent regulators of soil CO2 efflux under dry seasons. Overall, the results indicate that the biophysical variables in addition to human interferences (CSL land use) have pronounced regulation over soil CO2 efflux in dry tropical riparian ecosystems.

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