Climate change effects on soil carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions in Abies fabri forest of subalpine, southwest China

The Abies fabri forest on the eastern slope of the Gongga Mountain is a typical subalpine dark coniferous forest in southwestern China. The soil carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions in the A. fabri forest in future climates were simulated by the Forest-DNDC (denitrification–decomposition) model. Three future climate scenarios (B1, A1B and A2) predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were selectively investigated. The simulation showed that at elevated temperature and precipitation, the annual change of soil organic carbon (SOC) decreased in the forest floor pool but increased in the mineral soil pool. The increases in the CO2, N2O and NO emissions from soil were also quantified. The results indicated that elevated temperature and precipitation influenced the soil carbon dynamics, and significantly increased the greenhouse gas emissions from the soil in the A. fabri forest of subalpine.