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A decreasing carbon allocation to belowground autotrophic respiration in global forest ecosystems

Journal Article · · Science of the Total Environment
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9]
  1. Chengdu University
  2. 2State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Synergetic Control and Joint Remediation for Soil
  3. Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
  4. Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, Sichuan, China
  5. BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
  6. Lomonosov Moscow State University
  7. Nanjing University
  8. CSIRO
  9. UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS

Belowground autotrophic respiration (RAsoil) depends on carbohydrates from photosynthesis flowing to roots and rhizospheres, and is one of the most important but least understood components in forest carbon cycling. Carbon allocation plays an important role in forest carbon cycling and reflects forest adaptation to changing environmental conditions. However, carbon allocation to RAsoil has not been fully examined at the global scale. To fill this knowledge gap, first, the spatio-temporal patterns of RAsoil from 1981 to 2017 were predicted by a Random Forest (RF) algorithm using the most updated Global Soil Respiration Database (v5) with global environmental variables; second, carbon allocation from photosynthesis to RAsoil (CAB), was calculated as the ratio of RAsoil to gross primary production; and its temporal and spatial patterns were assessed in global forest ecosystems. . Globally, mean RAsoil from forests was 8.9 ± 0.08 Pg C yr-1 (mean ± standard deviation) from 1981 to 2017 with strong spatial variabilities. Temporally, RAsoil increased at a rate of 0.0059 Pg C yr-2, paralleling broader soil respiration changes and indicating increasing carbon respired by roots. Mean CAB was 0.243 ± 0.016 and decreased over time. The temporal trend of CAB varied greatly in space, reflecting uneven responses of CAB to environmental changes. This study is the first attempt to predict global CAB and analyze its temporal and spatial patterns. With the linkage of carbon use efficiency, the developed CAB offers an completely independent approach to quantify global aboveground autotropic respiration spatially and temporally, which could provide crucial insights into carbon flux partition and global carbon cycling under climate change.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1819950
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-159971
Journal Information:
Science of the Total Environment, Journal Name: Science of the Total Environment Vol. 798
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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