Plant species diversity affects soil–atmosphere fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide

Niklaus, Pascal A.; Roux, Xavier Le; Poly, Franck; Buchmann, Nina; Scherer‐Lorenzen, Michael; Weigelt, Alexandra; Barnard, Romain L.

doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3611-8

Cited by 62 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…, Hooper and Dukes ), where these effects could be related to increased N acquisition, increased N‐use efficiency, and reduced N losses (Niklaus et al. , , Scherer‐Lorenzen et al. , Fargione et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can niche plasticity promote biodiversity–productivity relationships through increased complementarity?

Niklaus

Baruffol

et al. 2017

Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Most experimental biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research to date has addressed herbaceous plant communities. Comparably little is known about how forest communities will respond to species losses, despite their importance for global biogeochemical cycling. We studied tree species interactions in experimental subtropical tree communities with 33 distinct tree species mixtures and one, two, or four species. Plots were either exposed to natural light levels or shaded. Trees grew rapidly and were intensely competing above ground after 1.5 growing seasons when plots were thinned and the vertical distribution of leaves and wood determined by separating the biomass of harvested trees into 50 cm height increments. Our aim was to analyze effects of species richness in relation to the vertical allocation of leaf biomass and wood, with an emphasis on bipartite competitive interactions among species. Aboveground productivity increased with species richness. The community-level vertical leaf and wood distribution depended on the species composition of communities. Mean height and breadth of species-level vertical leaf and wood distributions did not change with species richness. However, the extra biomass produced by mixtures compared to monocultures of the component species increased when vertical leaf distributions of monocultures were more different. Decomposition of biodiversity effects with the additive partitioning scheme indicated positive complementarity effects that were higher in light than in shade. Selection effects did not deviate from zero, irrespective of light levels. Vertical leaf distributions shifted apart in mixed stands as consequence of competition-driven phenotypic plasticity, promoting realized complementarity. Structural equation models showed that this effect was larger for species that differed more in growth strategies that were characterized by functional traits. In 13 of the 18 investigated two-species mixtures, both species benefitted relative to intraspecific competition in monoculture. In the remaining five pairwise mixtures, the relative yield gain of one species exceeded the relative yield loss of the other species, resulting in a relative yield total (RYT) exceeding 1. Overall, our analysis indicates that richness-productivity relationships are promoted by interspecific niche complementarity at early stages of stand development, and that this effect is enhanced by architectural plasticity. Abstract. Most experimental biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research to date has addressed herbaceous plant communities. Comparably little is known about how forest communities will respond to species losses, despite their importance for global biogeochemical cycling. We studied tree species interactions in experimental subtropical tree communities with 33 distinct tree species mixtures and one, two, or four species. Plots were either exposed to natural light levels or shaded. Trees grew rapidly and were intensely competing above ground after 1.5 growing seasons when plots were thinned a...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can niche plasticity promote biodiversity–productivity relationships through increased complementarity?

Niklaus

Baruffol

et al. 2017

Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…4d), probably because the litter layer (including mineral compounds) became too dry. Other studies (Adamsen and King, 1993;Karbin et al, 2016;Niklaus et al, 2016;Rosenkranz et al, 2006;) also showed that CH4 consumption is highest in the top centimeters of the mineral soil and that a decreasing soil water content is often associated with a higher CH4 consumption (Borken and Beese, 2006;Butterbach-Bahl et al, 2002;Hartmann et al, 2011). Stiehl-Braun et al (2011) observed that the most active zone of CH4 consumption shifted downward within the soil profile during a drought.…”

Section: Uncertainty In the Modeled Diffusivity Profile And Comparisomentioning

confidence: 91%

2D profiles of CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O and gas diffusivity in a well aerated soil: measurement and Finite Element Modeling

Maier

Longdoz

Laemmel

et al. 2017

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Soil gas fluxes depend on soil gas concentrations and physical properties of a soil. Taking soil samples for physical analysis into the laboratory strongly modifies soil gas concentrations and also cuts roots that sustain the activity in the rhizosphere. Since microbial processes interact with gas concentrations in soil, we need to study gas transport and production in situ.We developed a method to monitor the transport and production and consumption of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) in soils in situ in a two dimensional (2D) profile using tetra-fluoromethane (CF4) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) as tracer gases and Finite Element Modeling of soil gas transport. Continuous injection of the inert tracer gases and 2D gas sampling in a soil profile allowed for inverse modeling of the 2D profile of soil gas diffusivity. In a second step, the 2D profiles of the production and consumption of CO2, CH4, and N2O were inversely determined.Soil gas concentrations were monitored in a Scots pine stand in South-West Germany during a rain-free week in the fall. The 2D relative (so as to be independent of gas species) soil gas diffusivity profile showed large horizontal variability. Relative soil gas diffusivity was found to be anisotropic with the vertical direction greater by a factor of 1.26. Topsoil moisture decreased slowly over time resulting in an increase in relative soil gas diffusivity. The soil was found to be a source of CO2, and a net sink of CH4 and N2O, with the highest production (CO2) and consumption (CH4, N2O) occurring in the topsoil. The gas concentration and production profiles of CO2 were nearly horizontally homogenous, while those for CH4 showed larger horizontal differences. Net consumption of CH4 and net production of CO2 both increased as the soil dried. This occurred despite reverse trends for these variables in the topsoil (0-8 cm depth) which were more than offset by the underlying soil becoming more active. Sensitivity tests showed that the determination of 2D profiles of soil gas diffusivity and production and consumption of CO2 and CH4 were more reliable than the estimates for N2O because the magnitudes of these for N2O were very low. Our method represents a useful tool for the analyses of soil gas flux heterogeneities and associated microbial processes within soil profiles.

show abstract

“…Similar as to our site, Borken & Beese [25] observed no effect of vegetation on N 2 O fluxes. Niklaus et al [55] observed that CH 4 uptake and soil N 2 O emissions decreased with plant species richness in a grassland experiment. They attributed the decrease in CH 4 uptake to an increase in soil water content.…”

Section: Spatial Variability Of Soil Gas Fluxesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High-affinity methanotrophic microbes are ubiquitous in aerated soil and specifically seem to live on the surface of aggregates and pores [54,55] that facilitate access to CH4. The rate of CH4 consumption is consequently limited, amongst other factors, by the supply of atmospheric CH4.…”

Section: Interaction Of Soil Physical Parameters Soil Gas Fluxes Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of Plot-Scale Variability of CH4 Consumption in a Well-Aerated Pine Forest Soil

Maier

Paulus

Nicolai

et al. 2017

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While differences in greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes between ecosystems can be explained to a certain degree, variability of the same at the plot scale is still challenging. We investigated the spatial variability in soil-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) to find out what drives spatial variability on the plot scale. Measurements were carried out in a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest in a former floodplain on a 250 m 2 plot, divided in homogenous strata of vegetation and soil texture. Soil gas fluxes were measured consecutively at 60 points along transects to cover the spatial variability. One permanent chamber was measured repeatedly to monitor temporal changes to soil gas fluxes. The observed patterns at this control chamber were used to standardize the gas fluxes to disentangle temporal variability from the spatial variability of measured GHG fluxes. Concurrent measurements of soil gas diffusivity allowed deriving in situ methanotrophic activity from the CH 4 flux measurements. The soil emitted CO 2 and consumed CH 4 and N 2 O. Significantly different fluxes of CH 4 and CO 2 were found for the different soil-vegetation strata, but not for N 2 O. Soil CH 4 consumption increased with soil gas diffusivity within similar strata supporting the hypothesis that CH 4 consumption by soils is limited by the supply with atmospheric CH 4 . Methane consumption in the vegetation strata with dominant silty texture was higher at a given soil gas diffusivity than in the strata with sandy texture. The same pattern was observed for methanotrophic activity, indicating better habitats for methantrophs in silt. Methane consumption increased with soil respiration in all strata. Similarly, methanotrophic activity increased with soil respiration when the individual measurement locations were categorized into silt and sand based on the dominant soil texture, irrespective of the vegetation stratum. Thus, we suggest the rhizosphere and decomposing organic litter might represent or facilitate a preferred habitat for methanotrophic microbes, since rhizosphere and decomposing organic are the source of most of the soil respiration.

show abstract

Plant species diversity affects soil–atmosphere fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide

Cited by 62 publications

References 54 publications

Can niche plasticity promote biodiversity–productivity relationships through increased complementarity?

Can niche plasticity promote biodiversity–productivity relationships through increased complementarity?

2D profiles of CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O and gas diffusivity in a well aerated soil: measurement and Finite Element Modeling

Drivers of Plot-Scale Variability of CH4 Consumption in a Well-Aerated Pine Forest Soil

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About