Effects of post-fire conditions on soil respiration in boreal forests with special reference to Northeast China forests

Abstract

Forest fires frequently occur in boreal forests, and their effects on forest ecosystems are often significant in terms of carbon flux related to climate changes. Soil respiration is the second largest carbon flux in boreal forests and the change in soil respiration is not negligible. Environmental factors controlling the soil respiration, for example, soil temperature, are altered by such fires. The abnormal increase in soil temperature has an important negative effect on soil microbes by reducing their activities or even by killing them directly with strong heat. On the other hand, although vegetation is directly disturbed by fires, the indirect changes in soil respiration are followed by changes in root activities and soil microbes. However, there is very limited information on soil respiration in the forests of Northeast China. This review, by combining what is known about fire influence on soil respiration in boreal forests from previous studies of post-fire effects on soil conditions, soil microbes, and forest regeneration, presents possible scenarios of the impact of anticipated post-fire changes in forest soil respiration in Northeast China.

Keywords

boreal forests / Northeast China / forest fires / forest regeneration / soil microbes / soil respiration

References

[1] Adams M A, Attiwill P M (1986). Nutrient cycling and nitrogen mineralization in eucalypt forests of south-eastern Australia. II. Indices of nitrogen mineralization. Plant and Soil, 92: 341-362

[2] Amiro B D, MacPherson J I, Desjardins R L, Chen J M, Liu J (2003). Post-fire carbon dioxide fluxes in the western Canadian boreal forest: evidence from towers, aircraft and remote sensing. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 115: 91-107

[3] Baar J, Horton T R, kretzer A M, Bruns T D (1999). Mycorrhizal colonization of Pinus muricata from resistant propagules after a stand-replacing wildfire. New Phytologist, 143: 409-418

[4] Bergner B, Johnstone J, Treseder K K (2004). Experimental warming and burn severity alter soil CO₂ flux and soil functional groups in recently burned boreal forest. Global Change Biology, 10: 1996-2004

[5] Bissett J, Parkinson D (1980). Long-term effects of fire on the composition and activity of the soil microflora of a subalpine, conifer forest. Canadian Journal of Botany, 58: 1704-1721

[6] Boerner R (1982). Fire and nutrient cycling in temperate ecosystems. BioScience, 32: 187-192

[7] Burke R A, Zepp R G, Miller W L, Tarr M A, Stocks B J (1997). Effects of fire on soil-atmosphere exchange of methane and carbon dioxide in Canadian boreal forest sites. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102: 29289-29300

[8] Chapin F S, Matoson P A, Mooney H A (2002). Principles of terrestrial ecosystem ecology. Heidelberg, New York, Tokyo: Springer Verlag

[9] Christensen N L (1987). The biogeochemical consequences of fire and their effects on the vegetation of the coastal plain of the southeastern United States. In: Trabaud L, ed. The role of fire in ecological systems. The Hague: S.P.B. Academic Publishers, 1-21

[10] Czimczik C I, Schmidt M W I, Schulze E D (2005). Effects of increasing fire frequency on black carbon and organic matter in Podzols of Siberian Scots pine forests. European Journal of Soil Science, 56: 417-428

[11] Danielson R M (1984). Ectomycorrhizal associations in jack pine stands in northeastern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Botany, 62: 932-939

[12] Davidson E A, Savage K, Verchot L V, Navarro R (2002). Minimizing artifacts and bases in chamber-based measurements of soil respiration. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 113: 21-37

[13] Fisher R F, Binkley D (2000). Ecology and management of forest soils. New York: John Wiley and Sons

[14] Giardina C P, Huffman S, Binkley D, Caldwell B (1995). Alders increase phosphorus supply in a Douglas-fir plantation. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 25: 1652-1657

[15] Guan D X, Wu J B, Yu G R, Sun X M, Zhao X S, Han S J, Jin C J (2005). Meteorological control on CO₂ flux above broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest in Changbai Mountains. Science in China D-Earth Science, 48: 116-122

[16] Horton T R, Cázares E, Bruns T D (1998). Ectomycorrhizal, vesicular-arbuscular and dark septate fungal colonization of bishop pine (Pinus muricata) seedlings in the first 5 months of growth after wildfire. Mycorrhiza, 8: 11-18

[17] Janssens I A, Kowalski A S, Longdoz B, Ceulemans R (2000). Assessing forest soil CO₂ efflux: an in situcomparison of four techniques. Tree Physiology, 20:23-32

[18] Jiang H, Apps M J, Peng C, Zhang Y, Liu J (2002). Modelling the influence of harvesting on Chinese boreal forest carbon dynamics. Forest Ecology and Management, 169: 65-82

[19] Jiang L, Shi F, Li B, Luo Y, Chen J, Chen J (2005). Separating rhizosphere respiration from total soil respiration in two larch plantations in northeastern China. Tree Physiology, 25: 1187-1195

[20] Jiang Y L, Zhou G S, Zhao M, Wang Xu, Cao M C (2005). Soil respiration in broad-leaved and Korean pine forest ecosystems, Changhai Mountain, China. Journal of Plant Ecology, 29: 411-414

[21] Jonsson L, Dahlberg A, Nilsson M C, Zackrisson O, Kårén O (1999). Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in late-successional Swedish boreal forests, and their composition following wildfire. Molecular Ecology, 8: 205-215

[22] Kim Y, Tanaka N (2003). Effects of forest fire on the fluxes of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O in boreal forest soils, interior Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 108: 8154

[23] Krammes J S, DeBano L F (1965). Soil wettability: a neglected factor in watershed management. Water Resources Research, 1: 283-286

[24] Lindsay W (1979). Chemical equilibria in soils. New York: John Wiley and Sons

[25] Litton C M, Ryan M G, Knight D H (2004). Effects of tree density and stand age on carbon allocation patterns in postfire lodgepole pine. Ecological Applications, 14: 460-475

[26] Liu W, Moriizumi J, Yamazawa H, Iida T (2006). Depth profiles of radiocarbon and carbon isotopic compositions of organic matter and CO₂ in a forest soil. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 90:210-223

[27] Liu Y, Yu Z, Li S, Wu B (1997). The preliminary study on the effect of the northeast China forests under climate change. Journal of Jilin Forestry University, 13: 63-69 (in Chinese)

[28] Liu Y Q, Han S J, Zhou Y M, Zhang J H (2005). Contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration in a Betula ermanii-dark coniferous forest ecotone of the Changbai Mountains, China. Pedosphere, 15: 35-44

[29] Mosier A R (1990). Gas flux measurement techniques with special reference to techniques suitable for measurements over large ecologically uniform areas. In: Bouwman A F, ed. Soil and the Greenhouse Effect. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 289-301

[30] Neal J, Wright E, Bollen W B (1965). Burning Douglas-fir slash: physical, chemical, and microbial effects in the soil. Oregon: Corvallis

[31] O’Neill K P, Kasischke E S, Richter D D (2003). Seasonal and decadal patterns of soil carbon uptake and emission along an age sequence of burned black spruce stands in interior Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 108: 8155

[32] O’Neill K P, Richter D D, Kasischke E S (2006). Succession-driven changes in soil respiration following fire in black spruce stands of interior Alaska. Biogeochemistry, 80 (1): 1-20

[33] Raich J W, Potter C S (1995). Global patterns of carbon dioxide emission from soils. Global Biochemical Cycles, 9: 23-26

[34] Raison R J, Khanna P, Woods P (1985). Mechanisms of element transfer to the atmosphere during vegetation fires. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 15: 132-140

[35] Sawamoto T, Hatano R, Yajima T, Takahashi K, Isaev A P (2000). Soil respiration in Siberian Taiga ecosystems with different histories of forest fire. Soil Science and Plant Nutrient, 46: 31-42

[36] Schulze E D (2002). Understanding global change: lessons learnt from the European landscape. Journal of Vegetation Science, 13: 403-412

[37] Stendell E R, Horton T R, Bruns T D (1999). Early effects of prescribed fire on the structure of the ectomycorrhizal fungus community in a Sierra Nevada ponderosa pine forest. Mycological Research, 103: 1353-1359

[38] Sun Y, Wei J, Wu G, Zhao J (2005). Soil respiration and affecting factors on the alpine tundra of Changbai Mountain. Chinese Journal of Ecology, 24: 603-606 (in Chinese)

[39] Taylor D L, Bruns T D (1999). Community structure of ectomycorrhizal fungi in a Pinus muricata forest: minimal overlap between the mature forest and resistant propagule communities. Molecular Ecology, 8: 1837-1850

[40] Torres P, Honrubia M (1997). Changes and effects of a natural fire on ectomycorrhizal inoculum potential of soil in a Pinus halepensis forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 96: 189-196

[41] Treseder K K, Mack M C, Cross A (2004). Relationships among fires, fungi, and soil dynamics in Alaskan Boreal Forests. Ecological Applications, 14: 1826-1838

[42] Van Cleve K, Dyrness C T (1985). The effect of the Rosie Creek Fire on soil fertility. In: Juday G, Cyrness CT, eds. Early results of the Rosie Creek Fire Research Project 1984. Fairbanks, Alaska: Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Miscellaneous Publication, 7-11

[43] Wang C K, Bond-Lamberty B, Gower S T (2002). Soil surface CO₂ flux in a boreal black spruce fire chronosequence. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 108: 8224

[44] Wang C K, Yang J Y, Zhang Q Z (2006). Soil respiration in six temperate forests in China. Global Change Biology, 12: 2103-2114

[45] Wang M, Li Q R, Xiao D M (2004). Effects of soil temperature and soil water content on soil respiration in three forest types in Changbai Mountain. Journal of Forestry Research (Harbin), 15: 113-118

[46] Wang X, He H S, Li X, Chang Y, Hu Y, Xu C, Bu R, Xie F (2006). Simulating the effects of reforestation on a large catastrophic fire burned landscape in Northeastern China. Forest Ecology and Management, 225: 82-93

[47] Wei X, Kimmins J P (1998). Asymbiotic nitrogen fixation in harvested and wildfire-killed lodgepole pine forests in the central interior of British Columbia. Forest Ecology and Management, 109: 343-353

[48] Woodmansee R G, Wallach L S (1981). Effects of fire regimes on biogeochemical cycles. In: Mooney H A, Bonnicksen T M, Christensen N L, Lotan J E, Reiners W A, eds. Fire Regimes and Ecosystem Properties. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service General Technical Report WO-26, 379-400

[49] Wright H A, Bailey A W (1982). Fire Ecology, United states and southern Canada. New York: John Wiley and Sons

[50] Wu J B, Guan D X, Wang M, Pei T F, Han S J, Jin C J (2006). Year-round soil and ecosystem respiration in a temperate broad-leaved Korean Pine forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 223: 35-44

[51] Yang J Y, Wang C K (2006). Effects of soil temperature and moisture on soil surface CO₂ Flux of forests in northeastern China. Journal of Plant Ecology, 30: 286-294

[52] Yermakov Z, Rothstein D E (2006). Changes in soil carbon and nitrogen cycling along a 72- year wildfire chronosequence in Michigan jack pine forests. Oecologia, 149: 690-700

[53] Zhang X Q, Wang W J, Zu Y G, Zhang W L (2005). The difference between different components of soil respiration in several types of forests in Northern China. Journal of Northeast Forestry University, 33: 46-47 (in Chinese)

[54] Zhuang Q, McGuire A D, O’Neill K P, Harden J W, Romanovsky V E, Yarie J (2002). Modeling soil thermal and carbon dynamics of a fire chronosequence in interior Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 108: 8147

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 30700639 and 30471386 to Laiye QU and Xiaoniu XU, respectively).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg