Soil type and temperature determine soil respiration seasonal dynamics in dairy grassland

Abstract

● Soil respiration rates ( R _s) were measured in New Zealand dairy grassland.

● Both season and soil type significantly affected R _s.

● Soil temperature and soil type dominated overall R _s.

Soil respiration (R_s), the CO₂ release from root respiration and microbial metabolism, affects global soil carbon storage and cycling. Only few studies have looked at R_s in the southern hemisphere, especially regarding the interaction between soil type and environmental factors on R_s in dairy grassland. We investigated the relationship between R_s and soil temperature (T_s), soil water content (SWC), soil type, and other environmental factors based on summer and winter measurements at four sites in New Zealand. Across sites, soil respiration rates ranged from 0.29 to 14.58 with a mean of 5.38 ± 0.13 (mean ± standard error) µmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹. Mean summer R_s was 86.5% higher than mean winter R_s, largely driven by organic/gley and pumice soils while ultic soils showed very little seasonal temperature sensitivity. Overall mean R_s in organic/gley soils was 108.0% higher than that in ultic soils. The high R_s rate observed in organic/gley was likely due to high soil organic matter content, while low R_s in ultic and pallic soils resulted from high clay content and low hydraulic conductance. Soil temperature drove overall R_s. Our findings indicate that soil type and soil temperature together best explain R_s. This implies that a mere classification of land use type may be insufficient for global C models and should be supplemented with soil type information, at least locally.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

agriculture / agricultural soils / land use / livestock farming / soil carbon emission / soil temperature

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