R. Wagai et al., LAND-USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL-FACTORS INFLUENCING SOIL SURFACE CO2 FLUX AND MICROBIAL BIOMASS IN NATURAL AND MANAGED ECOSYSTEMS IN SOUTHERN WISCONSIN, Soil biology & biochemistry, 30(12), 1998, pp. 1501-1509
Many of the native prairies in southern Wisconsin, and the midwestern
United States in general, have been replaced by conventional tilt (chi
sel plow) and no-tillage corn agroecosystems. However, knowledge of th
e influence of land use change on the structure and function of ecosys
tems is incomplete. Soil surface CO2 flux is a major transfer of carbo
n from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere and varies greatly amo
ng vegetation types. We measured soil surface CO2 flux and microbial b
iomass in tilled and no-till corn agroecosystems and a restored prairi
e ecosystem, examined the influence of various environmental factors o
n soil surface CO2 flux in these ecosystems, and estimated annual soil
surface CO2 flux for the natural and managed ecosystems. Soil surface
CO2 flux is significantly greater for prairie and conventional tilled
corn than for no-till corn in the spring, greater for prairie than ti
lled and no-till corn from July to early October, and is similar for a
ll three ecosystems in the late fall and winter. Soil surface CO2 flux
is positively correlated to soil temperature at 10 cm for all three e
cosystems (r(2) = 0.43-0.60, P < 0.001), but is only weakly correlated
to soil moisture. Using an empirical model to estimate soil surface C
O2 flux from 10 cm soil temperatures, we estimate annual soil surface
CO2 fluxes of 508, 535 and 719 (g C m(-2) y(-1)) for the tilled and no
-till corn and restored prairie ecosystems, respectively, demonstratin
g that land use practices significantly affect soil surface CO2 flux.
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