Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Soil respiration across three contrasting ecosystem types
T2 - comparison of two portable IRGA systems
AU - Mills, Robert
AU - Glanville, Helen
AU - McGovern, Stephanie
AU - Emmett, Bridget
AU - Jones, Davey L.
PY - 2011/8
Y1 - 2011/8
N2 - An accurate assessment of soil respiration is critical for understanding and predicting ecosystem responses to anthropogenic perturbation such as climate change, pollution, and agriculture. Infra-red gas analyzer (IRGA)-based field measurement is the most widely used technique for assessing soil-respiration flux rates. In this study, respiration rates obtained with two common IRGA systems (LI-COR 8100 and PP Systems EGM-4) were compared across three ecosystem types. Our results showed that both methods were highly comparable in their flux estimates, but the associated methodology used (notably the use or absence of a soil collar) resulted in greater uncertainty in flux rates and a greater degree of intrasite variation. Specifically, the use of collars significantly decreased the flux estimate for both IRGAs compared to the no-collar estimate. The disturbance caused by collar insertion was assumed to be a major factor in causing the differing flux estimates, with root and mycorrhizal severance likely being the main contributor. We conclude that the two IRGAs used in this study can be reliably compared for overall flux estimates but emphasis is needed to validate a common measurement methodology.
AB - An accurate assessment of soil respiration is critical for understanding and predicting ecosystem responses to anthropogenic perturbation such as climate change, pollution, and agriculture. Infra-red gas analyzer (IRGA)-based field measurement is the most widely used technique for assessing soil-respiration flux rates. In this study, respiration rates obtained with two common IRGA systems (LI-COR 8100 and PP Systems EGM-4) were compared across three ecosystem types. Our results showed that both methods were highly comparable in their flux estimates, but the associated methodology used (notably the use or absence of a soil collar) resulted in greater uncertainty in flux rates and a greater degree of intrasite variation. Specifically, the use of collars significantly decreased the flux estimate for both IRGAs compared to the no-collar estimate. The disturbance caused by collar insertion was assumed to be a major factor in causing the differing flux estimates, with root and mycorrhizal severance likely being the main contributor. We conclude that the two IRGAs used in this study can be reliably compared for overall flux estimates but emphasis is needed to validate a common measurement methodology.
KW - carbon
KW - CO(2)
KW - flux chamber
KW - greenhouse-gas emission
KW - methodology
KW - CO2 EFFLUX
KW - CARBON
KW - FOREST
KW - ROOT
KW - BIASES
U2 - 10.1002/jpln.201000183
DO - 10.1002/jpln.201000183
M3 - Journal article
VL - 174
SP - 532
EP - 535
JO - Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
JF - Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
SN - 1436-8730
IS - 4
ER -