Climate Impacts on Soil Carbon Processes along an Elevation Gradient in the Tropical Luquillo Experimental Forest
1
Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, San Juan, PR 00936, USA
2
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, San Juan, PR 00936, USA
3
USDA Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, 1201 Ceiba Street, Río Piedras, PR 00926, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Robert Jandl and Mirco Rodeghiero
Forests 2017, 8(3), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030090
Received: 14 January 2017
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Revised: 11 March 2017
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Accepted: 13 March 2017
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Published: 19 March 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Soil Respiration under Climate Changing)
Tropical forests play an important role in regulating the global climate and the carbon cycle. With the changing temperature and moisture along the elevation gradient, the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Northeastern Puerto Rico provides a natural approach to understand tropical forest ecosystems under climate change. In this study, we conducted a soil translocation experiment along an elevation gradient with decreasing temperature but increasing moisture to study the impacts of climate change on soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil respiration. As the results showed, both soil carbon and the respiration rate were impacted by microclimate changes. The soils translocated from low elevation to high elevation showed an increased respiration rate with decreased SOC content at the end of the experiment, which indicated that the increased soil moisture and altered soil microbes might affect respiration rates. The soils translocated from high elevation to low elevation also showed an increased respiration rate with reduced SOC at the end of the experiment, indicating that increased temperature at low elevation enhanced decomposition rates. Temperature and initial soil source quality impacted soil respiration significantly. With the predicted warming climate in the Caribbean, these tropical soils at high elevations are at risk of releasing sequestered carbon into the atmosphere.
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Keywords:
soil respiration; tropical forest; soil translocation experiment; elevation gradient; climate change
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MDPI and ACS Style
Chen, D.; Yu, M.; González, G.; Zou, X.; Gao, Q. Climate Impacts on Soil Carbon Processes along an Elevation Gradient in the Tropical Luquillo Experimental Forest. Forests 2017, 8, 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030090
AMA Style
Chen D, Yu M, González G, Zou X, Gao Q. Climate Impacts on Soil Carbon Processes along an Elevation Gradient in the Tropical Luquillo Experimental Forest. Forests. 2017; 8(3):90. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030090
Chicago/Turabian StyleChen, Dingfang, Mei Yu, Grizelle González, Xiaoming Zou, and Qiong Gao. 2017. "Climate Impacts on Soil Carbon Processes along an Elevation Gradient in the Tropical Luquillo Experimental Forest" Forests 8, no. 3: 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030090
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