Relationships among litterfall, fine-root growth, and soil respiration for five tropical tree species Article

Valverde-Barrantes, OJ. (2007). Relationships among litterfall, fine-root growth, and soil respiration for five tropical tree species . CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH-REVUE CANADIENNE DE RECHERCHE FORESTIERE, 37(10), 1954-1965. 10.1139/X07-057

cited authors

  • Valverde-Barrantes, OJ

authors

abstract

  • Although significant advances have been made in understanding terrestrial carbon cycling, there is still a large uncertainty about the variability of carbon (C) fluxes at local scales. Using a carbon mass-balance approach, I investigated the relationships between fine detritus production and soil respiration for five tropical tree species established on 16-year-old plantations. Total fine detritus production ranged from 0.69 to 1.21 kg C·m-2·year-1 with significant differences among species but with no correlation between litterfall and fine-root growth. Soil CO2 emissions ranged from 1.61 to 2.36 kg C·m -2·year-1 with no significant differences among species. Soil respiration increased with fine-root production but not with litterfall, suggesting that soil C emissions may depend more on belowground inputs or that both fine root production and soil respiration are similarly influenced by an external factor. Estimates of root + rhizosphere respiration comprised 52% of total soil respiration on average, and there was no evidence that rhizosphere respiration was associated with fine-root growth rates among species. These results suggest that inherent differences in fine-root production among species, rather than differences in aboveground litterfall, might play a main role explaining local-scale, among-forest variations in soil C emissions. © 2007 NRC.

publication date

  • October 1, 2007

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 1954

end page

  • 1965

volume

  • 37

issue

  • 10