JOURNAL OF NANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITY ›› 2017, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (04): 173-180.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-2006.201603051

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Response of forest soil greenhouse gases fluxes to forest management and global atmospheric change

GAO Fei, GAO Lei, CUI Xiaoyang*   

  1. College of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
  • Online:2017-08-18 Published:2017-08-18

Abstract: Forest soils are important sources and sinks of greenhouse gases(GHG). The objectives of this study were to explore the characteristics of forest soil GHG fluxes under different forest management practices and global atmospheric change, and to provide a reference for the reduction of GHG release and sustainable forest management. Publications were searched by using China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, Wanfang Database, Science Direct, and Springer Link, using three keywords “forest soil greenhouse gases”, “forest management”, and “atmospheric change”. Papers reporting on forest soil GHGs were analyzed, and the general pattern of forest soil GHG fluxes under different forest management practices and global atospheric change scenarios was analyzed. CO2, CH4 and N2O are three important GHGs, and the coupling between them are complex including synergism, antagonism and random interactions. Forest soil GHG fluxes were affected by forest management practices, such as forest fire occurrence and suppression, cutting and afforestation. Forest fire occurrence generally decreased soil N2O flux, and increased soil CH4 absorption. Forest fires could enhance, reduce or show no effects on soil CO2 flux, depending on fire type, fire intensity and ecosystem type. Forest cutting usually increased soil CO2, N2O and CH4 emission. Afforestation might reduce soil CO2 emissions, where asits effects on N2O and CH4 varied with ecosystem type, planted tree species, etc. Generally, atmospheric change impacts that may affect forest soil GHG fluxes are elevated atmospheric CO2, nitrogen deposition, and rising temperatures. Elevated atmospheric CO2 increased soil CO2 and N2O emission, and decreased soil CH4 absorption. Nitrogen deposition stimulated soil N2O emissions, and suppressed soil CH4 absorption. Rising temperatures increased soil CO2 and N2O emissions. The combined effects of forest management practices and atmospheric change on forest soil GHG fluxes may be non-additive, and effective forest management may alter the response of soil GHG fluxes to atmospheric change.

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