PlumX Metrics
Embed PlumX Metrics

Estimating the component of soil respiration not dependent on living plant roots: Comparison of the indirect y -intercept regression approach and direct bare plot approach

Soil Biology and Biochemistry, ISSN: 0038-0717, Vol: 42, Issue: 10, Page: 1835-1841
2010
  • 20
    Citations
  • 0
    Usage
  • 46
    Captures
  • 0
    Mentions
  • 0
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

Metrics Details

  • Citations
    20
    • Citation Indexes
      20
  • Captures
    46

Article Description

Distinguishing between root and non-root derived CO 2 efflux is important when determining rates of soil organic matter turnover, however, in practice they remain difficult to separate. Our aim was to evaluate two methods for determining the component of below-ground respiration not dependent on plant roots (i.e., basal soil respiration; R b ). The first approach estimated R b indirectly from the y -intercept of linear regressions between below-ground respiration ( BGR ) and root biomass. The second approach involved direct measurements of soil respiration from bare plots. To compare the contrasting approaches, BGR and crop biomass measurements were collected throughout the year in a range of agricultural systems. We found that both methods were very closely correlated with each other. Values of R b determined by the intercept approach, however, were slightly higher than those determined by measurement of bare plots. Both approaches showed a seasonal trend with estimates of R b lowest in winter months at 0.02 t C ha −1  month −1 for the y -intercept approach and 0.11 t C ha −1  month −1 for the bare plots approach, even after the data had been corrected for the influence of soil temperature. Highest rates of R b  occurred from the height to the end of the crop growing season (0.8–1.5 t C ha −1  month −1 ). The annual CO 2 efflux due to R b was estimated to be 8.1 t C ha −1  y −1 from the y -intercept approach and 6.8 t C ha −1  y −1 from bare plots. Annual BGR was 12.1 t C ha −1  y −1. We conclude that both methods provide similar estimates of R b, however, logistically the bare plots approach is much easier to undertake than the y -intercept approach.

Provide Feedback

Have ideas for a new metric? Would you like to see something else here?Let us know