SpringerLink
Log in

Impacts of water regime and land-use on soil CO2 efflux in a small temperate agricultural catchment

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Within the context of climate change, it is necessary to improve our mechanistic understanding of processes that release CO2 to the atmosphere. This study was designed to investigate spatial variation of soil CO2 efflux (FCO2) at the landscape (catchment) scale, which has received less attention so far in comparison to more homogeneous, smaller areas. More specifically, this study investigated the impacts of water regime, land-use and crop rotation on FCO2 in a small temperate agricultural catchment. FCO2 was measured manually with closed dynamic chambers over a 1 year period (36 weekly to bi-weekly measurement dates) at 22 sites that were selected to represent most of the diversity of drainage classes, soil types and land-uses in a small catchment in North-Western France. FCO2 was modelled empirically at each site as a function of soil temperature and soil water content. As a secondary step, impacts of water regime, land-use and crop rotation on heterotrophic respiration (HR) were also sought, with HR being estimated empirically as a fraction of FCO2 on the basis of partitioning coefficients taken from the literature. Results showed that water regime, land-use and crop rotation all had significant impacts on FCO2 on an annual scale. Poorly-drained sites emitted less CO2 than well-drained and moderately-well drained sites, which could be explained by reduced soil CO2 production and/or limitations in soil transport in more saturated environments. In addition, larger annual FCO2 were measured on grasslands compared to croplands (wheat and maize crops), which is likely due to the presence of larger amounts of available soil carbon and nutrients and to the presence or denser rooting systems. Due to the literature-based determination of partitioning coefficients, the results related to HR estimates were affected by more uncertainties than those related to FCO2 but they showed that the water regime tended to impact them similarly as FCO2, while HR was likely less affected by land-use. Altogether, the results of this study, performed at scale of a small agricultural temperate catchment, confirm that specific patterns of FCO2 result from varying soil CO2 production and transport processes, resulting from complex interactions between soil environment characteristics (soil carbon content, water regime,…) and land-use/crop rotations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (France)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akkal-Corfini N, Viaud V, Menasseri-Aubry S, Le Naour E, Rieux C (2014) Typologie des systèmes de culture pratiqués à l’échelle d’un paysage, basée sur la gestion des pratiques à l’échelle d’un territoire impactant potentiellement la dynamique de la matière organiques des sols. Internal MOSAIC project report (WP 1, Task 3), INRA, UMR SAS, Rennes, p 97

  • Atkins JW, Epstein HE, Welsch DL (2015) Vegetation and elevation influence the timing and magnitude of soil CO2 efflux in a humid, topographically complex watershed. Biogeosciences 12:2975–2994

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey NJ, Motavalli PP, Udawatta RP, Nelson KA (2009) Soil CO2 emissions in agricultural watersheds with agroforestry and grass contour buffer strips. Agrofor Syst 77:143–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balser TC, McMahon KD, Bart D, Bronson D, Coyle DR, Craig N, Flores-Mangual ML, Forshay K, Jones SE, Kent AE, Shade AL (2006) Bridging the gap between micro- and macro-scale perspectives on the role of microbial communities in global change ecology. Plant Soil 289:59–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bond-Lamberty B, Thomson A (2010) Temperature-associated increases in the global soil respiration record. Nature 464:579–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bossio DA, Scow KM (1998) Impacts of carbon and flooding on soil microbial communities: phospholipid fatty acid profiles and substrate utilization patterns. Microb Ecol 35:265–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne KA, Kiely R (2006) Partitioning of respiration in an intensively managed grassland. Plant Soil 282:281–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chirinda N, Elsgaard L, Thomsen IK, Heckrath G, Olesen JE (2014) Carbon dynamics in topsoil and subsoil along a cultivated toposequence. Catena 120:20–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creed IF, Webster KL, Braun GL, Bourbonnière RA, Beall FD (2013) Topographically regulated traps of dissolved organic carbon create hotspots of soil carbon dioxide efflux in forests. Biogeochemistry 112:149–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Janssens IA (2006) Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change. Nature 440:165–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Janssens IA, Luo Y (2006a) On the variability of respiration in terrestrial ecosystems: moving beyond Q10. Glob Chang Biol 12:154–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Savage KE, Trumbore SE, Borken W (2006b) Vertical partitioning of CO2 production within a temperate forest soil. Glob Chang Biol 12:944–956

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dequiet S, Saby NPA, Lelièvre M, Jolivet C, Thioulouse J, Toutain B, Arrouays D, Bispo A, Lemanceau P, Ranjard L (2011) Biogeographical patterns of soil molecular microbial biomass as influenced by soil characteristics and management. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 20:641–652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drenovsky RE, Vo D, Graham KJ, Scow KM (2004) Soil water content and organic carbon availability are major determinants of soil microbial community composition. Microb Ecol 48:424–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drinkwater LE, Wagoner P, Sarrantonio M (1998) Legume-based crop** systems have reduced carbon and nitrogen losses. Nature 396:262–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DuPont ST, Culman SW, Ferris H, Buckley DH, Glover JD (2010) No-tillage conversion of harvested perennial grassland to annual cropland reduces root biomass, decreases active carbon stocks, and impacts soil biota. Agric Ecosyst Environ 137:25–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epron D, Bosc A, Bonal D, Freycon V (2006) Spatial variation of soil respiration across a topographic gradient in a tropical rain forest in French Guiana. J Trop Ecol 22:565–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang C, Moncrieff JB (1999) A model for soil CO2 production and transport 1: model development. Agric For Meteorol 95:225–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flechard CR, Neftel A, Jocher M, Ammann C, Leifeld J, Fuhrer J (2007) Temporal changes in soil pore space CO2 concentration and storage under permanent grassland. Agric For Meteorol 142:66–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox J, Weisberg S (2011) An {R} companion to applied regression, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffin S, Wylock C, Haut B, Maier M, Longdoz B, Aubinet M (2015) Modeling soil CO2 production and transport to investigate the intra-day variability of surface efflux and soil CO2 concentration measurements in a Scots Pine Forest (Pinus Sylvestris, L). Plant Soil 390:195–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregorich EG, Drury CF, Baldock JA (2001) Changes in soil carbon under long-term maize in monoculture and legume-based rotation. Can J Soil Sci 81:21–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Han G, Zhou G, Xu Z, Yang Y, Liu J, Shi K (2007) Biotic and abiotic factors controlling the spatial and temporal variation of soil respiration in an agricultural ecosystem. Soil Biol Biochem 39:418–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson PJ, Edwards NT, Garten CT, Andrews JA (2000) Separating root and soil microbial contributions to soil respiration: a review of methods and observations. Biogeochemistry 48:115–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heinemeyer A, Tortorella D, Petrovičová B, Gelsomino A (2012) Partitioning of soil CO2 flux components in a temperate grassland ecosystem. Eur J Soil Sci 63:249–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IUSS Working Group WRB (2006) World Reference Base for Soil Resources, 2nd edition. World Soil Resources Reports: 103, FAO, Rome

  • Jackson RB, Canadell J, Ehleringer JR, Mooney HA, Sala OE, Schulze ED (1996) A global analysis of root distributions for terrestrial biomes. Oecologia 108:389–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones DL, Willett VB (2006) Experimental evaluation of methods to quantify dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 38:991–999

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kätterer T, Reichstein M, Andrén O, Lomander A (1998) Temperature dependence of organic matter decomposition: a critical review using literature data analyzed with different models. Biol Fertil Soils 27:258–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirschbaum MUF (1995) The temperature dependence of soil organic matter decomposition, and the effect of global warming on soil organic C storage. Soil Biol Biochem 27:753–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuzyakov Y (2006) Sources of CO2 efflux from soil and review of partitioning methods. Soil Biol Biochem 38:425–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langmuir D (1997) Aqueous environmental geochemistry. Prentice Hall, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Lê S, Josse J, Husson F (2008) FactoMineR: an R Package for multivariate analysis. J Stat Softw 25:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd J, Taylor JA (1994) On the temperature dependence of soil respiration. Funct Ecol 8:315–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lohila A, Aurela M, Regina K, Laurila T (2003) Soil and total ecosystem respiration in agricultural fields: effect of soil and crop type. Plant Soil 251:303–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Longdoz B, Yernaux M, Aubinet M (2000) Soil CO2 efflux measurements in a mixed forest: impact of chamber disturbances, spatial variability and seasonal evolution. Glob Chang Biol 6:907–917

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loubet B, Laville P, Lehuger S, Larmanou E, Fléchard C, Mascher N, Genermont S, Roche R, Ferrara RM, Stella P, Personne E, Durand B, Decuq C, Flura D, Masson S, Fanucci O, Rampon J-N, Siemens J, Kindler R, Gabrielle B, Schrumpf M, Cellier P (2011) Carbon, nitrogen and greenhouse gases budgets over a four years crop rotation in Northern France. Plant Soil 343:109–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo Y, Zhou X (2010) Soil respiration and the environment. Academic Press, London, p 328

    Google Scholar 

  • Minasny B, McBratney AB (2006) A conditioned Latin hypercube method for sampling in the presence of ancillary information. Comput Geosci 32:1378–1388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molenat J, Gascuel-Odoux C, Ruiz L, Gruau G (2008) Role of water table dynamics on stream nitrate export and concentration in agricultural headwater catchment (France). J Hydrol 348:363–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moyano FE, Manzoni S, Chenu C (2013) Responses of soil heterotrophic respiration to moisture availability: an exploration of processes and models. Soil Biol Biochem 59:72–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacific VJ, McGlynn BL, Riveros-Iregui DA, Welsch DL, Epstein HE (2008) Variability in soil respiration across riparian-hill-slope transitions. Biogeochemistry 91:51–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacific VJ, McGlynn BL, Riveros-Iregui DA, Welsch DL, Epstein HE (2011) Landscape structure, groundwater dynamics, and soil water content influence soil respiration across riparian-hill-slope transitions in the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest, Montana. Hydrol Process 25:811–827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Payraudeau S, van der Werf HMG, Vertès F (2007) Analysis of the uncertainty associated with the estimation of nitrogen losses from farming systems. Agric Syst 94:416–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrone RM, Chahil P, Macrae ML, English MC (2008) Spatial variability of CO2 exchange for riparian and open grasslands within a first-order agricultural basin in Southern Ontario. Agric Ecosyst Environ 125:137–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prolingheuer N, Scharnagl B, Graf A, Vereecken H, Herbst M (2014) On the spatial variation of soil rhizospheric and heterotrophic respiration in a winter wheat stand. Agric For Meteorol 195–196:24–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pumpanen J, Ilvesniemi H, Kulmala L, Siivola E, Laakso H, Kolari P, Helenelund C, Laakso M, Uusimaa M, Hari P (2008) Respiration in boreal forest soil as determined from carbon dioxide concentration profile. Soil Sci Soc Am J 72:1187–1196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranjard L, Lejon DPH, Mougel C, Schehrer L, Merdinoglu D, Chaussod R (2003) Sampling strategy in molecular microbial ecology: influence of soil sample size on DNA fingerprinting analysis of fungal and bacterial communities. Environ Microbiol 5:1111–1120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond JE, Fernandez IJ, Ohno T, Simon K (2012) Soil drainage class influences on soil carbon in a New England forested watershed. Soil Sci Soc Am J 77:307–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricker MC, Stolt MH, Zavada MS (2014) Comparison of soil organic carbon dynamics in forested riparian wetlands and adjacent uplands. Soil Sci Soc Am J 78:1817–1827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riveros-Iregui DA, McGlynn BL, Marshall LA, Welsch DL, Emanuel RE, Epstein HE (2011) A watershed-scale assessment of a process soil CO2 production and efflux model. Water Resour Res 47(10):W00J04. doi:10.1029/2010WR009941

    Google Scholar 

  • Riveros-Iregui DA, McGlynn BL (2009) Landscape structure control on soil CO2 efflux variability in complex terrain: scaling from point observations to watershed scale fluxes. J Geophys Res 114:G02010. doi:10.1029/2008JG000885

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivière JM, Tico S, Dupont C (1992) Méthode tarière—Massif Armoricain—Caractérisation des sols. Laboratoire de Science du Sol INRA Rennes (Eds), Chambre d’Agriculture du Morbihan, Chambre d’Agriculture d’Ille-et-Vilaine, Rennes, pp 20

  • Rochette P, Flanagan LB, Gregorich EG (1999) Separating soil respiration into plant and soil components using analyses of the natural abundance of carbon-13. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:1207–1213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan MG, Law BE (2005) Interpreting, measuring, and modeling soil respiration. Biogeochemistry 73:3–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Andrews JA (2000) Soil respiration and the global carbon cycle. Biogeochemistry 48:7–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stielstra CM, Lohse KA, Chorover J, McIntosh JC, Barron-Gafford GA, Perdrial JN, Litvak M, Barnard HR, Brooks PD (2015) Climatic and landscape influences on soil moisture are primary determinants of soil carbon fluxes in seasonally snow-covered forest ecosystems. Biogeochemistry 123:447–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suleau M, Moureaux C, Dufranne D, Buysse P, Bodson B, Destain J-P, Heinesch B, Debacq A, Aubinet M (2011) Respiration of three Belgian crops: partitioning of total ecosystem respiration in its heterotrophic, above- and below-ground autotrophic components. Agric For Meteorol 151:633–643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang J, Misson L, Gershenson A, Cheng W, Goldstein AH (2005) Continuous measurements of soil respiration with and without roots in a ponderosa pine plantation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Agric For Meteorol 132:212–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tete E, Viaud V, Walter C (2015) Organic carbon and nitrogen mineralization in a poorly-drained mineral soil under transient waterlogged conditions: an incubation experiment. Eur J Soil Sci 66:427–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tufekcioglu A, Raich JW, Isenhart TM, Schultz RC (2001) Soil respiration within riparian buffers and adjacent crop fields. Plant Soil 229:117–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verma SB, Dobermann A, Cassman KG, Walters DT, Knops JM, Arkebauer TJ, Suyker AE, Burba GG, Amos B, Yang H, Ginting D, Hubbard KG, Gitelson AA, Walter-Shea EA (2005) Annual carbon dioxide exchange in irrigated and rainfed maize-based agroecosystems. Agric For Meteorol 131:77–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viaud V, Angers DA, Walter C (2010) Toward landscape-scale modeling of soil organic matter dynamics in agroecosystems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 74:1847–1860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walter C, Curmi P (1998) Les sols du bassin versant du Coët-dan Organisation, variabilité spatiale et cartographie. INRA Eds, Paris, pp 85–105

  • Webster KL, Creed IF, Bourbonnière RA, Beall FD (2008) Controls on the heterogeneity of soil respiration in a tolerant hardwood forest. J Geophys Res 113:G03018. doi:10.1029/2008JG000706

    Google Scholar 

  • Werth M, Kuzyakov Y (2009) Three-source partitioning of CO2 efflux from maize field soil by 13C natural abundance. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 172:487–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams MA, Rice CW (2007) Seven years of enhanced water availability influences the physiological, structural, and functional attributes of a soil microbial community. Appl Soil Ecol 35:535–545

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the National Research Agency (France) within the MOSAIC project (ANR-12-AGRO-0005). The investigations benefited from the support of INRA and CNRS for the Research Observatory ORE AgrHys, and from Allenvi for the SOERE RBV. Data are available at http://geowww.agrocampus-ouest.fr/web/. The authors also thank Armelle Racapé (INRA Rennes—Agrocampus-Ouest—UMR 1069) and Patrice Petitjean (University of Rennes I, Géosciences-Rennes UMR6118) for DOC sample preparation and analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRA, Agrocampus Ouest, UMR 1069 SAS, Rue de St. Brieuc, 65, 35042, Rennes Cedex, France

    Pauline Buysse, Chris R. Flechard, Yannick Hamon & Valérie Viaud

  2. UMR ECOSYS, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, 78850, Thiverval-Grignon, France

    Pauline Buysse

Authors
  1. Pauline Buysse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chris R. Flechard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yannick Hamon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Valérie Viaud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pauline Buysse.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Susan E. Crow.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Buysse, P., Flechard, C.R., Hamon, Y. et al. Impacts of water regime and land-use on soil CO2 efflux in a small temperate agricultural catchment. Biogeochemistry 130, 267–288 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0256-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0256-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation