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Journal of Arid Land
Journal of Arid Land  2018, Vol. 10 Issue (3): 347-361    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-018-0101-3     CSTR: 32276.14.s40333-018-0101-3
Orginal Article     
CO2, CH4 and N2O flux changes in degraded grassland soil of Inner Mongolia, China
Yunxiao BAI1, Xiaobing LI1,2,*(), Wanyu WEN1,3, Xue MI1, Ruihua LI1,4, Qi HUANG1, Meng ZHANG1
1Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing100875, China
3 Institute of Wetland Research, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
4 School of Surveying & Land Information Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China;
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Abstract  

The main purpose of this study was to explore the dynamic changes of greenhouse gas (GHG) from grasslands under different degradation levels during the growing seasons of Inner Mongolia, China.Grassland degradation is associated with the dynamics of GHG fluxes, e.g., CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes. As one of the global ecological environmental problems, grassland degradation has changed the vegetation productivity as well as the accumulation and decomposition rates of soil organic matter and thus will influence the carbon and nitrogen cycles of ecosystems, which will affect the GHG fluxes between grassland ecosystems and the atmosphere. Therefore, it is necessary to explore how the exchanges of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes between soil and atmosphere are influenced by the grassland degradation.We measured the fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O in lightly degraded, moderately degraded and severely degraded grasslands in Inner Mongolia of China during the growing seasons from July to September in 2013 and 2014. The typical semi-arid grassland of Inner Mongolia plays a role as the source of atmospheric CO2 and N2O and the sink for CH4. Compared with CO2 fluxes, N2O and CH4 fluxes were relatively low. The exchange of CO2, N2O and CH4 fluxes between the grassland soil and the atmosphere may exclusively depend on the net exchange rate of CO2 in semi-arid grasslands. The greenhouse gases showed a clear seasonal pattern, with the CO2fluxes of -33.63-386.36 mg/(m?h), CH4 uptake fluxes of 0.113-0.023 mg/(m?h) and N2O fluxes of -1.68-19.90 μg/(m?h). Grassland degradation significantly influenced CH4 uptake but had no significant influence on CO2 and N2O emissions. Soil moisture and temperature were positively correlated with CO2 emissions but had no significant effect on N2O fluxes. Soil moisture may be the primary driving factor for CH4 uptake.The research results can be in help to better understand the impact of grassland degradation on the ecological environment.

Key words： grassland degradation      semi-arid grassland      greenhouse gases      CO2      CH4      N2O      Inner Mongolia     
Received: 18 August 2017      Published: 10 June 2018
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Yunxiao BAI
Xiaobing LI
Wanyu WEN
Xue MI
Ruihua LI
Qi HUANG
Meng ZHANG
Cite this article:

Yunxiao BAI, Xiaobing LI, Wanyu WEN, Xue MI, Ruihua LI, Qi HUANG, Meng ZHANG. CO2, CH4 and N2O flux changes in degraded grassland soil of Inner Mongolia, China. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(3): 347-361.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-018-0101-3     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2018/V10/I3/347

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