title: Response of soil C and N, dissolved organic C and N, and inorganic N to short-term experimental warming in an Alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau.
abstract: Although alpine meadows of Tibet are expected to be strongly affected by climatic warming, it remains unclear how soil organic C (SOC), total N (TN), ammonium N (NH4 (+)-N) , nitrate N (NO3 (+)-N), and dissolved organic C (DOC) and N (DON) respond to warming. This study aims to investigate the responses of these C and N pools to short-term experimental warming in an alpine meadow of Tibet. A warming experiment using open top chambers was conducted in an alpine meadow at three elevations (i.e., a low (4313 m), mid-(4513 m), and high (4693 m) elevation) in May 2010. Topsoil (0-20 cm depth) samples were collected in July-September 2011. Experimental warming increased soil temperature by ~1-1.4°C but decreased soil moisture by ~0.04 m(3) m(-3). Experimental warming had little effects on SOC, TN, DOC, and DON, which may be related to lower warming magnitude, the short period of warming treatment, and experimental warming-induced soil drying by decreasing soil microbial activity. Experimental warming decreased significantly inorganic N at the two lower elevations,but had negligible effect at the high elevation. Our findings suggested that the effects of short-term experimental warming on SOC, TN and dissolved organic matter were insignificant, only affecting inorganic forms.
authors: Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors: Cheng-Qun
authors: CQ
authors: Yu
authors: Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors: Zhen-Xi
authors: ZX
authors: Shen
authors: Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors: Xian-Zhou
authors: XZ
authors: Zhang
authors: Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Sun
authors: Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors: Gang
authors: G
authors: Fu
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D057232:Global Warming; D007287:Inorganic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D007287:Inorganic Chemicals; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon