Responses of ecosystem carbon cycle to experimental warming: a meta‐analysis. Issue 3 (1st March 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lu, Meng; Zhou, Xuhui; Yang, Qiang; Li, Hui; Luo, Yiqi; Fang, Changming; Chen, Jiakuan; Yang, Xin; Li, Bo
• Is Part Of: Ecology. Volume 94:Issue 3(2013)
• Page Start: 726
• Page End: 738
• Publication Date: 2013-03-01
• Subjects: C-climate feedback -- C efflux -- C influx -- C pools -- global warming -- terrestrial ecosystems; Ecology -- Periodicals; Ecology -- Periodicals; Écologie -- Périodiques; Ecologie; Écologie; Écologie animale; Écologie végétale; Ecology; Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1890/12-0279.1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0012-9658

Abstract

Abstract : Global warming potentially alters the terrestrial carbon (C) cycle, likely feeding back to further climate warming. However, how the ecosystem C cycle responds and feeds back to warming remains unclear. Here we used a meta‐analysis approach to quantify the response ratios of 18 variables of the ecosystem C cycle to experimental warming and evaluated ecosystem C‐cycle feedback to climate warming. Our results showed that warming stimulated gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP) by 15.7%, net primary production (NPP) by 4.4%, and plant C pools from above‐ and belowground parts by 6.8% and 7.0%, respectively. Experimental warming accelerated litter mass loss by 6.8%, soil respiration by 9.0%, and dissolved organic C leaching by 12.1%. In addition, the responses of some of those variables to experimental warming differed among the ecosystem types. Our results demonstrated that the stimulation of plant‐derived C influx basically offset the increase in warming‐induced efflux and resulted in insignificant changes in litter and soil C content, indicating that climate warming may not trigger strong positive C‐climate feedback from terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, the increase in plant C storage together with the slight but not statistically significant decrease of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) across ecosystems suggests that terrestrial ecosystems might be a weak C sink rather than a C source under global climate warming. Our results are also potentially useful for parameterizing and benchmarking land surface models in terms of C cycle responses to climate warming.