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Effects of soil water status on the spatial variation of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide fluxes in tropical rain-forest soils in Peninsular Malaysia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2012

Masayuki Itoh ,
Yoshiko Kosugi ,
Satoru Takanashi ,
Shuhei Kanemitsu ,
Ken'ichi Osaka ,
Yuki Hayashi ,
Makoto Tani  and
Abdul Rahim Nik
Masayuki Itoh*
Affiliation:
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Yoshiko Kosugi
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Satoru Takanashi
Affiliation:
Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan
Shuhei Kanemitsu
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan Sumitomo Forestry Co. Ltd, Tokyo 100-8270, Japan
Ken'ichi Osaka
Affiliation:
School of Environmental Science, University of Shiga Prefecture, Shiga 522-8533, Japan
Yuki Hayashi
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Makoto Tani
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Abdul Rahim Nik
Affiliation:
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur 52109, Malaysia
*
1Corresponding author. E-mail: masayukiitoh@yahoo.co.jp
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Abstract:

To assess the effects of soil water status on the spatial variation in soil carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes, we examined these gas fluxes and environmental factors in a tropical rain forest in Peninsular Malaysia. Measurements of soil CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes were taken ten, nine, and seven times, respectively over 30 mo at 15 or 39 sampling point within 2-ha plot. Mean (± SE) value of spatially averaged CO2 flux was 4.70 ± 0.19 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 and observed spatial variation in CO2 flux was negatively related to the volumetric soil water content (VSWC) during the dry period. Over the wet period, extremely high CO2 emissions were positively correlated with VSWC at some locations, suggesting that no spatial structure of CO2 flux was because of such hot-spot CO2 emissions. Flux of CH4 was usually negative with little variation, with a mean value of –0.49 ± 0.15 mg CH4 m−2 d−1, resulting in the soil at our study site functioning as a CH4 sink. Spatial variation in CH4 flux was positively related to the VSWC throughout the entire study period (dry and wet). Some CH4 hot spots were observed during dry periods, probably due to the presence of termites. Mean value of spatially averaged N2O flux was 98.9 ± 40.7 μg N m−2 h−1 and N2O flux increased markedly during the wet period. Spatially, N2O flux was positively related to both the VSWC and the soil N concentration and was higher in wet and anaerobic soils. These findings suggest that denitrification is a major contributor to high soil N2O fluxes. Additionally, analysis by adjusting confounding effects of time, location and interaction between time and location in mixed models, VSWC has a negative effect on CO2 flux and positive effects on CH4 and N2O fluxes. We found that soil water status was related temporally to rainfall and controlled greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes from the soil at the study site via several biogeochemical processes, including gas diffusion and soil redox conditions. Our results also suggest that considering the biological effects such as decomposer activities may help to explain the complex temporal and spatial patterns in CO2 and CH4 fluxes.

Keywords

CH4CO2greenhouse gasesN2OPasoh forest reservePeninsular Malaysiasoil water statustemporal variation
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 28 , Issue 6 , November 2012 , pp. 557 - 570
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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