Increased Soil Nitrogen Availability Suppresses Annual Soil Respiration in Mixed Temperate Forests Regardless of Acidification.

ABSTRACT: Soil respiration (Rsoil) is the second largest terrestrial carbon (C) flux, and therefore, it is imperative to understand and quantify its responses to global environmental change. Rsoil consists of two component CO₂ fluxes: autotrophic respiration from the metabolic activity of roots (Ra_-root) and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) derived from the metabolic activity of mycorrhizal fungi and microbial decomposition of detritus, soil organic matter, and rhizodeposits. Increased nitrogen (N) availability often reduces Rsoil in forest ecosystems, but it remains unclear which contributing fluxes govern Rsoil responses and if suppression of Rsoil results from increased N availability itself or from the tendency of added N to acidify soil. Here, we address these uncertainties

SUBMITTER: Frey DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11963746 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature