Experimental warming increases ecosystem respiration by increasing above-ground respiration in alpine meadows of Western Himalaya.

ABSTRACT: Alpine ecosystems in the Himalaya, despite low primary productivity, store considerable amount of organic carbon. However, these ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climate warming which may stimulate ecosystem carbon efflux leading to carbon-loss and positive feedback. We used open-top chambers to understand warming responses of ecosystem respiration (ER) and soil respiration (SR) in two types of alpine meadows viz., herbaceous meadow (HM) and sedge meadow (SM), in the Western Himalaya. Experimental warming increased ER by 33% and 28% at HM and SM, respectively. No significant effect on SR was observed under warming, suggesting that the increase in ER was primarily due to an increase in above-ground respiration. This was supported by the warming-induced increase in above-ground biomass an

SUBMITTER: Tiwari P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7846769 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature