CO2 emissions from subtropical arable soils of China

CO2 efflux plays a key role in carbon exchange between the biosphere and atmosphere, but our understanding of the mechanism controlling its temporal and spatial variations is limited. The purpose of this study is to determine annual soil CO2 flux and assess its variations in arable subtropical soils of China in relation to soil temperature, moisture, rainfall, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) using the closed chamber method. Soils were derived from three parent materials including granite (G), tertiary red sandstone (T) and quaternary red clay (Q). The experiment was conducted at the Ecological Station of Red Soil, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, in a subtropical region of China. The results showed that soil CO2 flux had clear seasonal fluctuations with the maximum value in summer, the minimum in winter and intermediate in spring and autumn. Further, significant differences in soil CO2 flux were found among the three red soils, generally in the order of G>T>Q. The average annual fluxes were estimated as 2.84, 2.13 and 1.41 kg CO2 m−2 year−1 for red soils derived from G, T and Q, respectively. Soil temperature strongly affects the seasonal variability of soil CO2 flux (85.0–88.5% of the variability), followed by DOC (55.8–84.4%) and rainfall (43.0–55.8%). The differences in soil CO2 flux among the three red soils were partly explained by MBC (33.7–58.9% of the variability) and DOC (23.8–33.6%).