Soil Respiration Variations in Temperate Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) Forest of Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) in Nepal

Temperate forests are considered most fragile hence need to recognize their vulnerability owing to continuous climatic changes and anthropogenic activities. In this study, we assessed soil respiration (SR) by using the chamber method in a natural Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) forest which is...

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Main Authors: Deepa Dhital, Purushottam Manandhar, Bikash Gosain, Jaishree Sijapati
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-01-01
Series:International Journal of Forestry Research
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/1677084
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author Deepa Dhital
Purushottam Manandhar
Bikash Gosain
Jaishree Sijapati
author_facet Deepa Dhital
Purushottam Manandhar
Bikash Gosain
Jaishree Sijapati
author_sort Deepa Dhital
collection DOAJ
description Temperate forests are considered most fragile hence need to recognize their vulnerability owing to continuous climatic changes and anthropogenic activities. In this study, we assessed soil respiration (SR) by using the chamber method in a natural Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) forest which is recognized as the world’s largest forest type located at Annapurna Conservation Area in the temperate region of Nepal. We evaluated the consequences of multiple ecological parameters mainly climatic and biotic factors on SR variations during the month of October in 2016 and 2017. Our results confirmed that SR well corresponded with soil temperature (ST) variables represented with the highly significant (p<0.05) exponential curve (y = 1.049e0.529x, 2016 and y = 26.34e0.284x, 2017). And the variation in SR was mediated by a short-range (2-3°C) of ST difference in the month of October during autumn season. However, the effect of soil water content (SWC) on SR was scattered and the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) stood weak to represent the SR variation. The seasonal trend of SR was compatible with the PPFD and litter input with having accountable temporal, diurnal, and interannual variations of SR, ST, SWC, and litterfall. The SR over the entire measurement period were averaged at 269.9 mg CO2 m−2·h−1 in 2016 and 295.1 mg CO2 m−2·h−1 in 2017. Our study manifested that temperate forests could store maximum soil carbon with limited emission through SR and become a larger sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide even though SR is very sensitive to environmental changes and interactively affected by multiple ecological factors. Thus, our finding is an appreciable measure for the temperate forest to understand the regional carbon balance and suggested temperate forests are valued to incorporate them in evaluating global carbon budget.
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spelling doaj-art-56e28671dec34c98819b95533e4445722025-02-03T05:57:55ZengWileyInternational Journal of Forestry Research1687-93762022-01-01202210.1155/2022/1677084Soil Respiration Variations in Temperate Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) Forest of Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) in NepalDeepa Dhital0Purushottam Manandhar1Bikash Gosain2Jaishree Sijapati3Faculty of ScienceDepartment of Environmental ScienceDepartment of Environmental ScienceFaculty of ScienceTemperate forests are considered most fragile hence need to recognize their vulnerability owing to continuous climatic changes and anthropogenic activities. In this study, we assessed soil respiration (SR) by using the chamber method in a natural Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) forest which is recognized as the world’s largest forest type located at Annapurna Conservation Area in the temperate region of Nepal. We evaluated the consequences of multiple ecological parameters mainly climatic and biotic factors on SR variations during the month of October in 2016 and 2017. Our results confirmed that SR well corresponded with soil temperature (ST) variables represented with the highly significant (p<0.05) exponential curve (y = 1.049e0.529x, 2016 and y = 26.34e0.284x, 2017). And the variation in SR was mediated by a short-range (2-3°C) of ST difference in the month of October during autumn season. However, the effect of soil water content (SWC) on SR was scattered and the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) stood weak to represent the SR variation. The seasonal trend of SR was compatible with the PPFD and litter input with having accountable temporal, diurnal, and interannual variations of SR, ST, SWC, and litterfall. The SR over the entire measurement period were averaged at 269.9 mg CO2 m−2·h−1 in 2016 and 295.1 mg CO2 m−2·h−1 in 2017. Our study manifested that temperate forests could store maximum soil carbon with limited emission through SR and become a larger sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide even though SR is very sensitive to environmental changes and interactively affected by multiple ecological factors. Thus, our finding is an appreciable measure for the temperate forest to understand the regional carbon balance and suggested temperate forests are valued to incorporate them in evaluating global carbon budget.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/1677084
spellingShingle Deepa Dhital
Purushottam Manandhar
Bikash Gosain
Jaishree Sijapati
Soil Respiration Variations in Temperate Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) Forest of Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) in Nepal
International Journal of Forestry Research
title Soil Respiration Variations in Temperate Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) Forest of Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) in Nepal
title_full Soil Respiration Variations in Temperate Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) Forest of Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) in Nepal
title_fullStr Soil Respiration Variations in Temperate Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) Forest of Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) in Nepal
title_full_unstemmed Soil Respiration Variations in Temperate Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) Forest of Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) in Nepal
title_short Soil Respiration Variations in Temperate Rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum) Forest of Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) in Nepal
title_sort soil respiration variations in temperate rhododendron rhododendron arboreum forest of annapurna conservation area aca in nepal
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/1677084
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