331-12 Land Use Change Effects On Soil Respiration: From Agriculture to Hybrid Poplar Plantation.

Poster Number 1235

See more from this Division: S07 Forest, Range & Wildland Soils
See more from this Session: Soil Carbon Dynamics in Forest Soils
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Long Beach Convention Center, Exhibit Hall BC, Lower Level
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Carmela Arevalo1, Jagtar Bhatti1 and Derek Sidders2, (1)Canadian Forest Service, Edmonton, AB, Canada
(2)Canadian Wood Fibre Centre, Edmonton, AB, Canada
There is increasing interest in exploiting carbon sequestration benefits of short-rotation woody crops (SRWC) established on agricultural sites to mitigate Canada’s emissions of greenhouse gases due to production and consumption of fossil fuels. The fast-growing and high-yielding nature of SRWC allows large amounts of carbon (C) to be sequestered in long-term storage pools, i.e., wood biomass and soil pools. Although the potential of SRWC to sequester C is recognized, the net C benefits of these systems are unclear, particularly as it is expected that they will be C sources during the initial years following establishment. Understanding the variations of C loss via soil-surface respiration is essential to accurately assess the C budget of these plantations, particularly in response to climatic variations and management regimes.

A space-for-time substitution (chronosequence) experiment was set up in north central Alberta, Canada to examine the effect of land use change on soil C loss 2-5 and 9-12 years after converting an agricultural land use to a hybrid poplar plantation (Populus deltoides x Populus x petrowskyana var. Walker). We focused on the measurement and modeling of soil respiration rates taking into account seasonal variations in climate and spatial variability in soil conditions. Annual estimates of C loss via soil respiration, its temporal and spatial variability, and its interaction to temperature and moisture were examined and are reported in this study.

See more from this Division: S07 Forest, Range & Wildland Soils
See more from this Session: Soil Carbon Dynamics in Forest Soils