ALBERT

Description:    Soil respiration (R S ) and soil carbon stocks, as well as stand properties were investigated in a warm-temperate oak chronosequence in order to understand the age effect on soil CO 2 efflux. The chronosequence consisted of three 40-year-old, 48-year-old, 80-year-old, and 143-year-old oak stands, respectively. R S measurements were conducted using a Li-8100 soil CO 2 flux system from October 2008 to October 2009. Temporal variations of R S of all the four forests largely depended on soil temperature of 5 cm depth (T 5 ) (R 2  = 0.738–0.825). The mean R S for 40-year-old, 48-year-old, 80-year-old, and 143-year-old forests were 2.37, 2.59, 2.99, and 3.32 μmol CO 2 m -2  s -1 respectively. Both top soil organic carbon (SOC) and light fraction organic carbon (LFOC) stocks were significantly correlated to R S variation, while only significant different LFOC among stands was found. This indicated that cumulated labile organic carbon was a better indicator on R S variation, which was further illustrated by a better relationship between R 10 and LFOC than that of R 10 and SOC. We found that the variation of mean R S among stands was well correlated with basal area (BA). Marginal correlation between R S and fine root biomass (FR) demonstrated the relationship between R S and belowground metabolism. We also found total porosity (TP) negatively influenced the mean R S and this negative effect may mainly be attributed to the capillary porosity (CP). Forest growth and yield could be contributed to R S variation among stands. Forest succession also changed soil labile carbon stock and soil physical properties that influenced the CO 2 efflux. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s11104-011-0842-7 Authors Junwei Luan, Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment, China’s State Forestry Administration; The Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091 People’s Republic of China Shirong Liu, Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment, China’s State Forestry Administration; The Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091 People’s Republic of China Xueling Zhu, Baotianman Natural Reserve Administration, Neixiang, Henan 474350, People’s Republic of China Jingxin Wang, Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA Journal Plant and Soil Online ISSN 1573-5036 Print ISSN 0032-079X