Seasonal changes in labile organic matter as a function of environmental factors in a relict permafrost region on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
2019
Abstract
Labile
organic matterplays an important role in
permafrost carbon cycling, however, little is known about the effects of
permafroston
labile
organic matterdynamics. Here, we examined seasonal changes in the
labile
organic matterincluding light fraction carbon (LFC), water extractable organic carbon (WEOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) contents in a relict
permafrostregion on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), China. We selected three different areas including
permafrost, boundary, and seasonally frozen ground area. The results showed that seasonal changes in
labile
organic matterwere not the result of soil heterogeneity. Among all three areas, depth strongly correlated with
labile
organic mattercontent. LFC was significantly associated with the soil organic carbon (SOC) content. The MBC contents, which were the lowest in
permafrostarea but highest in seasonally frozen ground area, were strongly affected by temperature. Multiple linear regression models showed that temperature was a significant predictor for
labile
organic matterin the
permafrostarea, but the effects of temperature were weaker in the boundary and seasonally frozen ground areas. Our results suggested that
permafrostdegradation could decrease production but increase decomposition rates of
labile
organic matterin
permafrostregions, and this process should be taken into consideration in
permafrost carbon cyclemodels.
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