Freeze–Thaw Cycles Have More of an Effect on Greenhouse Gas Fluxes than Soil Water Content on the Eastern Edge of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Shanshan Zhao, Mingsen Qin, Xia Yang, Wenke Bai, Yunfeng Yao () and Junqiang Wang ()
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Shanshan Zhao: College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010011, China
Mingsen Qin: Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China
Xia Yang: College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010011, China
Wenke Bai: Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China
Yunfeng Yao: College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010011, China
Junqiang Wang: Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong 637009, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is sensitive to global climate change. This is because it is characterized by irregular rainfall and freeze–thaw cycles resulting from its high elevation and low temperature. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) mainly contribute to the warming of the QTP, but few studies have investigated and compared the effects of irregular rainfall and freeze–thaw cycles on GHGs. In this study, we conducted a laboratory experiment under four types of freeze–thaw treatments with three soil water content levels to simulate the irregular freeze–thaw and rainfall conditions. The results showed that both the soil water content and freeze–thaw treatment influenced the soil properties, soil enzyme activities, and the microbial biomass; however, the freeze–thaw treatment had significantly higher influences on GHG fluxes than soil water content. In order to explore other biotic and abiotic factors in an attempt to establish the main factor in determining GHG fluxes, a variation partition analysis was conducted. The results revealed that freeze–thaw treatments were the strongest individual factors in predicting the variance in N 2 O and CO 2 fluxes, and the pH, which was only significantly affected by freeze–thaw treatment, was the strongest individual factor in predicting CH 4 flux. Across the water content levels, all the freeze–thaw treatments increased the N 2 O flux and reduced the CH 4 flux as compared to the CK treatment. In addition, long-term freezing reduced the CO 2 flux, but the treatment of slowly freezing and quickly thawing increased the CO 2 flux. In summary, these results suggest that the freeze–thaw treatments had quite different effects on N 2 O, CH 4 , and CO 2 fluxes, and their effects on GHG fluxes are more significant than those of soil water content on the eastern edge of the QTP.

Keywords: microcosm; gas flux; soil properties; soil enzymes; microbial biomass (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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