A Study on the Soil Respiration in Cutting and Uncutting Areas of Larix leptolepis Plantation

Quantification of the ecosystem respiration is essential in understanding the carbon cycling of natural and disturbed landscapes. Soil respiration and some environmental factors which affect soil respiration were investigated in a Larix leptolepis plantation inKongju, Korea. Soil respiration was measured at midday of the 15th and 30th day of every month from May to December in a non-cutting area (Control) and a cutting area (Treatment) with IRGA Soil Respiration Analyzer. Throughout the study period, average soil temperature and water content were 23.3±0.5oC and 27.76±7.12 % for control, and 25.9±3.1oC and 24.55±5.12 % for treatment, respectively. There was a positive correlation (R2=0.8905) between soil respiration and soil temperature in the study area. However, there was no significant correlation between soil respiration and soil moisture (R2=0.4437). The seasonal soil respiration in-creased in the summer and decreased in the winter. In August, maximum soil respirations in the con-trol and treatment areas were 0.82±0.13 and 1.32±0.10 gCO2 ․-2․r-1, respectively. Total amounts of CO2 evolution in the control and treatment areas from May to December in 2008 were 2,419.2 and 3,610.8 CO2 g·m-2, respectively. The amount of soil respiration in the treatment area was 49.3 % greater than in the control. Increased soil respiration in the treatment area may be due to increased soil temper-ature, which drives increased microbial decomposition. According to our present investigation, fores