Perennial monitoring of soil respiration at Moscow urban forest
Maria V. Tikhonova, Ivan I. Vasenev & Adnane Idrissou Abdoulaye
Russian Timiryazev State Agrarian University, Moscow, Russia
Perennial environmental monitoring of soil respiration has been run at the RTSAU Forest Experimental Station which is a background object for environmental monitoring in the northern part of the Moscow metropolis. Its area is almost 250 hectares with absolute height variation 160 - 175 m and predominance of Sod-Podzoluvisols which different forms of organic, humus-accumulative, podzolic and transitional horizons have various degrees of hydromorphic and gley features. In general, soil cover patterns are represented by combinations according to the mesorelief forms that are characteristic of the background south-taiga ecosystems in the center of the European Russia. The maximum soil CO2 emission was 36.29 g/m2 per day recorded in early June 2013 on the top of the soft moraine hill. In the most dry season 2014, the maximum CO2 flluxes were observed in the down part of the short North-Eastern slope during summer period (between 26 and.27 g g/m2 per day). In 2015 and 2016, the dominant limiting factor for the seasonal dynamics of soil respiration (carbon dioxide fluxes) in the 5 representative plot with different versions of Sod-Podzoluvisols was soil temperature as in summer (RST = 0.64 - 0.91) as in fall (RST = 0.62 - 0.92). Soil moisture is more significant environmental factor in fall various conditions (RSW up to -0.62) than in summer (RSW = 0.11 - 0.50). In 2015 with usual precipitation level there was stronger soil moisture effect than in 2016 with unusual high summer precipitations. Taking into attention that over the past decades, the average annual temperature in the RTSAU campus has increased significantly: by 1.7 ° С in 2010 – 2015 in comparison with 1949 – 1981, these monitoring results give us possibility to predict future CO2 emission in the Moscow forest Sod-Podzoluvisols with various hydromorphic/gley features and recreation impacts on soil cover.