Differential effects of altered precipitation regimes on soil carbon cycles in arid versus humid terrestrial ecosystems

• Published in: Global change biology 2021-12, Vol.27 (24), p.6348-6362
• Main Authors: Wang, Bin, Chen, Yali, Li, Yan, Zhang, Hui, Yue, Kai, Wang, Xingchang, Ma, Yuandan, Chen, Jian, Sun, Meng, Chen, Zhuo, Wu, Qiqian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: altered precipitation; Annual precipitation; arid and humid areas; Arid regions; Atmospheric precipitations; Carbon cycle; Climate change; Cycles; global climate change; Herbivores; Humid areas; Meta-analysis; Precipitation; Rain; Rainfall; Soil; soil carbon cycles; Soils; systematic review; Terrestrial ecosystems
• ISSN: 1354-1013; 1365-2486
• DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15875

Changes in precipitation regimes have significant effects on soil carbon (C) cycles; however, these effects may vary in arid versus humid areas. Additionally, the corresponding details of soil C cycles in response to altered precipitation regimes have not been well documented. Here, a meta‐analysis was performed using 845 pairwise observations (control vs. increased or decreased precipitation) from 214 published articles to quantify the responses of the input process of exogenous C, the contents of various forms of C in soil, and the soil‐atmosphere C fluxes relative to increased or decreased precipitation. The results showed that the effects of altered precipitation regimes did not differ between rainfall and snowfall. Increased precipitation significantly enhanced the soil C inputs, pools and outputs by 18.17%, 18.50%, and 21.04%, respectively, while decreased precipitation led to a significant decline in these soil C parameters by 10.18%, 9.96%, and 17.98%, respectively. The effects of increased precipitation on soil C cycles were more significant in arid areas (where mean annual precipitation, MAP