Laboratory assessment of soil respiration rates under the impact of ornithogenic factor in Antarctic region

Authors : Ekaterina CHEBYKİNA MAKSİMOVA, Ivan ALEKSEEV, Evgeny ABAKUMOV

Pages : 179-190

Doi:10.18393/ejss.868088

View : 40 | Download : 11

Publication Date : 2021-07-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :SOM stabilization rates were estimated in the soils of Antarctic region in case of influence of ornithogenic factor. Soils in large penguin clusters, near nests of Stercorarius sp., as well as soils located in geochemically subordinate positions insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(also often are visited by birds); were found to be characterized by an increased content of carbon and nitrogen with a rather narrow ratio of C/N. The pH values decreased in ornithogenic soils due to the organic acids that produced plants insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(mosses, Deschampsia antarctica); inhabit these soils and the decomposition products of the organic matter guano. The amount of CO2, in general, released over the entire experiment period is quite large for both ornithogenic and non-ornithogenic soils. CO2 emission rates were the highest in ornithogenic soils. Ornithogenic soils of the studied area are characterized by the most stabilized organic matter. Thus, the avifauna favors and increases the rate of the mineralization process by several times. An acceleration in the organic matter mineralization rate leads to an increase in nutrients amount available to plants, as in the case of the studied soils. The quality of initial SOM is of a great importance in post-ornithogenic environments. Therefore, further researches of CO2 emissions rates are needed to characterize post-ornithogenic dynamics and develop an approach to model this process.
Keywords : Antarctic region, CO2 emission, mineralization rate, ornithogenic factor, soil respiration

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