[Analysis of difference between ecosystem respirations of Leymus chinensis steppe and Stipa baicalensis steppe]

Static opaque chamber-chromatographic technique was applied to measure the ecosystem respirations of Leymus chinensis steppe and Stipa baicalensis steppe. The affecting factors of ecosystem respiration were analyzed. The difference between ecosystem respirations of the two grasslands was compared and the reasons resulting in the difference were analyzed. Ecosystem respiration of Leymus chinensis steppe [averaged (12.03 +/- 2.10) mg x (m2 x min)(-1)] was significantly smaller than that of Stipa baicalensis steppe [averaged (20.09 +/- 4.41) mg x (m2 x min)(-1)], while aboveground biomass of Leymus chinensis steppe was significantly larger than that of Stipa baicalensis steppe (p < 0.001). CO2 fluxes of Leymus chinensis steppe and Stipa baicalensis steppe were significantly correlated with air temperature in chamber, soil temperature at 5 cm and 15 cm depth. The results of partial correlation analysis showed that there were no significantly correlation between CO2 flux and Eh, pH, biomass of litter when soil temperature was unchanged, while it shows some correlation with biomass of living plant. The apparent liner relationship between CO2 flux and Eh, pH may be caused by the change of soil temperature. The CO2 fluxes of the two grasslands can be well explained by exponential models based on temperatures. Soil temperature can explain more variations of ecosystem respirations (R2 0.568-0.639) than air temperature in chamber (R2 0.323-0.426). Soil temperature was the most important affecting factor of ecosystem respiration and it may had concealed the effect of aboveground biomass on CO2 flux. The contribution of soil respiration to ecosystem respiration was large in this region and its higher soil organic matter content led to higher CO2 flux of Stipa baicalensis steppe.