[Spatial Heterogeneity of Soil Respiration in a Planted Larch Forest in Shanxi Plateau]

Based on the data from a planted larch forest in Panquangou Natural Reserve of Shanxi Province, at three sampling scales (4, 2, and 1 m, respectively), soil respiration (Rs) and its affecting factors including soil temperature at 5 cm (T5), 10 cm (T10), and 15 cm (T15) depths, soil water content (Ws), litter mass (Lw), litter moisture (Lm), soil total carbon (C), and soil total nitrogen ( N) were determined. The spatial heterogeneities of Rs and the environmental factors were further analyzed and their intrinsic correlations were established. The results of traditional statistics showed that the spatial variations of Rs and the all measured factors were in the middle range; Rs were highly significantly positively correlated with T10, T15, and N (P < 0.01); significantly positively correlated with Lm (P < 0.05); highly significantly negatively correlated with C/N ratio (P < 0.01); and not significantly correlated with T5, Ws, Lw and C (P > 0.05). Multiple stepwise regression analysis indicated that the four factors of Lm, T10, N, and Ws together accounted for 36% of Rs heterogeneity. The results of geo-statistical analysis demonstrated that Rs was in a medium spatial autocorrelation; random and structural factors accounted for 39.5% and 60.5% of Rs heterogeneity, respectively. And the factors such as climate, landform, and soil played a leading role. The results also illustrated that the ranges for soil factors were different and the range for both Rs and T10 was 25 meters. The fractal dimension of the soil index was in the following order: Lw and C/N ratio (1.95) > N (1.91) > C (1.89) > Rs (1.78) > Lm (1.77 ) > Ws (1.69) > T10 (1.42). The spatial distribution of Rs was in consistent agreement with those of T10, Lm, C, and N; but different with those of Ws and C/N ratio. With a fixed cofidence level and certain estimated accuracy, the required sampling number of each item differed, corresponding to its spatial variation degree.