Reduction in precipitation amount, precipitation events, and nitrogen addition change ecosystem carbon fluxes differently in a semi-arid grassland

Abstract

The increases in extent and frequency of extreme drought events and increased nitrogen (N) deposition due to global change are expected to have profound impacts on carbon cycling in semi-arid grasslands. However, how ecosystem CO₂ exchange processes respond to different drought scenarios individually and interactively with N addition remains uncertain. In this study, we experimentally explored the effects of different drought scenarios (early season extreme drought, 50 % reduction in precipitation amount, and 50 % reduction in precipitation events) and N addition on net ecosystem CO₂ exchange (NEE), ecosystem respiration (ER), and gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) over three growing seasons (2019-2021) in a semi-arid grassland in northern China. The growing-season ecosystem carbon fluxes in response to drought and N addition were influenced by inter-annual precipitation changes, with 2019 as a normal precipitation year, and 2020 and 2021 as wet years. Early season extreme drought stimulated NEE by reducing ER. 50 % reduction in precipitation amount decreased ER and GEP consistently in three years, but only significantly suppressed NEE in 2019. 50 % reduction in precipitation events stimulated NEE. Nitrogen addition stimulated NEE, ER, and GEP, but only significantly in wet years. The structural equation models showed that changes in carbon fluxes were regulated by soil moisture, soil temperature, microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), and the key plant functional traits. Decreased community-weighted means of specific leaf area (CWM_SLA) was closely related to the reduced ER and GEP under early season extreme drought and 50 % reduction in precipitation amount. While increased community-weighted means of plant height (CWM_PH) largely accounted for the stimulated ER and GEP under 50 % reduction in precipitation events. Our study stresses the distinct effects of different drought scenarios and N enrichment on carbon fluxes, and highlights the importance of soil traits and the key plant traits in determining carbon exchange in this water-limited ecosystem.

Keywords: Ecosystem respiration; Extreme drought; Gross ecosystem productivity; Net ecosystem CO(2) exchange; Plant functional traits.