Table 1.
Table 1. Site conditions.
Figure 1.
Variation in the rates of SOC mineralization during the whole incubation at different incubation temperatures (5, 15, 25, and 35°C) in EBF (a), CF (b), SDF (c), and AM (d).
Inserted panels e for EBF, f for CF, g for SDF, and h for AM show the cumulative percent of SOC mineralized during the whole incubation. Different letters indicate significant differences in the cumulative percent of SOC mineralized among different incubation temperatures at P<0.05. Values are Mean±SE. EBF, evergreen broadleaf forest; CF, coniferous forest; SDF, sub-alpine dwarf forest; AM, alpine meadow.
Figure 2.
Relationship of Q10 values with mean annual temperature (MAT) of the different elevations (a, b) and incubation temperature intervals (c, d).
Figure 3.
The temperature sensitivity of SOC mineralization for both the labile and the recalcitrant SOC mineralization along the elevation in the four vegetations (a) and at different incubation temperature intervals (b).
Values are Mean±SE. Different letters stand for significant difference at P<0.05. Asterisks indicate the statistical difference at P<0.01. Missing value in Figure 2C at 5–15°C is because some soils incubated at 5°C did not respire 9% of the total C during the incubation period. LOC: the SOC can be easily decomposed by microorganisms, resulting from the fresh residues such as plant roots and living microbes; ROC: the SOC that is resistant to decay, such as cellulose, humus, and tannin.
Table 2.
Results of two-way ANOVA for Q10 values at different temperature intervals in the four elevational vegetation communities.