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drivers of soil respiration of root and microbial ... - Unitus DSpace

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Our experiment was conducted in a mediterranean grassl<strong>and</strong> (Amplero, Italy), aiming to cover<br />

the gap in the underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> allocation patterns <strong>and</strong> speed <strong>of</strong> cycling <strong>of</strong> recently assimilated C in<br />

such type <strong>of</strong> ecosystems. Summarizing the above findings <strong>and</strong> uncertainties, the aims <strong>of</strong> the study<br />

were:<br />

• To monitor the dynamic <strong>of</strong> the 13 CO2 evolution from the <strong>soil</strong>, with <strong>and</strong> without shoots,<br />

aiming to get the peak <strong>of</strong> <strong>respiration</strong> <strong>of</strong> recently assimilated 13 C <strong>of</strong> <strong>root</strong>- <strong>and</strong> shoot-origin in<br />

situ under the real plant growing conditions.<br />

• To study temporal variation <strong>of</strong> source (photosynthetically active leaves)-sink (developing<br />

shoots, <strong>root</strong>s, leaves) interaction within the plant community: the fraction <strong>of</strong> new assimilated<br />

C respired below- vs. aboveground.<br />

• To compare the observed time lags obtained by non destructive technique <strong>of</strong> isotope pulse<br />

labeling with the results <strong>of</strong> widely diffused destructive technique, where the value <strong>of</strong> <strong>root</strong>-<br />

derived <strong>respiration</strong> is obtained by <strong>root</strong>-exclusion technique <strong>and</strong> is plotted vs. GPP from<br />

eddy covariance (performing both experiments in the same time).<br />

3.2. Materials <strong>and</strong> Methods<br />

3.2.1.Site description<br />

Amplero was established as a main CarboEurope site in central Italy near the city Collelongo<br />

(AQ) in the year 2002. A Mediterranean grassl<strong>and</strong> site, located at 900 m a.s.l. Amplero is a nearly<br />

flat to gently south sloping (2-3%) doline bottom with an average annual temperature <strong>of</strong> 10°C <strong>and</strong><br />

average annual precipitation <strong>of</strong> 1365 mm. The site is subjected to a long-term management since<br />

1950, which consists in a once-a-year mowing during the peak <strong>of</strong> the growing season <strong>and</strong> the rest <strong>of</strong><br />

the growing season the site is used as a pasture for cattle grazing.<br />

The <strong>soil</strong> is classified as Haplic Phaeozem (FAO classification) <strong>and</strong> contains 13% <strong>of</strong> s<strong>and</strong>, 33%<br />

<strong>of</strong> silt <strong>and</strong> 56% <strong>of</strong> clay, pHH2O <strong>of</strong> 6.6, total carbon (C) 3.48 % <strong>and</strong> total nitrogen (N) 0.28%. The<br />

plant cover is mainly represented by the following families: Caryophyllaceae (19%), Faseolaceae<br />

(30%) <strong>and</strong> Poaceae (34%).<br />

69

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