Soil respiration across a disturbance gradient in sclerophyllous ecosystems in central chile Respiración de suelos en un gradiente de perturbaciones en ecosistemas esclerófilos en Chile Central

Abstract

Sclerophyllous shrubs and forests are predominant in semiarid Central Chile and have a long history of degradation by fire, cultivation, firewood extraction and grazing. The aim of this study was to compare the amount and environmental drivers of soil respiration across a disturbance gradient in sclerophyllous ecosystems in the National Reserve Roblería del Cobre de Loncha in Central Chile. In a north-facing toe slope, four disturbance conditions were identified: slightly (D1) and moderately disturbed (D2) sclerophyllous forest, (D3) strongly disturbed thorn scrub and (D4) most disturbed A. caven savanna. Twelve 25×25-m plots (625 m2) were distributed equally across D1, D2, D3 and D4. Soil respiration (Rs), soil temperature (Ts), volumetric water content (θv) and exchangeable nitrogen (Ns) were measured at six dates in each plot between August 2009 and May 2010. Additionally, Ts and θv were continuously recorded from July 2010 to August 2012 (30-minute intervals) in one plot per distur