Dafeng Hui

Bio: Dafeng Hui is an academic researcher from Tennessee State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Soil respiration & Soil carbon. The author has an hindex of 41, co-authored 184 publications receiving 9008 citations. Previous affiliations of Dafeng Hui include Duke University & University of Oklahoma.

Acclimatization of soil respiration to warming in a tall grass prairie

Abstract: The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts a 1.4–5.8 °C average increase in the global surface temperature over the period 1990 to 2100 (ref. 1). These estimates of future warming are greater than earlier projections, which is partly due to incorporation of a positive feedback. This feedback results from further release of greenhouse gases from terrestrial ecosystems in response to climatic warming2,3,4. The feedback mechanism is usually based on the assumption that observed sensitivity of soil respiration to temperature under current climate conditions would hold in a warmer climate5. However, this assumption has not been carefully examined. We have therefore conducted an experiment in a tall grass prairie ecosystem in the US Great Plains to study the response of soil respiration (the sum of root and heterotrophic respiration) to artificial warming of about 2 °C. Our observations indicate that the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration decreases—or acclimatizes—under warming and that the acclimatization is greater at high temperatures. This acclimatization of soil respiration to warming may therefore weaken the positive feedback between the terrestrial carbon cycle and climate.

Rates of litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems: global patterns and controlling factors

Abstract: Aims We aim to construct a comprehensive global database of litter decomposition rate (k value) estimated by surface floor litterbags, and investigate the direct and indirect effects of impact factors such as geographic factors (latitude and altitude), climatic factors (mean annual tempePlrature, MAT; mean annual precipitation, MAP) and litter quality factors (the contents of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and C:N ratio, lignin:N ratio) on litter decomposition. Methods We compiled a large data set of litter decomposition rates (k values) from 110 research sites and conducted simple, multiple regression and path analyses to explore the relationship between the k values and impact factors at the global scale. Important findings The k values tended to decrease with latitude (LAT) and lignin content (LIGN) of litter but increased with temperature, precipitation and nutrient concentrations at the large spatial scale. Single factor such as climate, litter quality and geographic variable could not explain litter decomposition rates well. However, the combination of total nutrient (TN) elements and C:N accounted for 70.2% of the variation in the litter decomposition rates. The combination of LAT, MAT, C:N and TN accounted for 87.54% of the variation in the litter decomposition rates. These results indicate that litter quality is the most important direct regulator of litter decomposition at the global scale. This data synthesis revealed significant relationships between litter decomposition rates and the combination of climatic factor (MAT) and litter quality (C:N, TN). The global-scale empirical relationships developed here are useful for a better understanding and modeling of the effects of litter quality and climatic factors on litter decomposition rates.

Elevated CO2 stimulates net accumulations of carbon and nitrogen in land ecosystems: a meta-analysis.

Abstract: The capability of terrestrial ecosystems to sequester carbon (C) plays a critical role in regulating future climatic change yet depends on nitrogen (N) availability. To predict long-term ecosystem C storage, it is essential to examine whether soil N becomes progressively limiting as C and N are sequestered in long-lived plant biomass and soil organic matter. A critical parameter to indicate the long-term progressive N limitation (PNL) is net change in ecosystem N content in association with C accumulation in plant and soil pools under elevated CO2. We compiled data from 104 published papers that study C and N dynamics at ambient and elevated CO2. The compiled database contains C contents, N contents, and C:N ratio in various plant and soil pools, and root:shoot ratio. Averaged C and N pool sizes in plant and soil all significantly increase at elevated CO2 in comparison to those at ambient CO2, ranging from a 5% increase in shoot N content to a 32% increase in root C content. The C and N contents in litter pools are consistently higher in elevated than ambient CO2 among all the surveyed studies whereas C and N contents in the other pools increase in some studies and decrease in other studies. The high variability in CO2-induced changes in C and N pool sizes results from diverse responses of various C and N processes to elevated CO2. Averaged C:N ratios are higher by 3% in litter and soil pools and 11% in root and shoot pools at elevated relative to ambient CO2. Elevated CO2 slightly increases root:shoot ratio. The net N accumulation in plant and soil pools at least helps prevent complete down-regulation of, and likely supports, long-term CO2 stimulation of C sequestration. The concomitant C and N accumulations in response to rising atmospheric CO2 may reflect intrinsic nature of ecosystem development as revealed before by studies of succession over hundreds to millions of years.

Fire effects on nitrogen pools and dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems: a meta-analysis

Abstract: A comprehensive and quantitative evaluation of the effects of fire on eco- system nitrogen (N) is urgently needed for directing future fire research and management. This study used a meta-analysis method to synthesize up to 185 data sets from 87 studies published from 1955 to 1999. Six N response variables related to fire were examined: fuel N amount (FNA) and concentration (FNC), soil N amount (SNA) and concentration (SNC), and soil ammonium (NH4 1 ) and nitrate (NO3 2 ) pools. When all comparisons (fire treatment vs. control) were considered together, fire significantly reduced FNA (58%), increased soil NH4 1 (94%) and NO3 2 (152%), and had no significant influences on FNC, SNA, and SNC. The responses of N to fire varied with different independent variables, which were vegetation type, fire type, fuel type, fuel consumption amount, fuel consumption percentage, time after fire, and soil sampling depth. The response of FNA to fire was significantly influenced by vegetation type, fuel type, and fuel consumption amount and percentage. The reduction in FNA was linearly correlated with fuel consumption percentage (r 2 5 0.978). The response of FNC to fire was only affected by fuel type. None of the seven independent variables had any effect on SNA. The responses of SNC, NH4 1 , and NO3 2 depend on soil sampling depth. The responses of both NH4 1 and NO3 2 to fire were significantly affected by fire type and time after fire but had different temporal patterns. The soil NH4 1 pool increased ap- proximately twofold immediately after fire, then gradually declined to the prefire level after one year. The fire-induced increase in the soil NO 3 2 pool was small (24%) immediately after fire, reached a maximum of approximately threefold of the prefire level within 0.5- 1 year after fire, and then declined. This study has identified the general patterns of the responses of ecosystem N that occur for several years after fire. A key research need relevant to fire management is to understand how the short-term responses of N to fire influence the function and structure of terrestrial ecosystems in the long term.

Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change

Abstract: Significantly more carbon is stored in the world's soils--including peatlands, wetlands and permafrost--than is present in the atmosphere. Disagreement exists, however, regarding the effects of climate change on global soil carbon stocks. If carbon stored belowground is transferred to the atmosphere by a warming-induced acceleration of its decomposition, a positive feedback to climate change would occur. Conversely, if increases of plant-derived carbon inputs to soils exceed increases in decomposition, the feedback would be negative. Despite much research, a consensus has not yet emerged on the temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition. Unravelling the feedback effect is particularly difficult, because the diverse soil organic compounds exhibit a wide range of kinetic properties, which determine the intrinsic temperature sensitivity of their decomposition. Moreover, several environmental constraints obscure the intrinsic temperature sensitivity of substrate decomposition, causing lower observed 'apparent' temperature sensitivity, and these constraints may, themselves, be sensitive to climate.

Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.

Abstract: Cause, conseguenze e strategie di mitigazione Proponiamo il primo di una serie di articoli in cui affronteremo l’attuale problema dei mutamenti climatici. Presentiamo il documento redatto, votato e pubblicato dall’Ipcc - Comitato intergovernativo sui cambiamenti climatici - che illustra la sintesi delle ricerche svolte su questo tema rilevante.

Climate change 2014 - Mitigation of climate change

Abstract: The talk with present the key results of the IPCC Working Group III 5th assessment report. Concluding four years of intense scientific collaboration by hundreds of authors from around the world, the report responds to the request of the world's governments for a comprehensive, objective and policy neutral assessment of the current scientific knowledge on mitigating climate change. The report has been extensively reviewed by experts and governments to ensure quality and comprehensiveness.

Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology

Abstract: I. CONTEXT * The Ecosystem Concept * Earth's Climate System * Geology and Soils * II. MECHANISMS * Terrestrial Water and Energy Balance * Carbon Input to Terrestrial Ecosystems * Terrestrial Production Processes * Terrestrial Decomposition * Terrestrial Plant Nutrient Use * Terrestrial Nutrient Cycling * Aquatic Carbon and Nutrient Cycling * Trophic Dynamics * Community Effects on Ecosystem Processes * III. PATTERNS * Temporal Dynamics * Landscape Heterogeneity and Ecosystem Dynamics * IV. INTEGRATION * Global Biogeochemical Cycles * Managing and Sustaining Ecosystem * Abbreviations * Glossary * References