Characteristics of soil respiration in upper and lower slope positions with different aboveground biomass: a case study in a Japanese cypress forest

摘要

Differences in aboveground biomass alonga slope position are often overserved because of varying levels of nutrient availability. Such differences can affect the spatial variation in soil respiration (R-soil) via changes in biological factors (e.g., fine root biomass and litter mass, in addition to environmental factors. This study clarified the differences in Rsoil and the factors affecting Rsoil, between the upper and lower slope positions with contrasting aboveground biomass, within a small watershed covered by a Japanese cypress forest.