An investigation on the relationship between emission/uptake of greenhouse gases and environmental factors in semiarid grassland

Measurements of greenhouse gases CO2, CH4, and N2O were made by static chamber-gas chromatograph in Inner Mongolia. Results indicate that with growing seasons, the daily variation patterns of emission/uptake of greenhouse gases differ greatly in the prairie ecosystem. The peak of seasonal emission/uptake of three greenhouse gases occurs at the melting period in spring when soil moisture is high and rainfall is rich. The daily emissions of CO2 from steppe vegetation in growing seasons are low during the daytime and high at night. Higher temperatures are advantageous to emission of CO2, as aboveground biomass determines the amount of CO2 photosynthetic uptake. The key factors that influence the daily variation patterns of CH4 uptake and N2O emission in semiarid grassland are soil moisture and the oxygen supplying condition, while the changes in daily temperature mainly affect the range of daily variations. The seasonal changes of N2O emission are positively related to seasonal change in soil moisture. Free grazing reduces the daily mean deviation of exchange rates of CO2, N2O, and CH4, but it decreases the amount of annual emission/uptake of N2O and CH4 yet it increases the annual emission of CO2.