Carbon dioxide exchange and the mechanism of environmental control in a farmland ecosystem in North China Plain

CO2 flux was measured continuously in a wheat and maize rotation system of North China Plain using the eddy covariance technique to study the characteristic of CO2 exchange and its response to key environmental factors. The results show that nighttime net ecosystem exchange (NEE) varied exponentially with soil temperature. The temperature sensitivities of the ecosystem (Q10) were 2.94 and 2.49 in years 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, respectively. The response of gross primary productivity (GPP) to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in the crop field can be ex-pressed by a rectangular hyperbolic function. Average Amax and α for maize were more than those for wheat. The values of α increased positively with leaf area index (LAI) of wheat. Diurnal variations of NEE were significant from March to May and from July to September, but not remarkable in other months. NEE, GPP and ecosystem respiration (Rec) showed significantly seasonal variations in the crop field. The highest mean daily CO2 uptake rate was −10.20 and −12.50 gC·m−2−d−1 in 2003 and 2004, for the maize field, respectively, and −8.19 and −9.50 gC−m−2·d−1 in 2003 and 2004 for the wheat field, respectively. The maximal CO2 uptake appeared in April or May for wheat and mid-August for maize. During the main growing seasons of winter wheat and summer maize, NEE was controlled by GPP which was chiefly influenced by PAR and LAI. Rec reached its annual maximum in July when Rec and GPP contributed to NEE equally. NEE was dominated by Rec in other months and temperature became a key factor controlling NEE. Total NEE for the wheat field was −77.6 and −152.2 gC·m−2·a−1 in years 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, respectively, and −120.1 and −165.6 gC·m−2·a−1 in 2003 and 2004 for the maize field, respectively. The cropland of North China Plain was a carbon sink, with annual −197.6 and −317.9 gC·m−2·a−1 in years 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, respectively. After considering the carbon in grains, the cropland became a carbon source, which was 340.5 and 107.5 gC·m−2·a−1 in years 2002–2003 and 2003–2004, respectively. Affected by climate and filed managements, inter-annual carbon exchange varied largely in the wheat and maize rotation system of North China Plain.