vegetation characteristics and soil respiration components

This study systematically evaluates how elevational gradients modulate the effects of (1) vegetation functional traits and (2) soil physicochemical properties on soil respiration components dynamics. Five Pinus taiwanensis forests along different elevations in the Wuyi Mountain were used to explore how the annual fluxes of total soil respiration (RS), autotrophic respiration (RA), and heterotrophic respiration (RH) were regulated by vegetation characteristics, including vegetation C assimilation capacity (VC), 0-20 cm root biomass (WR), litter production (PL), leaf area index (LAI), and also soil properties, including soil temperature (ST), soil moisture (SM), fungal PLFAs (phospholipid fatty acid content) and bacterial PLFAs.