[Effects of Soil Moisture and Temperature Variations on Organic Carbon Mineralization of Purple Soil in the Hydro-fluctuation Belt of the Three Gorges Reservoir].

Soil sampling in the field and an incubation experiment in the laboratory was conducted to investigate the effects of soil moisture and temperature on soil organic carbon (SOC) mineralization of purple soil in the hydro-fluctuation belt of the Three Gorges Reservoir. Three incubation temperatures (10, 20 and 30℃) and four moisture levels (40% water holding capacity (WHC), 70% WHC, 100% WHC and submerged condition) were used in the experiment. In the entire incubation period (66 d), the SOC cumulative mineralization reached the maximum at 100% WHC, but there was no significant difference between 100% WHC and submerged condition (>0.05). At 10℃ and 20℃, the SOC cumulative mineralization at 100% WHC and under submerged condition was not significantly different from that at 70% WHC treatment, but significantly higher than that at 40% WHC treatment. While the cumulative mineralization of organic carbon at 100% WHC and under submerged condition was significantly higher than that at 70% WHC and 40% WHC when the temperature was 30℃ (<0.05). The results indicated that compared with 70% WHC treatment, the higher moisture content (100% WHC and submerged condition) had no negative effects but rather promotion effects on the mineralization of SOC at high temperature (30℃). Under the same soil moisture conditions, the SOC cumulative mineralization of purple soil in the hydro-fluctuation belt increased as temperature increased. Moreover, the analysis of variance showed that SOC cumulative mineralization was significantly affected by temperature and soil moisture, and there was a significant interaction with temperature and soil moisture (<0.05). Fitting of two-pool first-order model was performed to indicate that temperature and soil moisture influenced the contents of labile SOC fraction and the mineralization rates of recalcitrant SOC fraction, which led to the differences of SOC cumulative mineralization under the different treatments. With the increasing temperature, the temperature sensitivity was significantly decreased in the 40% WHC treatment, but there was no obvious difference when the soil moisture content was not less than 70% WHC.