Relationship between soil respiration and soil properties during the revegetation of eroded red soil in subtropics of China

Soil properties is an important factor affecting soil respiration.The effects of revegetating in eroded bare land on soil respiration was investigated in red soil regions of subtropical China,and the relationship between rate of soil respiration and soil properties was discussed in this study.The annual average rate of soil respiration was only 0.43 μmol·m-2·s-1 in eroded bare land,and soil respiration average rates increased by 3.3-6.1 times in three ecosystems which were restored from bare land to Paspalum notatum Flugge grassland,Castanea mollissima plantation and Pinus massoniana plantation,but these rates were still significantly lower than that of secondary forest.There had significantly positive correlation between soil respiration rate and soil organic C,total N,hydrolyzable N and C/N in surface soil(0-20 cm),and the correlation coefficient decreased with the sampling depth of soil profile but C/N;whereas they had no significant relationship with soil respiration rate and soil total P,available P,total K and available K;on the contrary,soil respiration rate had a significant negative correlation with soil bulk density and aggregate damage rate in surface soil(0-10 cm).Therefore,soil properties especially soil C,N and soil structure are important determinants of soil respiration during the recovery of eroded red soil.