Articles | Volume 7, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-639-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-639-2021
Original research article
 | 
01 Oct 2021
Original research article |  | 01 Oct 2021

Heterotrophic soil respiration and carbon cycling in geochemically distinct African tropical forest soils

Benjamin Bukombe, Peter Fiener, Alison M. Hoyt, Laurent K. Kidinda, and Sebastian Doetterl

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Cited articles

Addo-Danso, S. D., Prescott, C. E., Adu-Bredu, S., Duah-Gyamfi, A., Moore, S., Guy, R. D., Forrester, D. I., Owusu-Afriyie, K., Marshall, P. L., and Malhi, Y.: Fine-root exploitation strategies differ in tropical old growth and logged-over forests in Ghana, Biotropica, 50, 606–615, https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12556, 2018. 
Angst, G., Messinger, J., Greiner, M., Häusler, W., Hertel, D., Kirfel, K., Kögel-Knabner, I., Leuschner, C., Rethemeyer, J., and Mueller, C. W.: Soil organic carbon stocks in topsoil and subsoil controlled by parent material, carbon input in the rhizosphere, and microbial-derived compounds, Soil Biol. Biochem., 122, 19–30, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.03.026, 2018. 
Barthès, B. G., Kouakoua, E., Larré-Larrouy, M.-C., Razafimbelo, T. M., De Luca, E. F., Azontonde, A., Neves, C. S. V. J., De Freitas, P. L., and Feller, C. L.: Texture and sesquioxide effects on water-stable aggregates and organic matter in some tropical soils, Geoderma, 143, 14–25, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.10.003, 2007. 
Bauters, M., Drake, T. W., Verbeeck, H., Bodé, S., Hervé-Fernández, P., Zito, P., Podgorski, D. C., Boyemba, F., Makelele, I., Ntaboba, L. C., Spencer, R. G. M., and Boeckx, P.: High fire-derived nitrogen deposition on central African forests, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 115, 549–554, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714597115, 2018. 
Berhe, A. A., Harden, J. W., Torn, M. S., and Harte, J.: Linking soil organic matter dynamics and erosion-induced terrestrial carbon sequestration at different landform positions, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 113, 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JG000751, 2008. 
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Short summary
Through a laboratory incubation experiment, we investigated the spatial patterns of specific maximum heterotrophic respiration in tropical African mountain forest soils developed from contrasting parent material along slope gradients. We found distinct differences in soil respiration between soil depths and geochemical regions related to soil fertility and the chemistry of the soil solution. The topographic origin of our samples was not a major determinant of the observed rates of respiration.