Some Interrelationships Between Soil and Root Respiration in Lowland Calluna Heathland in Southern England

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Abstract
(1) Root-organic-matter contents of nine heathland and dune-heath soils of differing age from Dorset in southern Britain are described. (2) Measurements of soil respiration (from five sites) over a period of a year are examined against a series of regression models. An estimate of root production (c. 400 g m-2 yr-1 organic matter) is obtained, and the carbon dioxide evolved from the soil is apportioned to different components of the soil organic matter. Root respiration accounts for up to 70% of the total soil respiration. (3) Measurement of respiration of washed root material suggests that such treatment produces enhanced values (up to c. five times that estimated from the regression models) in the case of Calluna. (4) The data are examined as a time-sequence, and the development of the soil profile is considered in the light of the findings of other authors. (5) Finally, estimates of production, soil respiration and organic matter accumulation are used to provide a preliminary carbon budget for the heathland soil system.