Conversion of alpine pastureland to artificial grassland altered CO(2) and N(2)O emissions by decreasing C and N in different soil aggregates

BACKGROUND: The impacts of land use on greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions have been extensively studied. However, the underlying mechanisms on how soil aggregate structure, soil organic carbon (SOC) and total N (TN) distributions in different soil aggregate sizes influencing carbon dioxide (CO(2)), and nitrous oxide (N(2)O) emissions from alpine grassland ecosystems remain largely unexplored. METHODS: A microcosm experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of land use change on CO(2)and N(2)O emissions from different soil aggregate fractions. Soil samples were collected from three land use types, i.e., non-grazing natural grassland (CK), grazing grassland (GG), and artificial grassland (GC) in the Bayinbuluk alpine pastureland. Soil aggregate fractionation was performed using a wet-sieving method. The variations of soil aggregate structure, SOC, and TN in different soil aggregates were measured. The fluxes of CO(2) and N(2)O were measured by a gas chromatograph. RESULTS: Compared to CK and GG, GC treatment significantly decreased SOC (by 24.9–45.2%) and TN (by 20.6–41.6%) across all soil aggregate sizes, and altered their distributions among soil aggregate fractions. The cumulative emissions of CO(2) and N(2)O in soil aggregate fractions in the treatments of CK and GG were 39.5–76.1% and 92.7–96.7% higher than in the GC treatment, respectively. Moreover, cumulative CO(2)emissions from different soil aggregate sizes in the treatments of CK and GG followed the order of small macroaggregates (2–0.25 mm) > large macroaggregates (> 2 mm) > micro aggregates (0.25–0.053 mm) > clay +silt (< 0.053 mm), whereas it decreased with aggregate sizes decreasing in the GC treatment. Additionally, soil CO(2) emissions were positively correlated with SOC and TN contents. The highest cumulative N(2)O emission occurred in micro aggregates under the treatments of CK and GG, and N(2)O emissions among different aggregate sizes almost no significant difference under the GC treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Conversion of natural grassland to artificial grassland changed the pattern of CO(2) emissions from different soil aggregate fractions by deteriorating soil aggregate structure and altering soil SOC and TN distributions. Our findings will be helpful to develop a pragmatic management strategy for mitigating GHGs emissions from alpine grassland.