How land-use change affects soil respiration in an alpine agro-pastoral ecotone

Land-use change alters soil carbon (C) storage in terrestrial ecosystem through affecting respirations (Rs). However, the long-term effects of land-use on Rs are poorly understood. We undertook a field experiment to examine Rs. The types included grazed grassland (GGL), enclosed (EGL), continuous cropland (CCL), rotation (RCL) and abandoned (ACL) an alpine agro-pastoral ecotone Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau China. Our results showed that accumulative was shown decreasing order EGL > CCL RCL GGL ACL, with highest value 12.2 t CO2 ha−1 lowest 5.3 ha−1. Soil bulk density, moisture, pH C/N ratio were key factors regulating Tianzhu ecotone. regulated indirectly by bacterial diversity, while moisture had indirect impacts mainly microbial biomass. net density direct pathway. Considering C stocks increasing ACL < EGL, even though Rs, grasslands probably favorable type findings highlight importance which may need be incorporated into regional global models for better predicting C-climate feedbacks.