Abstract: This paper analyzed the characteristics of carbon fluxes for tea garden ecosystems in the hills of western Lake Taihu Basin. Three representative types of tea garden ecosystems with various ages (3, 9, and 20 a) were selected, and carbon fluxes were measured by static chamber/IRGA. Diurnal and seasonal variations of carbon fluxes for tea garden ecosystems showed a single peak of -1.10 mg·m^-2·s^-1. Tea garden ecosystems presented as a carbon sink on sunny days, while as a carbon source on cloudy days. Tea picking reduced carbon fluxes in March and April, especially for the tea gardens with 9 and 20 a. Pruning promoted carbon fluxes for the tea gardens at 3 and 9 a with a similar trend from May to September, which largely reduced their carbon sequestration capacity. Tea garden ecosystems were a significant carbon sink, and the net carbon flux reached -304.04 g C·m^-2·a^-1. Carbon sequestration capacity for the tea garden ecosystems is similar to that of forest ecosystem, and thus the exploitation of tea garden ecosystems would not lead to a reduction of carbon sink.

Key words: high throughput, community diversity, bacterial 16S rRNA gene, net photosynthesis rate