scholarly journals Effects of litter and root manipulations on soil carbon and nitrogen in a Schrenk’s spruce (Picea schrenkiana) forest

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0247725
Author(s):  
Haiqiang Zhu ◽  
Lu Gong ◽  
Zhaolong Ding ◽  
Yuefeng Li
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Activity ◽  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Plant Detritus ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N ◽  
Root Exclusion

Plant detritus represents the major source of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), and changes in its quantity can influence below-ground biogeochemical processes in forests. However, we lack a mechanistic understanding of how above- and belowground detrital inputs affect soil C and N in mountain forests in an arid land. Here, we explored the effects of litter and root manipulations (control (CK), doubled litter input (DL), removal of litter (NL), root exclusion (NR), and a combination of litter removal and root exclusion (NI)) on soil C and N concentrations, enzyme activity and microbial biomass during a 2-year field experiment. We found that DL had no significant effect on soil total organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) but significantly increased soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), microbial biomass C, N and inorganic N as well as soil cellulase, phosphatase and peroxidase activities. Conversely, NL and NR reduced soil C and N concentrations and enzyme activities. We also found an increase in the biomass of soil bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes in the DL treatment, while NL reduced the biomass of gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria and fungi by 5.15%, 17.50% and 14.17%, respectively. The NR decreased the biomass of these three taxonomic groups by 8.97%, 22.11% and 21.36%, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that soil biotic factors (enzyme activity and microbial biomass) and abiotic factors (soil moisture content) significantly controlled the change in soil C and N concentrations (P < 0.01). In brief, we found that the short-term input of plant detritus could markedly affect the concentrations and biological characteristics of the C and N fractions in soil. The removal experiment indicated that the contribution of roots to soil nutrients is greater than that of the litter.

scholarly journals Effects of species-dominated patches on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen storage in a degraded grassland in China

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujuan Zhang ◽  
Shiming Tang ◽  
Shu Xie ◽  
Kesi Liu ◽  
Jinsheng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Total Nitrogen ◽  
Microbial Biomass Nitrogen ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Artemisia Frigida ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N

Background Patchy vegetation is a very common phenomenon due to long-term overgrazing in degraded steppe grasslands, which results in substantial uncertainty associated with soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics because of changes in the amount of litter accumulation and nutrition input into soil. Methods We investigated soil C and N stocks beneath three types of monodominant species patches according to community dominance. Stipa krylovii patches, Artemisia frigida patches, and Potentilla acaulis patches represent better to worse vegetation conditions in a grassland in northern China. Results The results revealed that the soil C stock (0–40 cm) changed significantly, from 84.7 to 95.7 Mg ha−1, and that the soil organic carbon content (0–10 cm) and microbial biomass carbon (0–10 and 10–20 cm) varied remarkably among the different monodominant species communities (P < 0.05). However, soil total nitrogen and microbial biomass nitrogen showed no significant differences among different plant patches in the top 0–20 cm of topsoil. The soil C stocks under the P. acaulis and S. krylovii patches were greater than that under the A. frigida patch. Our study implies that accurate estimates of soil C and N storage in degenerated grassland require integrated analyses of the concurrent effects of differences in plant community composition.

scholarly journals Spatially Related Sampling Uncertainty in the Assessment of Labile Soil Carbon and Nitrogen in an Irish Forest Plantation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2139
Author(s):  
Junliang Zou ◽  
Bruce Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Sampling Area ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N ◽  
Highly Correlated

The importance of labile soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in soil biogeochemical processes is now well recognized. However, the quantification of labile soil C and N in soils and the assessment of their contribution to ecosystem C and N budgets is often constrained by limited information on spatial variability. To address this, we examined spatial variability in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved total nitrogen (DTN) in a Sitka spruce forest in central Ireland. The results showed moderate variations in the concentrations of DOC and DTN based on the mean, minimum, and maximum, as well as the coefficients of variation. Residual values of DOC and DTN were shown to have moderate spatial autocorrelations, and the nugget sill ratios were 0.09% and 0.10%, respectively. Distribution maps revealed that both DOC and DTN concentrations in the study area decreased from the southeast. The variability of both DOC and DTN increased as the sampling area expanded and could be well parameterized as a power function of the sampling area. The cokriging technique performed better than the ordinary kriging for predictions of DOC and DTN, which are highly correlated. This study provides a statistically based assessment of spatial variations in DOC and DTN and identifies the sampling effort required for their accurate quantification, leading to improved assessments of forest ecosystem C and N budgets.

The magnitude of temperature increase matters: how will soil organic mineralization respond to future climate warming?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Zhou ◽  
Yuan Wen ◽  
Lingling Shi ◽  
Michaela Dippold ◽  
Yakov Kuzyakov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Activity ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Temperature Increase ◽  
Microbial Growth ◽  
N Cycling ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N ◽  
C And N Cycling

&lt;p&gt;The Paris climate agreement is pursuing efforts to limit the increase in global temperature to below 2 &amp;#176;C above pre-industrial level. The overall consequence of relatively slight warming (~2 &amp;#176;C), on soil C and N stocks will be dependent on microorganisms decomposing organic matter through release of extracellular enzymes. Therefore, the capacity of soil microbial community to buffer climate warming in long-term and the self-regulatory mechanisms mediating soil C and N cycling through enzyme activity and microbial growth require a detailed comparative study. Here, microbial growth and the dynamics of enzyme activity (involved in C and N cycling) in response to 8 years warming (ambient, +1.6 &amp;#176;C, +3.2 &amp;#176;C) were investigated to identify shifts in soil and microbial functioning. A slight temperature increase (+1.6 &amp;#176;C) only altered microbial properties, but had no effect on either hydrolytic enzyme activity or basic soil properties. Stronger warming (+3.2 &amp;#176;C) increased the specific growth rate (&amp;#956;&lt;sub&gt;m&lt;/sub&gt;) of the microbial community, indicating an alteration in their ecological strategy, i.e. a shift towards fast-growing microorganisms and accelerated microbial turnover. Warming strongly changed microbial physiological state, as indicated by a 1.4-fold increase in the fraction of growing microorganisms (GMB) and 2 times decrease in lag-time with warming. This reduced total microbial biomass but increased specific enzyme activity to be ready to decompose increased rhizodeposition, as supported by the higher potential activitiy (V&lt;sub&gt;max&lt;/sub&gt;) and lower affinity to substrates (higher K&lt;sub&gt;m&lt;/sub&gt;) of enzymes hydrolyzing cellobiose and proteins cleavage in warmed soil. In other words, stronger warming magnitude (+3.2 &amp;#176;C) changed microbial communities, and was sufficient to benefit fast-growing microbial populations with enzyme functions that specific to degrade labile SOM. Combining with 48 literature observations, we confirmed that the slight magnitude of temperature increase (&lt; 2 &amp;#176;C) only altered microbial properties, but further temperature increases (2-4 &amp;#176;C) was sufficient to change almost all soil, microbial, and enzyme properties and related processes. As a consequence, the revealed microbial regulatory mechanism of stability of soil C storage is strongly depended on the magnitude of future climate warming.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Distribution and soil carbon stocks of agroforestry vegetation on dry land in Aceh Besar regency

2021 ◽  
Vol 896 (1) ◽  
pp. 012022
Author(s):  
H A Umar ◽  
Endiyani ◽  
S Agustina ◽  
Irhami ◽  
C Anwar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Content ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Dry Land ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Soil Carbon Stocks ◽  
C Value ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N

Abstract Research to find out how big the potential of soil carbon in agroforestry vegetation in Aceh Besar regency. This research was conducted on agroforestry vegetation on dry land in the Aceh Besar regency. Content carbon on the type of agroforestry land-use, two samples were taken each composite soil on depth 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm, 30-70 cm and 70-100. For the analysis of carbon content, activities are carried out in the soil laboratory and plants of the Faculty of Agriculture, Syiah Kuala University. The carbon content in agroforestry vegetation is quite high, and this can be described in the percentage of carbon which has a classification from high to very low. Soil depth 0-5 cm has a carbon percentage with a high classification value of 3.40 and at a depth of 30-70 cm has the lowest % C value of 0.35% with a very low classification. tends to increase soil C and N through increased root complementarity, lower underground competition.

scholarly journals Soil nitrogen-hydrolyzing enzyme activity and stoichiometry following a subtropical land use change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Dandan Zhang ◽  
Junjun Wu ◽  
Jinsheng Li ◽  
Jiao Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Enzyme Activity ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Soil Nitrogen ◽  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Specific Enzyme ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N

Afforestation; Soil ecoenzymatic C: N: P; Specific enzyme activities; Soil C and N contents.

scholarly journals Indicators of peat soil degradation in the Biebrza valley, Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-51
Author(s):  
Jadwiga Sienkiewicz ◽  
Grażyna Porębska ◽  
Apolonia Ostrowska ◽  
Dariusz Gozdowski
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Degradation ◽  
Peat Soil ◽  
Peat Soils ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Peat Deposits ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N ◽  
Linear Regressions

Abstract Peat mineralisation leads to net loss of CO2 to the atmosphere, as well as to release of other elements from the decomposed soil organic matter (SOM) to groundwater. This results in the degradation of peat soils and the ecosystems they support. Here we evaluated the practical indicatory suitability of the existing and proposed new indices for the assessment of peat soil degradation in the Biebrza river valley encompassing, unique on European scale, peatland ecosystems. We studied relationships between soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (Ntot), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in a series of degraded peat soils in the Biebrza valley. Samples were taken from soils developed on peat deposits that varied in thickness and the degree of peat decomposition, from undegraded to highly mineralised peats. The relationships between changes in the SOC content and changes in the values of the remaining variables (SOM, Ntot, DOC, DON, C/N ratio), were statistically tested. Linear and non-linear regressions were used to establish the relationships amongst the variables examined. The losses of soil C and N occur independently and differ between stages of peat soil mineralisation. From our study, it results that the peat mineralisation intensity may be estimated based on the loss of SOC. We found that 1% loss of SOC corresponded to 1.028% loss of SOM, regardless of the degree of peat soil mineralisation, whereas SOM solubility, measured by the content of DOC, varied based on the intensity of peat soil mineralisation. The content of DOC decreased with the decrease in the SOC content, whereas the DOC/ SOC ratio increased depending on the intensity of peat decomposition. The C/N ratio is not a reliable indicator of peat mineralisation, because its values are driven not only by the nitrogen natively present in peat soils but also by nitrogen from external sources. The contents of SOC and Ntot did not decrease uniformly during peat decomposition because C and N show various mobility in the processes of SOM mineralisation. We found that the DOC/SOC ratio was most indicative of peat soil mineralisation intensity. © IOŚ-PIB

Repeated thinning treatments reduce long-term soil carbon and nitrogen storage: An 87-year study at the Petawawa Research Forest, Canada

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Dávila Reátegui ◽  
Vincent Poirier ◽  
Marie R. Coyea ◽  
Alison D. Munson
Keyword(s):  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Wood Quality ◽  
N Accumulation ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Forest Region ◽  
Forest Sites ◽  
Surface Disturbance ◽  
Permanent Sample Plot ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N

Forest management activities are increasingly analyzed through a lens that quantifies their effects on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage, because forest soils are an important C sink. Data on the longer-term impacts of repeated interventions are often lacking. At the Petawawa Research Forest, Ontario, treatments to evaluate the effect of repeated thinnings on wood quality of red and white pine were initiated in 1918 with the first experimental plots in Canada, permanent sample plot 1 (thinned) and 2 (control). In 2005, 16 years after the last thinning in 1989, we observed that repeated thinnings reduced soil C and N stocks in the surface L and F and Ah horizons. Contrary to our hypotheses, concentrations and stocks of C and N increased in the Bm1 horizon, indicating that these elements could be accumulated in deeper horizons after surface disturbance and potentially increased decomposition associated with thinning. However, total C and N accumulation in the profile to 30 cm contributed to reduced storage (-35 % for C, and -30 % for N). Many forest sites in the Great Lakes Forest Region that are selectively cut repeatedly over decades could experience this level of soil C and N decline.

scholarly journals Alteration of soil carbon and nitrogen pools and enzyme activities as affected by increased soil coarseness

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2155-2166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruzhen Wang ◽  
Linyou Lü ◽  
Courtney A. Creamer ◽  
Feike A. Dijkstra ◽  
Heyong Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Soil C ◽  
N Limitation ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N ◽  
Microbial C ◽  
Sandy Grasslands ◽  
Acid Phosphomonoesterase

Abstract. Soil coarseness decreases ecosystem productivity, ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks, and soil nutrient contents in sandy grasslands subjected to desertification. To gain insight into changes in soil C and N pools, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities in response to soil coarseness, a field experiment was conducted by mixing native soil with river sand in different mass proportions: 0, 10, 30, 50, and 70 % sand addition. Four years after establishing plots and 2 years after transplanting, soil organic C and total N concentrations decreased with increased soil coarseness down to 32.2 and 53.7 % of concentrations in control plots, respectively. Soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN) declined with soil coarseness down to 44.1 and 51.9 %, respectively, while microbial biomass phosphorus (MBP) increased by as much as 73.9 %. Soil coarseness significantly decreased the enzyme activities of β-glucosidase, N-acetyl-glucosaminidase, and acid phosphomonoesterase by 20.2–57.5 %, 24.5–53.0 %, and 22.2–88.7 %, used for C, N and P cycling, respectively. However, observed values of soil organic C, dissolved organic C, total dissolved N, available P, MBC, MBN, and MBP were often significantly higher than would be predicted from dilution effects caused by the sand addition. Soil coarseness enhanced microbial C and N limitation relative to P, as indicated by the ratios of β-glucosidase and N-acetyl-glucosaminidase to acid phosphomonoesterase (and MBC : MBP and MBN : MBP ratios). Enhanced microbial recycling of P might alleviate plant P limitation in nutrient-poor grassland ecosystems that are affected by soil coarseness. Soil coarseness is a critical parameter affecting soil C and N storage and increases in soil coarseness can enhance microbial C and N limitation relative to P, potentially posing a threat to plant productivity in sandy grasslands suffering from desertification.

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