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Nitrogen addition, drought and mixture effects on litter decomposition and nitrogen immobilization in a temperate forest

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Abstract

Background and Aims

Litter decomposition serves an important role in maintaining nitrogen (N) availability within forest ecosystems. However, the interactive effects of exogenous N, drought, and litter quality and mixing on N immobilization during decomposition remain unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of litter quality, reduced precipitation, N addition, and their interactions on litter mass loss and N immobilization.

Methods

This field study analyzed the effects of N addition and decreased precipitation on the decomposition rates and associated N immobilization of four types of litter: Quercus mongolica (QM), Tilia amurensis (TA), Pinus koraiensis (PK), and a mixture (MIX) of all three. The chemical quality of the MIX was prepared in a 4:3:3 (mass) ratio of PK, TA, and QM litters. Litterbags were placed in an N addition and precipitation manipulation forest field and collected after 92, 154, 365, 457, and 874 days. Decomposing litter residues were characterized for mass loss and N content to assess N immobilization.

Results

The addition of N had no significant effect on litter decomposition under both precipitation conditions, but a reduction in precipitation significantly depressed litter decomposition. The increases in N immobilization with N addition depended on the litter type and decomposition period. Precipitation reduction had significant effects on N immobilization and enhanced the magnitude and duration of N immobilization in decomposing litter, and both of which can be increased by N addition. The results indicate that the litter species is the major regulator that controls mass loss and N immobilization. Furthermore, the MIX treatment did not show non-additive effects on mass loss but did exhibit some weak synergistic effects on N immobilization.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that decomposing litters could help to sequester N depending on the litter identity and water regime in temperate forest ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program; 2014CB954400) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41473077, 41173087 and 41330530) for their financial support. We are grateful to Guanhua Dai for litter collection. We are also grateful to Yan Zhang of the Institute of Applied Ecology and Dong Li of the Panjin Institute of Reed for their assistance during the experimental process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua road, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, 110016, People’s Republic of China

    Junqiang Zheng, Junhui Zhang & Shijie Han

  2. Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110164, People’s Republic of China

    Junqiang Zheng, Ruihong Guo, Dongsheng Li, Junhui Zhang & Shijie Han

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  1. Junqiang Zheng
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  2. Ruihong Guo
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Correspondence to Junqiang Zheng or Shijie Han.

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Responsible Editor: Duncan D. Cameron.

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Zheng, J., Guo, R., Li, D. et al. Nitrogen addition, drought and mixture effects on litter decomposition and nitrogen immobilization in a temperate forest. Plant Soil 416, 165–179 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3202-4

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