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Root–microbial interaction accelerates soil nitrogen depletion but not soil carbon after increasing litter inputs to a coniferous forest

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Abstract

Aims

Net primary productivity is expected to increase in many forests as Earth warms, which can increase litter inputs to soils and affect carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics. Understanding how increasing litter inputs affect soil C and N cycling in tropical and subtropical forests is important because they represent some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth, suggesting that small changes in these cycles can have large effects.

Methods

To test the effects of increased litter inputs and the interactive effect between microbes and roots on soil C and N stocks and dynamics, we manipulated litter inputs and used trenching to exclude roots in a 40-year-old Cunninghamia lanceolata Lamb. (Chinese fir) plantation. At the site, we measured soil C and N pools, soil 13C and 15N natural abundance, and potential activities for C-, N-, and phosphorus-acquiring enzymes.

Results

After four years of experimental treatment, we found that increasing litter inputs reduced total soil N content by 26% relative to background litter inputs, but that increasing litter inputs did not affect soil C content in the plots with roots. In the plots without roots, both soil N and C did not change in response to litter inputs. In the plots with roots, soil δ15N increased with increasing litter inputs, but there was no effect in the plots without roots. We found a strong interactive effect between root and litter treatment on soil N pools and δ15N. The decline in soil N pools and increase in soil δ15N were associated with elevated potential enzyme activity for N-acquisition (N-acetyl glucosaminidase).

Conclusions

Adding litter did not have a significant effect on soil C pools, likely because potential soil C losses were offset by increasing litter-derived C inputs. In contrast to C, adding litter decreased N availability, likely through multiple pathways including gaseous N losses, NO3− leaching, root N uptake, and interactions between saprotrophic microbes and roots during the four-year litter addition experiment. Global changes that increase litter production may lower N pools and imbalance C and N cycling in subtropical coniferous forest ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

The research was funded by the National key research and development program (No. 2016YFD0600204) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos U1505233, 31870604 and U1405231).

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  1. Maokui Lyu and Xiaojie Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Subtropical Mountain Ecology (Ministry of Science and Technology and Fujian Province Funded), School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Maokui Lyu, Xiaojie Li, Jinsheng Xie, Zhijie Yang, Xiaofei Liu, Chaoyue Ruan & Yusheng Yang

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Peter M. Homyak

  3. Natural Resources Institute Finland, Latokartanonkaari 9, 00790, Helsinki, Finland

    Liisa Ukonmaanaho

  4. Institute of Geographical Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Zhijie Yang & Yusheng Yang

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  1. Maokui Lyu
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Correspondence to Jinsheng Xie.

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Lyu, M., Li, X., Xie, J. et al. Root–microbial interaction accelerates soil nitrogen depletion but not soil carbon after increasing litter inputs to a coniferous forest. Plant Soil 444, 153–164 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04265-w

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