No abstract

The total dissolved organic matter (DOM) content of soil changes after vegetation transformation, but the diversity of the underlying chemical composition has not been explored in detail. Characterizing the molecular diversity of DOM and its fate enables a better understanding of the soil quality of monoculture forest plantations. This study characterized the chemodiversity of soil DOM, assessed the variation of the soil microbial community composition, and identified specific linkages between DOM molecules and microbial community composition in soil samples from a 100-year chronosequence of Chinese fir monoculture plantations. With increasing plantation age, soil total carbon and dissolved organic carbon first decreased and then increased, while soil nutrients, such as available potassium and phosphorus and total nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, increased significantly. Lignin/carboxylic-rich alicyclic molecule (CRAM)-like structures accounted for the largest proportion of DOM, while aliphatic/proteins and carbohydrates showed a decreasing trend along the chronosequence. DOM high in H/C (such as lipids and aliphatic/proteins) degraded preferentially, while low-H/C DOM (such as lignin/CRAM-like structures and tannins) showed recalcitrance during stand development. Soil bacterial richness and diversity increased significantly as stand age increased, while soil fungal diversity tended to increase during early stand development and then decrease. The soil microbial community had a complex connectivity and strong interaction with DOM during stand development. Most bacterial phyla, such as Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes, were very significantly and positively correlated with DOM molecules. However, Verrucomicrobia and almost all fungi, such as Basidiomycota and Ascomycota, were significantly negatively correlated with DOM molecules. Overall, the community of soil microorganisms interacted closely with the compositional variability of DOM in the monoculture plantations investigated, both by producing and consuming DOM. This suggests that DOM is not intrinsically recalcitrant but instead persists in soils as a result of simultaneous consumption, transformation, and formation by soil microorganisms with extended stand ages of Chinese fir plantations.

No abstract

The study of organic matter in ancient paddy soils is helpful for understanding the influence of human activities on soil carbon sequestration and global climate change. However, little information on the spatial distribution and structural characteristics of the humic substances (HS) in ancient paddy soils is available. The spatial distributions of humic acids (HAs) and fulvic acids (FAs) in ancient paddy soils and modern cultivated paddy soils at the Shanlonggang site on the Liyang Plain were investigated, and the associated structures were characterized by using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The 13C NMR spectra revealed the following carbon types in HAs and FAs in both types of paddy soil in order of decreasing abundance: O-alkyl carbon (ranging from 39.7 to 51.8% and from 42.6 to 50.9%, respectively) ≥ alkyl carbon (ranging from 16.8 to 23.5% and from 15.7 to 22.4%, respectively) ≈ carboxyl carbon (ranging from 13.3 to 19.3% and from 16.9 to 22.0%, respectively) > aromatic carbon (ranging from 12.8 to 23.5% and from 10.0 to 17.2%, respectively). Moreover, the degree of aromaticity of HA was higher than that of FA in both soil samples. The humic constituents of the buried ancient paddy soils were less aromatic and oxidized than those of the modern cultivated paddy soils. The organic carbon in the ancient paddy soils was also less aromatic and oxidized than that in the modern cultivated paddy soils, suggesting that the structures of the HS in the ancient paddy soils were relatively simple. The results of this study provide new insights into the effect of secondary paddy soil formation on the spatial distribution, structural characteristics, and stability mechanisms of the HS in ancient paddy soils.

The plant-promoted removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils ranging from 20.08 to 322.12 mg·kg-1 was investigated under different planting patterns, and enhancement mechanisms were analyzed. Results showed that the dissipation of PAHs (68.22%~75.06%) in soils growing Brassica campestris and Trifolium repens significantly exceeded those (40.38%~43.26%) vegetating single species. After 80 days plantation, the extractable PAHs in soils under mixed cropping were much lower than those under single cropping. Despite the presence of vegetation evidently enhanced PAHs removal, the plant-microbial interactions are the main pathway for dissipation of pollutions under mixed cropping mode. These results suggested a feasibility of the establishment of multi-species phytoremediation for improvement of the remediation efficiencies of PAHs, which may decrease accumulations of PAHs in crops and thus reduce their risks.