Effect of N addition on home-field advantage of litter decomposition in subtropical forests

Lin, Hong; He, Zaihua; Hao, Jiewei; Tian, Kai; Jia, Xiuqin; Kong, Xiangshi; Akbar, Siddiq; Bei, Zhanlin; Tian, Xingjun

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2017.05.015

Cited by 33 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Moreover, the nutritional status of the soil and the litter microenvironment may affect microbial communities and interact with soil fauna influencing its contribution to decomposition [28]. For instance, the decomposition of low-quality litter may be bottom-up controlled, especially in nutrient-poor environments, thus being more dependent on the fragmentation and the microbial stimulation driven by soil fauna [18,[28][29][30][31]. Still, multi-site litterbag decomposition studies often fail to incorporate high enough within-site replicates along with data of environmental features like nutrient availability measured at the same spatial and temporal grain, therefore masking underlying local variability and hampering our ability to identify alternate regulatory factors [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient scarcity strengthens soil fauna control over leaf litter decomposition in tropical rainforests

et al. 2019

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Soil fauna is a key control of the decomposition rate of leaf litter, yet its interactions with litter quality and the soil environment remain elusive. We conducted a litter decomposition experiment across different topographic levels within the landscape replicated in two rainforest sites providing natural gradients in soil fertility to test the hypothesis that low nutrient availability in litter and soil increases the strength of fauna control over litter decomposition. We crossed these data with a large dataset of 44 variables characterizing the biotic and abiotic microenvironment of each sampling point and found that microbe-driven carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses from leaf litter were 10.1 and 17.9% lower, respectively, in the nutrient-poorest site, but this among-site difference was equalized when meso- and macrofauna had access to the litterbags. Further, on average, soil fauna enhanced the rate of litter decomposition by 22.6%, and this contribution consistently increased as nutrient availability in the microenvironment declined. Our results indicate that nutrient scarcity increases the importance of soil fauna on C and N cycling in tropical rainforests. Further, soil fauna is able to equalize differences in microbial decomposition potential, thus buffering to a remarkable extent nutrient shortages at an ecosystem level.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient scarcity strengthens soil fauna control over leaf litter decomposition in tropical rainforests

et al. 2019

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“…Despite much research, however, no consensus exists regarding the impacts of N addition in soil fauna communities. For instance, N addition significantly increases the densities of both phytophagous soil fauna and total soil fauna, which could be attributed to enhanced ammonium (NH 4 + ) production and nitrification processes from increased root exudation and organic matter input to the system [10]. In addition, Raub, et al [11] confirmed the positive effect of N-rich food resources on the abundance of soil fauna.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Fine Root Biomass Mediates Soil Fauna Community in Response to Nitrogen Addition in Poplar Plantations (Populus deltoids) on the East Coast of China

Bian

Geng

Xiao

et al. 2019

Forests

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Soil fauna is critical for maintaining ecosystem functioning, and its community could be significantly impacted by nitrogen (N) deposition. However, our knowledge of how soil-faunal community composition responds to N addition is still limited. In this study, we simulated N deposition (0, 50, 100, 150, and 300 kg N ha−1 year−1) to explore the effects of N addition on the total and the phytophagous soil fauna along the soil profile (0–10, 10–25, and 25–40 cm) in poplar plantations (Populus deltoids) on the east coast of China. Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) was dissolved in water and sprayed evenly under the canopy with a backpack sprayer to simulate N deposition. Our results showed that N addition either significantly increased or decreased the density (D) of both the total and the phytophagous soil fauna (Dtotal and Dp) at low or high N addition rates, respectively, indicating the existence of threshold effects over the range of N addition. However, N addition had no significant impacts on the number of groups (G) and diversity (H) of either the total or the phytophagous soil fauna (Gtotal, Gp and Htotal, Hp). With increasing soil depth, Dtotal, Dp, Gtotal, and Gp largely decreased, showing that the soil fauna have a propensity to aggregate at the soil surface. Htotal and Hp did not significantly vary along the soil profile. Importantly, the threshold effects of N addition on Dtotal and Dp increased from 50 and 100 to 150 kg N ha−1 year−1 along the soil profile. Fine root biomass was the dominant factor mediating variations in Dtotal and Dp. Our results suggested that N addition may drive changes in soil-faunal community composition by altering belowground food resources in poplar plantations.

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“…Garbage decomposition is a fundamental process in the functioning of forest ecosystems as it facilitates the recycling of nutrients and chemical elements, and regulates forest restoration and productivity (Cleveland et al, 2011). Lin et al (2017) studying the decomposition of litter in subtropical forests, found that there was no high decomposition of dominant species. However, they found positive effects for certain species in the region.…”

Section: Fimentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of Plant Litter in Fragments of Dry Tropical Forest in Paraíba

Araújo¹,

Souto²,

Souto³

et al. 2018

JAS

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Deposition of plant litter in the environment represents the entrance into the system, with reflection on soil organic matter content and environmental quality of the site. The objective of this study was to estimate the deposition, accumulation and decomposition of plant litter in preserved Caatinga vegetation, and the interference of climatic variability in the dynamics of these events. This research was developed in the Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN), Tamanduá Farm, in the municipality of Santa Terezinha-PB, in a Caatinga area. Plant litter deposited in 20 twenty 1.0 m² litterfall traps of 1.0 m × 1.0 m was collected monthly (June/2014 to July/2015), covering the dry and rainy period of the region. The material was separated into leaves, branches + bark, reproductive material and miscellaneous material. Litter stock accumulated on the forest floor was quantified using a 0.5 m × 0.5 m metal frame to estimate decomposition rate of litter. We found that that leaves fraction obtained the highest deposition average in July 2014 with 395.80 kg ha-1 and the lowest in February/2015 with 9.5 kg ha-1. We concluded that that litter production obtained during the evaluation period was 2.2 mg ha-1, being the highest contribution of litter at the end of the rainy season of the region.

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Effect of N addition on home-field advantage of litter decomposition in subtropical forests

Cited by 33 publications

References 72 publications

Nutrient scarcity strengthens soil fauna control over leaf litter decomposition in tropical rainforests

Nutrient scarcity strengthens soil fauna control over leaf litter decomposition in tropical rainforests

Fine Root Biomass Mediates Soil Fauna Community in Response to Nitrogen Addition in Poplar Plantations (Populus deltoids) on the East Coast of China

Contribution of Plant Litter in Fragments of Dry Tropical Forest in Paraíba

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