Effects of drying and rewetting on soluble phosphorus and nitrogen in forest floors: An experiment with undisturbed columns

Hömberg, Annkathrin; Matzner, Egbert

doi:10.1002/jpln.201700380

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Our results demonstrate differences in terms of mobilization and transport of P between sites, depths and events. The dominating P fraction in our results was DIP, which is in line to the findings of similar studies (Dinh et al, 2016;Hömberg and Matzner, 2018;Brödlin et al, 2019), who investigated leachates from organic layers during drying-rewetting cycles in beech forest soils. Dinh et al (2016) and Brödlin et al (2019) also sampled A-Horizons, but reported higher DOP and smaller DIP shares than our results from the upper lysimeters.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Soil Phosphorus Translocation via Preferential Flow Pathways: A Comparison of Two Sites With Different Phosphorus Stocks

Makowski

Jülich

Feger

et al. 2020

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Weather events where a dry period is followed by a heavy rainfall event appear to affect phosphorus (P) exports through preferential flow pathways from forest soils. Export rates also depend on the P stocks. To explore this, we installed zero-tension lysimeters in three trenches at two sites with contrasting soil P stocks. Lysimeters were installed in three different depths (topsoil, subsoil and deep subsoil) to explore P depth transport. We covered the forest floor above the lysimeters with tarpaulins to simulate a dry period and afterward artificially irrigated the area. This experiment was repeated three times at each site. Lysimeter samples were analyzed for concentrations of total P, organic and inorganic dissolved P and particle bound P (>0.45 µm). Loads of P and flow rates were calculated. Results reveal clear differences between sites, individual events and soil depths. At both sites, concentrations and loads of P in the topsoil lysimeters were higher than those in the subsoil. This difference was most evident at the low P site and underlines its efficiency of recycling nutrients. Dissolved inorganic P showed marked peaks in the topsoil lysimeters, whereby in the subsoil, particlebound P peaks were partly noticeable at both sites. Depth transport of P into the subsoil depended on initial soil moisture, texture and the spatial distribution of flow pathways. Further, we observed large heterogeneity within a single site, dependent on profile-specific characteristics of the distribution of P, flow pathways and microbial biomass. We conclude that under certain conditions, there is a depth transport of P into the subsoil and therefore a potential of P exports, especially for particle-bound P. Small-scale heterogeneity hampers the clear identification of influences and illustrates the need for further research regarding soil heterogeneity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Soil Phosphorus Translocation via Preferential Flow Pathways: A Comparison of Two Sites With Different Phosphorus Stocks

Makowski

Jülich

Feger

et al. 2020

Front. For. Glob. Change

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“…In contrast to net N mineralization, D/W suppressed net nitrification, and thus, favored the production of NH + 4 over that of NO − 3 , very likely due to the high sensitivity of ammonium oxidizers to drought (Stark and Firestone, 1995). The strikingly greater impact of D/W on the mobilization of P than of C and N is probably related to the tight C:P and N:P ratios in microbial cells, which are prone to lysis upon rewetting (Mooshammer et al, 2014;Hömberg and Matzner, 2018). While N is primarily stored in structural microbial compounds, there is evidence for specific P storage of inorganic polyphosphates in granules of some bacteria (Nikel et al, 2013) and soil fungal tissue (Bünemann, 2008;Cheesman et al, 2012).…”

Section: Drying and Rewettingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The C, N, and P release from formerly protected substrate or lysed microbial biomass may differ because of the different C:N:P ratios of SOM and microbial biomass, in particular in organic layers (Xu et al, 2013;Mooshammer et al, 2014). In addition, the magnitude of drying and rewetting effects depends on the severity of the drought, soil properties, and microbial community composition (Borken and Matzner, 2009;Dinh et al, 2017) and may differ among inorganic and organic nutrient forms (Hömberg and Matzner, 2018;Brödlin et al, 2019), which makes prediction of net releases of C, N, and P in response to drying and rewetting difficult.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergent Patterns of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Mobilization in Forest Soils

Brödlin

Kaiser

Hagedorn

2019

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) become released in inorganic or organic forms during decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM). Environmental perturbations, such as drying and rewetting, alter the cycling of C, N, and P. Our study aimed at identifying the patterns and controls of C, N, and P release in soils under beech forests. We exposed organic and mineral horizons from a nutrient availability gradient in Germany to permanent moist conditions or dry spells in microcosms and quantified releases of inorganic and organic C, N, and P. Under moist conditions, mobilization of DOC, DON, and DOP were interrelated and depended on the C:N:P ratio of SOM, whilst net mineralization rates of C, N, and P correlated poorly. Mineralization of C decreased with soil depth from Oi to A horizons, reflecting the increasing SOM stability. Net mineralization of N and P showed divergent depth patterns. In the Oi horizon, net mineralization was smaller for N than for C and P, indicating more pronounced microbial immobilization for N than for P. In A horizons, net mineralization of P was less than of N, very likely because of strong sorption of released phosphate by mineral phases. Counterintuitively, net P mineralization in A horizons increased toward P-poor sites, probably due to decreasing contents of clay and pedogenic oxides, and thus, declining P sorption. Drying and rewetting caused stronger release of inorganic and organic P, and organic N than of inorganic C and inorganic N, most likely by lysis of microbial biomass with tight C:N:P ratios. Due to the divergent patterns in N and P cycling, the organic layer seems more crucial for net mineralization of P than the mineral soil; for N the mineral soil appears more important. Consequently, the loss of the organic layer would deteriorate P nutrition, in particular at nutrient-poor sites. Overall, our results indicate that the cycling of C, N, and P in soil is not directly coupled because of the different microbial immobilization and, in the mineral soil, differential sorption of inorganic N and P. This may ultimately cause imbalances in N and P nutrition of forests.

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“…Recent studies have tested the effects of soil DRW cycles on nutrient release. There is some evidence that soil DRW cycles can increase the extractability of soil nutrients (Bunemann et al, 2013;Forber et al, 2017;Sun et al, 2017;Dinh et al, 2018;Homberg and Matzner, 2018). For instance, Koopmans et al (2006), Styles and Coxon (2006) and Bunemann et al (2013) reported increased extractability of phosphorus (P) as a result of soil drying.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Biomass Responses to Soil Drying-Rewetting and Phosphorus Leaching

Khan

Hooda

Blackwell

et al. 2019

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Soil drying-rewetting is known to enhance soil phosphorus leaching, which in part is due to osmotic shock and lysis of microbial cells upon rewetting. However, it is not entirely clear how this may be influenced by the intensity and duration of soil drying. We hypothesized that the intensity and duration of soil drying play important roles in determining the extent of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) leaching resulting from microbial biomass mortality. To test this hypothesis soil sub-samples of a loamy grassland soil were dried (30 or 40 • C for 2 or 14-days), rewetted, and the leachate was analyzed for DRP. Soil drying at 30 • C for 2 and 14-days resulted in leachate DRP concentrations which were 71 and 271%, respectively, higher than those in leachate from a control moist counterpart. Relatively greater DRP leaching losses occurred from the soil dried at 40 • C for 2 and 14-days (143 and 300%, respectively). To determine the contribution of the microbial biomass to the DRP in leachate, soil sub-samples were fumigated with chloroform either before or after drying (30 or 40 • C for 2 or 14-days). All soil treatments were then either leached with water and analyzed for DRP or extracted with 0.5 M sodium bicarbonate solution and analyzed for microbial biomass phosphorus. Fumigating soil samples before or after drying reduced microbial biomass phosphorus. However, the effect of chloroform fumigation was more pronounced in terms of microbial biomass reduction in the DF (drying followed by fumigation) treatment. Moreover, results revealed that in the DF treatment, soils dried at 30 • C for 2-days and 14-days had 22 and 13%, respectively, more microbial biomass phosphorus than their counterparts dried at 40 • C for 2 and 14-days, respectively. These results suggest that soil drying at higher intensity and for prolonged periods significantly (p < 0.05) affect microbial biomass and subsequently increases soil phosphorus leaching following rewetting, due to enhanced contributions from the microbial biomass. These findings, however, need to be verified over a range of soil types under natural field conditions to better assess soil drying-rewetting effects on nutrient leaching.

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Effects of drying and rewetting on soluble phosphorus and nitrogen in forest floors: An experiment with undisturbed columns

Cited by 16 publications

References 36 publications

Soil Phosphorus Translocation via Preferential Flow Pathways: A Comparison of Two Sites With Different Phosphorus Stocks

Soil Phosphorus Translocation via Preferential Flow Pathways: A Comparison of Two Sites With Different Phosphorus Stocks

Divergent Patterns of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Mobilization in Forest Soils

Microbial Biomass Responses to Soil Drying-Rewetting and Phosphorus Leaching

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