Litter decomposition affected by bamboo expansion is modulated by litter‐mixing and microbial composition

Abstract

1. Litter decomposition is a key ecosystem process that drives carbon (C) and nutrient cycling, which could be affected by shifts in plant community composition caused by plant invasion or expansion. However, how changes in leaf litter composition (e.g. litter-mixing effect) and soil microbial community induced by shift in plant community composition affect decomposition remains elusive.2. Here, by deploying 432 litterbags (50μm mesh screen), we treated leaf litter of bamboo Phyllostachys edulis and tree species (in a mixture or alone) and decomposed them in forest sites expanded or not expanded by bamboo at three regions, to assess the effects of bamboo expansion on decomposition, microbial community structure and function.3. Bamboo expansion reduced microbial C to nitrogen (N) ratio and nutritional stress indicator (cy/pre), which was very likely ascribed to elevated N availability as a result of accelerated litter N release. The N loss of bamboo litter (28.1 ± 3.03%) was more than double of tree species litter (13.2 ± 3.1%), and decomposing litter of bamboo and tree species in a mixture increased litter N loss from 15.3 ± 3.1% to 25.9 ± 3.1% (by 69%). However, no consistent effect of litter type and litter treatment on C loss was observed. The non-additive litter-mixing effect is attributable to increased microbial nutrient use efficiency, which is illustrated by the interactive effect between litter treatment and cy/pre on decomposition. Moreover, the forest type interactively affected decomposition with cy/pre as ignoring litter treatment, where higher decay rate and litter N loss at bamboo expanded than non-expanded sites would be expected when both sites having comparable cy/ pre, but the reality is that bamboo expansion tends to have lower cy/pre. These results imply a trade-off between introduced litter and nutrient use efficiency of local microbial community to drive decomposition. 4. Our results demonstrate that litter decomposition affected by bamboo expansion was jointly modulated by litter-mixing and microbial composition, which sheds new insights on predicting changes in soil C and nutrient cycling induced by shifts in plant community composition.

Bamboo invasion alters Collembola community composition varying with life‐forms

“…This supports our result that bamboo invasion had a negative effect on surface‐dwelling Collembola. Besides, previous studies have confirmed soil pH increased after bamboo invasion was to increase 20,91,92 ; we further found the increased pH value was significantly related to the decreased abundance of epedaphic Collembola. Such a finding to some extent can be supported by da Silva et al 36 .…”

“…who found that pH was the main soil parameter that negatively influenced Collembola community. Taken together, bamboo invasion may cause negative shifts in Collembolan community through the regulation of physical and chemical properties of litter inputs and soil 46,51,85,91 . Because the semi‐field experiment is a simplified system, the results cannot be directly extrapolated to the field results.…”

“…Taken together, bamboo invasion may cause negative shifts in Collembolan community through the regulation of physical and chemical properties of litter inputs and soil. 46,51,85,91 Because the semi-field experiment is a simplified system, the results cannot be directly extrapolated to the field results. Further comprehensive field investigation are therefore needed to confirm such linkages.…”

Divergent assembly of soil microbial necromass from microbial and organic fertilizers in Chimonobambusa hejiangensis forest

“…This is likely because the soil organic nutrients provided by the microbial fertilizer treatments were stored in the soil macroaggregates ( Tisdall and Oades, 1982 ), while the soil microaggregates were unable to take up any more microbial residues, resulting in a net loss of microbial residues. After all, small soil aggregates are the primary source of microbial residue buildup ( Luan et al, 2021 ). Moreover, ACF was more effective on soil microbial living and necromass abundances than BMF either alone or in combination in our study ( Table 2 and Figure 3 ).…”

What Are the Effects of Moso Bamboo Expansion into Japanese Cedar on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: Altering the Community Composition Rather than the Diversity

“…Furthermore, biogeochemical cycles have also been considerably altered by bamboo expansion. For example, bamboo expansion could accelerate the biogeochemical Si cycle [ 11 ], stimulate litter decomposition [ 12 ], and increase soil available P [ 13 ].…”