Non-linear response of microbial activity across a gradient of nitrogen addition to a soil from the Gurbantunggut Desert, northwestern China

Zhou, Xiaobing; Zhang, Yuan Ming; Downing, Alison

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.05.012

Cited by 100 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…N addition can lead to soil acidification and have negative impacts on soil microbial growth and activities Tian et al, 2016). In this study, the decreased soil pH may cause toxicity effects on microbial activity (Treseder, 2008;Zhou et al, 2012) and thus reduces microbial respiration after 2 years of N addition.…”

Section: Nitrogen Saturation Responses Of Ecosystem C Fluxes and The mentioning

confidence: 83%

Initial shifts in nitrogen impact on ecosystem carbon fluxes in an alpine meadow: patterns and causes

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Increases in nitrogen (N) deposition can greatly stimulate ecosystem net carbon (C) sequestration through positive N-induced effects on plant productivity. However, how net ecosystem CO 2 exchange (NEE) and its components respond to different N addition rates remains unclear. Using an N addition gradient experiment (six levels: 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 gN m −2 yr −1 ) in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, we explored the responses of different ecosystem C fluxes to an N addition gradient and revealed mechanisms underlying the dynamic responses. Results showed that NEE, ecosystem respiration (ER), and gross ecosystem production (GEP) all increased linearly with N addition rates in the first year of treatment but shifted to N saturation responses in the second year with the highest NEE (−7.77 ± 0.48 µmol m −2 s −1 ) occurring under an N addition rate of 8 gN m −2 yr −1 . The saturation responses of NEE and GEP were caused by N-induced accumulation of standing litter, which limited light availability for plant growth under high N addition. The saturation response of ER was mainly due to an N-induced saturation response of aboveground plant respiration and decreasing soil microbial respiration along the N addition gradient, while decreases in soil microbial respiration under high N addition were caused by N-induced reductions in soil pH. We also found that various components of ER, including aboveground plant respiration, soil respiration, root respiration, and microbial respiration, responded differentially to the N addition gradient. These results reveal temporal dynamics of N impacts and the rapid shift in ecosystem C fluxes from N limitation to N saturation. Our findings bring evidence of short-term initial shifts in responses of ecosystem C fluxes to increases in N deposition, which should be considered when predicting long-term changes in ecosystem net C sequestration.

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Section: Nitrogen Saturation Responses Of Ecosystem C Fluxes and The mentioning

confidence: 83%

Initial shifts in nitrogen impact on ecosystem carbon fluxes in an alpine meadow: patterns and causes

et al. 2017

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“…Their activities can indicate microbial activity, decay rates, and availability of substrates for microbial or plant uptake (Garcia-Gil et al, 2000;Lagomarsino et al, 2009). Activities of β-1,4-glucosidase (βG), β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), and acid (alkaline) phosphatase (AP) control the release of biologically available nutrients from organic compounds of carbon (C), N, and P (Sinsabaugh et al, 2008(Sinsabaugh et al, , 2010Zhou et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may be attributed to an increase in the production of crop residue, which in turn may stimulate the activities of relevant soil enzymes (Bhattacharyya et al, 2005). However, mineral fertilizer may decrease the C, N, and P-related hydrolytic enzyme activities (DeForest et al, 2012;Fan et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2012), perhaps because enzymes are not required by microbes to acquire N and P nutrients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of absolute and specific soil enzyme activities to long term additions of organic and mineral fertilizer

Zhang

Dong

Dai

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

171

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• Acid phosphatase activity was negatively correlated with soil pH and P content.• βG, NAG, and LAP activities were positively correlated with SOC and Total N contents.• The four enzyme activities were significantly higher under manure than NPK fertilizer.• Enzyme activities were positively correlated with actinomycete and G + bacterium.• We recommend reducing P fertilizer application rates to subtropical paddy soils. G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C Ta b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Long-term phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) applications may seriously affect soil microbial activity. A long-term field fertilizer application trial was established on reddish paddy soils in the subtropical region of southern China in 1998. We assessed the effects of swine manure and seven different rates or ratios of NPK fertilizer treatments on (1) the absolute and specific enzyme activities per unit of soil organic carbon (SOC) or microbial biomass carbon (MBC) involved in C, N, and P transformations and (2) their relationships with soil environmental factors and soil microbial community structures. The results showed that manure applications led to increases in the absolute and specific activities of soil β-1,4-glucosidase(βG), β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP). The absolute and specific acid phosphatase (AP) activities decreased as mineral P fertilizer application rates and ratios increased. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that there were negative correlations between absolute and specific AP activities, pH, and total P contents, while there were positive correlations between soil absolute and specific βG, NAG, and LAP enzyme activities, and SOC and total N contents. RDA showed that the contents of actinomycete and Gram-positive bacterium PLFA biomarkers are more closely related to the absolute and specific enzyme activities than the other PLFA biomarkers (P b 0.01). Our results suggest that both the absolute and specific enzyme activities could be used as sensitive soil quality indicators that provide useful linkages with the microbial community structures and environmental factors. To maintain microbial activity and to minimize environmental impacts, P should be applied as a combination of inorganic and organic forms, and total P fertilizer application rates to subtropical paddy soils should not exceed 44 kg P ha −1 year −1 .

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“…In some desert ecosystems, positive responses of soil enzyme activity, respiration, and plant growth have been observed in response to relatively low N deposition (Zhang et al 2008a;Zhou et al 2012). For some lichen species in Mediterranean shrublands, positive effects of low N addition on physiological properties were found (Ochoa-Hueso and Manrique 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergence in physiological responses between cyanobacterial and lichen crusts to a gradient of simulated nitrogen deposition

2015

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Background and aims Nitrogen (N) deposition in arid lands is known to be increasing. However, N deposition gradients have unclear effects on physiological characteristics of biocrusts. This study tested if physiological characteristics are stimulated by low levels of N deposition and reduced by high levels of N deposition. Methods We simulated N deposition at various rates to plots of cyanobacterial and lichen biocrusts in the Gurbantunggut Desert and measured indicators of growth and stress. Results In cyanobacterial crusts, most evidence suggests that biomass and growth are unaffected by lower levels of N but suppressed at the highest level. Biomass and growth of lichen crusts were less sensitive to N addition but, in the case of actual photochemical efficiency, were also suppressed at the highest N addition rate. Most osmotic adjustment substances of cyanobacterial and lichen crusts did not show significant responses after N addition. In the two crusts, minor increase in antioxidative enzyme activity was found in some N addition rates but no similar trends between the crust types were observed. Conclusions Physiological performance of cyanobacterial crusts was more sensitive to high levels of N addition than that of lichen crusts. Increasing N deposition might greatly affect cyanobacterial crusts before lichen crusts.

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Non-linear response of microbial activity across a gradient of nitrogen addition to a soil from the Gurbantunggut Desert, northwestern China

Cited by 100 publications

References 61 publications

Initial shifts in nitrogen impact on ecosystem carbon fluxes in an alpine meadow: patterns and causes

Initial shifts in nitrogen impact on ecosystem carbon fluxes in an alpine meadow: patterns and causes

Responses of absolute and specific soil enzyme activities to long term additions of organic and mineral fertilizer

Divergence in physiological responses between cyanobacterial and lichen crusts to a gradient of simulated nitrogen deposition

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