Shifts in soil seed bank and plant community under nitrogen addition and mowing in an Inner Mongolian steppe

Miao, Renhui; Guo, Ming; Ma, Jun; Gao, Bowen; Alamusa,; Miao, Yuan; Yang, Zhongling; Liu, Yinzhan

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2020.105900

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…In our study, however, the percentage of total seed abundance represented by trees, shrubs, and herbs, did not significantly differ among the five N-addition treatments. This observation might be ascribed to the fact that the N-rich status of the experimental subtropical forest, and germination of seeds in the soil was not sensitive to external supplied N. N addition also failed to significantly affect the species richness of the seed bank, which was consistent with studies conducted in other regions [32,59].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Influence of Simulated Nitrogen Deposition on the Soil Seed Bank of a Subtropical Evergreen Broadleaved Forest

Wang

Huang

Guo

et al. 2021

Forests

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Increased nitrogen (N) deposition may have profound effects on forest ecosystems. However, information on the impacts of elevated N deposition on belowground soil seed bank in forests is lacking. In a field experiment, we added N at 50 and 25 kg N ha−1 year−1 to the canopy (CAN50 and CAN25) and to the understory (UAN50 and UAN25), to determine the effects of N deposition on soil seed bank structure and composition in a subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest. A total of 1545 seedlings belonging to 37 species emerged from the 10 cm-depth soil samples. After 6 years of N addition, soil seed bank density significantly increased at the depth of 0–10 cm under CAN50 treatment relative to the control. N addition did not significantly affect species richness, the Simpson index, Shannon–Wiener index, or Pielou index of the soil seed banks. Seed bank density and species richness were positively correlated with soil organic matter content. For the whole 0–10 cm soil layer, the percentage of total seed abundance and total species richness represented by tree species among the N-addition treatments was ≤9.3% and ≤16.1%, respectively. Soil seed bank composition was similar among UAN25, UAN50, and the control, but canopy N addition and especially CAN50 altered the species composition of the seed bank. Overall, our results indicate that artificial canopy N deposition at 50 kg N ha−1 year−1 but not understory N addition tends to promote seed storage and to change species composition in the soil seed bank. Because of the dominance of shrubs and herbs in the soil seed bank, the potential to regenerate tree species from the soil seed bank is limited in the subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Influence of Simulated Nitrogen Deposition on the Soil Seed Bank of a Subtropical Evergreen Broadleaved Forest

Wang

Huang

Guo

et al. 2021

Forests

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“…However, an inhibitory effect of nitrogen on seed germination is also reported in some species (Luna and Moreno 2009;Ponert et al 2015). Experiments have shown that nitrogen deposition did not alter the density or species composition of the seed bank, reduce seed number and species richness of the seed bank, or increase seed richness in an alpine meadow, arid grassland, and temperate steppe, respectively (Basto et al 2015;Zhang et al 2019;Miao et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of low temperature and nitrogen addition during cold stratification on seed germination of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis)

Song

Gao

2021

Can. J. For. Res.

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Pinus koraiensis seeds are primary dormant following dispersal, restricting natural regeneration of populations. The aim of this study was to determine the combined effects of increasing low temperature and nitrogen addition during cold stratification on seed germination. We stratified seeds at 0 oC, 5 oC and 10 oC for 3.5 months. At each cold stratification temperature, seeds were subjected to 0 (0 nitrogen), 0.08 (low nitrogen), 0.16 (medium nitrogen) and 0.25 mol L-1(high nitrogen) nitrate additions. Seed germination response was tested at 25/15 oC and 10/5 oC. Under 0 nitrogen and high nitrogen levels, increasing cold stratification temperature did not remarkedly affect seed germination at 25/15 oC, but significantly inhibited seed germination at 10/5 oC. At medium nitrogen level, seed germination at both 25/15 oC and 10/5 oC were all significantly decreased. At low nitrogen level, increasing cold stratification temperature significantly decreased germination percentage at 25/15 oC from 86.7% (0 oC) to 50.2% (10 oC), but did not markedly change seed germination percentage at 10/5 oC. We suggest that the effect of increasing cold stratification temperature on seed germination of Pinus koraiensis depends on both the level of nitrogen addition during cold stratification and subsequent incubation temperature after cold stratification.

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“…These suggest that N addition still facilitated seed germination N addition (Basto et al, 2015), in a semiarid temperate steppe after only one growing season of N addition (Zhong et al, 2019), and for native forbs in an annual arid grassland after 4-year fertilization (Eskelinen et al, 2021). Contrarily, others suggested that seed density is relatively stable under long-term N addition in alpine meadows (Zhang et al, 2019), in an arid shrubland (Schneider & Allen, 2012), and in a temperate steppe (Miao et al, 2020) For example, the pulsed precipitation could differentially affect plant growth of contrasting functional types (Niu et al, 2016), and may regulate their seed production and thus seed input. It is also worth noting that N addition in this study was one-time applied to soils before the seedling emergency experiment in contrast to chronic N input by atmospheric N deposition over years and decades; our N addition treatment may thus be more likely to stimulate short-term responses of seed bank germination instead of prolonged effects on soil seed bank composition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This has been documented in several N‐addition experiments, for example, in European acidic grasslands after 13‐year N addition (Basto et al, 2015), in a semiarid temperate steppe after only one growing season of N addition (Zhong et al, 2019), and for native forbs in an annual arid grassland after 4‐year fertilization (Eskelinen et al, 2021). Contrarily, others suggested that seed density is relatively stable under long‐term N addition in alpine meadows (Zhang et al, 2019), in an arid shrubland (Schneider & Allen, 2012), and in a temperate steppe (Miao et al, 2020). Inconsistent results from previous studies in various biogeophysical settings demonstrate the complexity and uncertainty of seed bank responses to N deposition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of nitrogen addition and watering on soil seed bank germination in a semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau of China

et al. 2022

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Elevated atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has caused many adverse effects on ecosystem services. However, the impacts of N deposition and its interaction with soil moisture on soil seed bank remain largely unknown in semiarid grasslands. Here, we quantified the effects of two soil water regimes (HW: watered to field capacity every day; LW: watered to field capacity every 2 days) and two types of N addition (NO 3 À -N and NH 4 + -N) with different levels on seed bank germination in two separate trials in April and July 2015 in a semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau, China.Results showed seed bank germination was remarkably inhibited under the LW soil water regime. Species composition of emerged seedlings significantly differed between the two soil water regimes. N addition promoted seed bank germination under the HW soil water regime. This promoting effect was less noticeable under the LW, while still significant in the high level of NH 4 + -N in the July trial. N addition did not alter the species composition of emerged seedlings. Overall, this study suggests that soil moisture controls soil seed bank germination and species composition of emerged seedlings. Soil N addition, for example, by N deposition, greatly promotes soil seed bank germination when soil moisture is high (e.g., during seed germination season in July), and still marginally facilitates seed germination under low soil moisture conditions (e.g., at the beginning of the growing season in April). N deposition may therefore deplete the grassland soil seed bank if other processes (e.g., seed input) remain unchanged.

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Shifts in soil seed bank and plant community under nitrogen addition and mowing in an Inner Mongolian steppe

Cited by 10 publications

References 63 publications

Influence of Simulated Nitrogen Deposition on the Soil Seed Bank of a Subtropical Evergreen Broadleaved Forest

Influence of Simulated Nitrogen Deposition on the Soil Seed Bank of a Subtropical Evergreen Broadleaved Forest

Effects of low temperature and nitrogen addition during cold stratification on seed germination of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis)

Effects of nitrogen addition and watering on soil seed bank germination in a semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau of China

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