Why does nitrogen addition to forest soils inhibit decomposition?

Bonner, Mark; Castro, David; Schneider, Andreas N.; Sundström, Görel; Hurry, Vaughan; Street, Nathaniel R.; Näsholm, Torgny

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.107570

Cited by 44 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Soil microbial degradation is largely responsible for belowground C decomposition and can be greatly affected by N deposition (Bonner et al, 2019; Zhou et al, 2017). N‐induced soil acidification, high osmotic pressure, and Al 3+ toxicity limit microbial growth and extracellular enzyme activities (Hogberg et al, 2006; Tian & Niu, 2015; Treseder, 2008), leading to decreases in microbial biomass C, microbial diversity, and the activities of oxidases (Jian et al, 2016; Wang et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Abiotic factors such as phosphorus (P) and N availability (Luo et al, 2020), precipitation (Chen et al, 2019), and fine root properties (Leifheit et al, 2014) are thought to affect the stability of soil aggregates and therefore C storage. Multiple soil microbial processes have been proposed to explain the changes in the POC and MOC pools in response to N addition (Averill & Waring, 2018; Bonner et al, 2019; Ye et al, 2018). The reported effects of N addition on soil aggregates have been inconsistent, probably because of differences in N treatment conditions and ecosystem types.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nitrogen addition stimulates soil aggregation and enhances carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems of China: A meta‐analysis

Hou

Guo

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

124

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China is experiencing a high level of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, which greatly affects the soil carbon (C) dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. Soil aggregation contributes to the stability of soil structure and to soil C sequestration.Although many studies have reported the effects of N enrichment on bulk soil C dynamics, the underlying mechanisms explaining how soil aggregates respond to N enrichment remain unclear. Here, we used a meta-analysis of data from 76N manipulation experiments in terrestrial ecosystems in China to assess the effects of N enrichment on soil aggregation and its sequestration of C. On average, N enrichment significantly increased the mean weight diameter of soil aggregates by 10%. The proportion of macroaggregates and silt-clay fraction were significantly increased (6%) and decreased (9%) by N enrichment, respectively. A greater response of macroaggregate C (+15%) than of bulk soil C (+5%) to N enrichment was detected across all ecosystems. However, N enrichment had minor effects on microaggregate C and silt-clay C. The magnitude of N enrichment effect on soil aggregation varied with ecosystem type and fertilization regime. Additionally, soil pH declined consistently and was correlated with soil aggregate C. Overall, our meta-analysis suggests that N enrichment promotes particulate organic C accumulation via increasing macroaggregate C and acidifying soils. In contrast, increases in soil aggregation could inhibit microbially mediated breakdown of soil organic matter, causing minimal change in mineral-associated organic C. Our findings highlight that atmospheric N deposition may enhance the formation of soil aggregates and their sequestration of C in terrestrial ecosystems in China.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen addition stimulates soil aggregation and enhances carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems of China: A meta‐analysis

Hou

Guo

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

124

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“…It is widely known that late-stage decomposition is generally inhibited by N addition (Berg, 1986; Janssens et al, 2010; Knorr, Frey, & Curtis, 2005) because of the following possible reasons, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive: (i) N addition causes the production of chemically recalcitrant materials (Berg and Matzner, 1997, but see Rinkes et al, 2016); (ii) N toxicity, high-salt conditions, or acidification caused by N addition negatively affects microbial activity; (iii) added N causes microbes to stop acquiring N from organic matter (Craine, Morrow, & Fierer, 2007); and (iv) microbial community changes can be caused by N addition (Bonner et al, 2019; Ramirez, Craine, & Fierer, 2012). Similarly, P addition may also suppress late-stage litter decomposition (DeForest, 2019; Mori et al, 2015), although these mechanisms are not well understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the tea bag method as a potential tool for detecting the effects of added nutrients and their interactions with climate on litter decomposition

Mori

Hashimoto

Sakai

2021

Preprint

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It is acknowledged that exogenous nutrient addition often stimulates early-stage litter decomposition in forests and late-stage decomposition is generally suppressed by nitrogen addition, whereas the interactive effects of nutrient addition and abiotic environmental factors, such as climate, on decomposition remain unclear. The tea bag method, which was developed to provide the decomposition rate constant k of early-stage decomposition and stabilization factor S of labile materials in the late stage, is a potentially useful tool for examining the impacts of nutrient addition on both early- and late-stage litter decomposition and their interactions with climate. At a long-term (38-year) continuous fertilization experimental site (an Abies sachalinensis Fr. Schmidt stand) in Hokkaido, Japan, we examined whether a standard tea bag method protocol was sufficiently sensitive to reveal any impacts of nutrient addition on early- and late-stage decomposition. In addition, we tested the interactive effects of nutrient addition and climate on litter decomposition. The short incubation period of the tea bag method (ca. 90 days) enabled us to obtain decomposition data from the same location at three different times in a year, i.e., early summer, midsummer, and winter, providing an opportunity to test interactive effects. We demonstrated that the decomposition rate of rooibos tea and the decomposition rate constant k of early-stage decomposition were clearly stimulated by fertilization in midsummer, but no impacts were detected in other seasons, probably because the relative importance of nutrient availability was elevated in midsummer, during which decomposition rates were less constrained by temperature and moisture. The green tea decomposition rate and stabilization factor S, an index related to late-stage decomposition, were unaffected by fertilization. This was probably because the tea bag method does not take into account lignin degradation, which is considered a key factor controlling late-stage litter decomposition. Overall, the present study (i) successfully determined the interactive effects of nutrient addition and climate factors on litter decomposition by making full use of the tea bag method, and (ii) the results suggest that the tea bag method can be a suitable tool for examining the direct effects of nutrient addition and their interactions with environmental factors on early-stage litter decomposition, but not those on late-stage decomposition.

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“…Salmon et al () noted that release of N in the first 5 years post thaw could exceed plant demand and has potential implications for N delivery and loss to surface waters in these ecosystems or redistribution to riparian zone vegetation or denitrification. It has been shown that fertilization can reduce peroxidase activity in fungi (Bonner et al , ) which is true for ECM as well (Bödeker et al , ): could release of N from permafrost thaw have the same effect on C cycling?…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%