外源氮输入对土壤有机碳矿化和凋落物分解的影响

目前,由人类活动造成的陆地生态系统氮输入量已经远远超过了其自身的生物固氮,外源氮输入的增多已经并将继续对土壤有机碳矿化和凋落物分解产生影响。本文分析了国内外有关氮输入增多对土壤有机碳矿化和凋落物分解的影响及其机理:由于研究点环境状况不同,凋落物性质的差异和分解阶段的不同等原因,氮输入对土壤有机碳矿化的结果主要表现为抑制或促进作用;对凋落物分解的影响表现为促进、无影响和抑制三种效果,有关其作用机理还有待进一步深入研究。着重指出对于作为大气CO2"汇"的沼泽湿地,氮输入的增多能够对其碳"汇"功能产生影响,因此进行氮输入对湿地土壤有机碳矿化和凋落物分解方面的研究,对于探讨湿地碳循环对外源氮输入的响应及其机理非常重要。     

Drivers of soil respiration and nitrogen mineralization change after litter management at a subtropical Chinese sweetgum tree plantation

Leaf litter decomposition transfers elements from litter to soils that are essential for regulating nutrient cycles in plantation ecosystems, especially carbon and nitrogen. However, soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in response to tree litter management remains insufficiently researched. We conducted a one-year field experiment at a fast-growing sweetgum tree plantation to evaluate the effects of leaf litter management on soil available nutrients, respiration rate and nitrogen mineralization rate. Three leaf litter treatments were applied, which were: (1) natural input (control); (2) double input and (3) non-input. It was found that the double input treatment increased soil inorganic nitrogen and microbial biomass nitrogen, but had little effect on microbial biomass carbon, dissolved organic carbon or dissolved organic nitrogen compared with natural input. The non-input treatment caused dissolved organic carbon to decrease compared with natural input. The respiration rate increased in the double input treatment, with a positive priming effect observed. Soil net ammonification, nitrification and mineralization rates also increased in the double input treatment in specific seasons. Meanwhile, positive linear relationships between respiration rate and all nitrogen transformation rates were observed for all treatments. Soil temperature was found to be an important prediction factor for predicting the respiration rate and mineralization as seasonal variations, but not for litter-induced fluctuations. Soil water content and mineral nitrogen were the primary drivers of litter-induced change to the respiration rate, whereas mineral nitrogen and microbial biomass were primary drivers of mineralization change. These results suggest that changes in soil nitrogen mineralization rate are strongly associated with the soil respiratory process, resulting in a potentially strong plant–soil feedback mechanism.     

Predicting soil fauna effect on plant litter decomposition by using boosted regression trees

Extensive studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of soil fauna on plant litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. However, scholars have reported inconsistent results on the direction and magnitude of the soil fauna effect. We present a global synthesis of 75 papers that cover 197 plant species with 543 cases of plant litter decomposition experiments and soil fauna effects on plant litter decomposition. By using a boosted regression tree model (BRT), we aim to provide a synthesis of existing data that comprehensively and quantitatively evaluates how climate, plant litter quality, and study methods interact with soil fauna in affecting plant litter decomposition. Global average effect size (ES) is −0.426, which indicates a 35% lower decomposition rate when soil fauna is excluded by physical or chemical exclusion techniques. The final model explains 32.3% of the variation in ES. The predictors that substantially account for the explained variation include mean annual temperature (MAT, 37.1%), mean annual precipitation (MAP, 9.7%), phosphorus (12.4%), nitrogen (5.6%), and lignin content (5.5%). By contrast, the heterogeneity of the study duration and soil fauna exclusion technique have negligible contributions (each <5%). Log effect size strongly decreases with both MAT and MAP. Plant litters with high quality have stronger soil fauna effect because the log effect size is negatively related to nitrogen and phosphorus content and positively related to lignin content. Our analysis demonstrates the critical role of climate and plant litter quality in determining the soil fauna effect on plant litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the large unexplained variation (67.7%) in ES in the BRT model indicates undiscovered mechanisms underlying the soil fauna effect in our analysis. We call for further studies on this topic in the future.     

Plant species richness leaves a legacy of enhanced root litter-induced decomposition in soil

Increasing plant species richness generally enhances plant biomass production, which may enhance accumulation of carbon (C) in soil. However, the net change in soil C also depends on the effect of plant diversity on C loss through decomposition of organic matter. Plant diversity can affect organic matter decomposition via changes in litter species diversity and composition, and via alteration of abiotic and/or biotic attributes of the soil (soil legacy effect). Previous studies examined the two effects on decomposition rates separately, and do therefore not elucidate the relative importance of the two effects, and their potential interaction. Here we separated the effects of litter mixing and litter identity from the soil legacy effect by conducting a factorial laboratory experiment where two fresh single root litters and their mixture were mixed with soils previously cultivated with single plant species or mixtures of two or four species. We found no evidence for litter-mixing effects. In contrast, root litter-induced CO₂ production was greater in soils from high diversity plots than in soils from monocultures, regardless of the type of root litter added. Soil microbial PLFA biomass and composition at the onset of the experiment was unaffected by plant species richness, whereas soil potential nitrogen (N) mineralization rate increased with plant species richness. Our results indicate that the soil legacy effect may be explained by changes in soil N availability. There was no effect of plant species richness on decomposition of a recalcitrant substrate (compost). This suggests that the soil legacy effect predominantly acted on the decomposition of labile organic matter. We thus demonstrated that plant species richness enhances root litter-induced soil respiration via a soil legacy effect but not via a litter-mixing effect. This implies that the positive impacts of species richness on soil C sequestration may be weakened by accelerated organic matter decomposition.     

Impact of microarthropod biomass on the composition of the soil fauna community and ecosystem processes

The effect of soil organisms on ecosystem processes strongly depends on the composition of the overall community. Community composition however undergoes constant shifts due to pronounced spatio-temporal patterns in biomass and abundance of individual fauna groups. On this background the present experiment aimed to assess the potential impacts of shifts in the biomass of a dominant soil fauna group (microarthropods) on total community composition and on ecosystem processes mediated by fauna or microbes (e.g. decomposition, nitrogen mineralization).Microcosms, filled with spruce litter, hosted soil fauna communities that either contained ambient microarthropod biomass (control) or two elevated levels of microarthropod biomass (1.5 and 2 fold increase), while initial microbial biomass and that of other faunal groups remained unaltered. After an incubation period of 2 months, the biomass of microorganisms and fauna groups as well as ecosystem process variables were determined.The increase in microarthropod biomass at the investigated levels induced changes in the faunal community; mainly via negative or positive feeding interactions between microarthropods and the affected animal groups (Enchytraeidae, Nematoda). The abundance and activity of microorganisms at lower trophic levels however remained unaffected by these alterations; buffering the effect of shifts in the community structure on ecosystem processes.     

Drivers of microbial respiration and net N mineralization at the continental scale

The dominant pools of C and N in the terrestrial biosphere are in soils, and understanding what factors control the rates at which these pools cycle is essential in understanding soil CO₂ production and N availability. Many previous studies have examined large scale patterns in decomposition of C and N in plant litter and organic soils, but few have done so in mineral soils, and fewer have looked beyond ecosystem specific, regional, or gradient-specific drivers. In this study, we examined the rates of microbial respiration and net N mineralization in 84 distinct mineral soils in static laboratory incubations. We examined patterns in C and N pool sizes, microbial biomass, and process rates by vegetation type (grassland, shrubland, coniferous forest, and deciduous/broadleaf forest). We also modeled microbial respiration and net N mineralization in relation to soil and site characteristics using structural equation modeling to identify potential process drivers across soils. While we did not explicitly investigate the influence of soil organic matter quality, microbial community composition, or clay mineralogy on microbial process rates in this study, our models allow us to put boundaries on the unique explanatory power these characteristics could potentially provide in predicting respiration and net N mineralization. Mean annual temperature and precipitation, soil C concentration, microbial biomass, and clay content predicted 78% of the variance in microbial respiration, with 61% explained by microbial biomass alone. For net N mineralization, only 33% of the variance was explained, with mean annual precipitation, soil C and N concentration, and clay content as the potential drivers. We suggest that the high R² for respiration suggests that soil organic matter quality, microbial community composition, and clay mineralogy explain at most 22% of the variance in respiration, while they could explain up to 67% of the variance in net N mineralization.     

Legacies of plant litter on carbon and nitrogen dynamics and the role of the soil community

There is increasing awareness of the importance of ecological legacies in contemporary ecosystem processes. Decomposition is regulated by a set of interacting hierarchically organized factors. As spatial and temporal scales decrease, decomposition is largely dependent on the quality of resources and the decomposer community, but whether and how these factors manifest via historical legacy effects is not well understood. We tested whether the history of plant litter inputs had short-term legacy effects on contemporary litter and soil organic matter carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) mineralization. Using a field/laboratory microcosm approach, we exposed soils to two litters of contrasting chemistry and, after adding fresh substrates, we monitored C and N dynamics. In a parallel experiment, we manipulated the soil community to reduce litter-history impacts on its composition and size to investigate whether the soil community could be an important contributor to legacy effects We found strong short-term litter legacy effects on contemporary litter and soil N mineralization, the duration of which was dependent on the contemporary substrate for decomposition. These strong effects were not consistent with the home field advantage phenomenon, as exposure to a specific litter did not favor the decomposition of the same litter when it was applied as a contemporary substrate. Reduction of the litter-history effects on soil biota decreased the impact of litter history on N immobilization, suggesting that plant litter impacts on the soil community may be an important component of plant litter legacies on N decomposition. In contrast to N, litter legacies appeared to be much less important for C decomposition, suggesting that legacy effects might uncouple contemporary C and N dynamics.     

Soil fauna feeding activity in temperate grassland soils increases with legume and grass species richness

Edaphic fauna contributes to important ecosystem functions in grassland soils such as decomposition and nutrient mineralization. Since this functional role is likely to be altered by global change and associated shifts in plant communities, a thorough understanding of large scale drivers on below-ground processes independent of regional differences in soil type or climate is essential. We investigated the relationship between abiotic (soil properties, management practices) and biotic (plant functional group composition, vegetation characteristics, soil fauna abundance) predictors and feeding activity of soil fauna after accounting for sample year and study region. Our study was carried out over a period of two consecutive years in 92 agricultural grasslands in three regions of Germany, spanning a latitudinal gradient of more than 500 km. A structural equation model suggests that feeding activity of soil fauna as measured by the bait-lamina test was positively related to legume and grass species richness in both years. Most probably, a diverse vegetation promotes feeding activity of soil fauna via alterations of both microclimate and resource availability. Feeding activity of soil fauna also increased with earthworm biomass via a pathway over Collembola abundance. The effect of earthworms on the feeding activity in soil may be attributed to their important role as ecosystem engineers. As no additional effects of agricultural management such as fertilization, livestock density or number of cuts on bait consumption were observed, our results suggest that the positive effect of legume and grass species richness on the feeding activity in soil fauna is a general one that will not be overruled by regional differences in management or environmental conditions. We thus suggest that agri-environment schemes aiming at the protection of belowground activity and associated ecosystem functions in temperate grasslands may generally focus on maintaining plant diversity, especially with regard to the potential effects of climate change on future vegetation structure.     

Changes in soil organic matter and net nitrogen mineralization in heathland soils,after removal,addition or replacement of litter from Erica tetralix or Molinia caerulea

Summary The effects of different litter input rates and of different types of litter on soil organic matter accumulation and net N mineralization were investigated in plant communities dominated by Erica tetralix L. or Molinia caerulea (L.) Moench. Plots in which the litter on the soil had repeatedly been removed were compared with plots in the same plant community in which litter had been added to the soil. In another treatment, litter was removed and replaced by litter from the other plant community. Net N mineralization was measured in situ after 5 years. Less soil organic matter and soil N was found in plots in which litter had been removed, compared with control plots, or plots to which litter had been added, but these differences were significant for the Erica sp. soils only. Plots in which litter had been replaced and control plots did not differ significantly in the amount of soil organic matter. However, in both plant communities, the differences agreed with the faster decomposition rate of Molinia sp. litter compared with Erica sp. litter. The gravimetric soil moisture content was correlated positively with the amount of soil organic matter, both in the Erica sp. soils and the Molinia sp. soils. Net N mineralization rates (g N m^-2) differed significantly between treatments for Erica sp. soils but no for Molinia sp. soils. For Erica sp. soils, net N mineralization rates increased with increasing amounts of soil organic matter and soil N. Replacing the litter with Molinia sp. litter (which differs in chemical composition) had no clear additional effect on the net N mineralization rate.     

土壤动物与土壤健康

土壤动物与土壤健康息息相关,土壤动物多样性和功能能够灵敏反映人类活动和气候变化引起的土壤扰动。同时,土壤动物还通过与生物和非生物组分间的相互作用对地上生态系统产生反馈作用。当前土壤动物在土壤健康评价体系中的应用相对较少,主要集中在土壤线虫、节肢动物和蚯蚓等类群,仍缺乏基于土壤动物的系统性评价指标。因此,本文围绕土壤动物在指示土壤健康方面的潜力,系统总结了现有基于土壤动物的土壤健康评价指标,强调未来应建立和完善土壤动物基因组信息数据库,挖掘土壤动物的功能性状,加强土壤食物网结构和生态功能的研究,建立集成土壤动物物种多样性、功能性状和土壤食物网的指标体系,从而促进土壤健康和生态系统的可持续发展。