人工管理措施改善了我国西部高寒沙化草甸土壤水分和碳、氮、磷含量

Regeneration of degraded grassland ecosystems is a significant issue in restoration ecology globally. To understand the effects of artificial management measures on alpine meadows, we surveyed topsoil properties including moisture, organic carbon (SOC), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) contents five years after fencing and fencing + reseeding management practices in a sandy meadow in the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, northwestern China. Both the fencing and fencing + reseeding management practices significantly increased soil moisture storage, SOC, total N, available N, total P, and available P, as compared to the unmanaged control. Fencing plus reseeding was more effective than fencing alone for improving soil C, N, and P contents. These suggested that rehabilitation by reseeding and fencing generally had favorable effects on the soil properties in degraded sandy alpine meadows, and was an effective approach for restoration of degraded meadow ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.     

中国土壤氮含量、空间格局及其环境控制

Soil holds the largest nitrogen （N） pool in terrestrial ecosystems, but estimates of soil N stock remain controversial. Storage and spatial distribution of soil N in China were estimated and the relationships between soil N density and environmental factors were explored using data from China＇s Second National Soil Survey and field investigation in northwest China and the Tibetan Plateau. China＇s soil N storage at a depth of one meter was estimated at 7.4 Pg, with an average density of 0.84 kg m^-2. Soil N density appeared to be high in southwest and northeast China and low in the middle areas of the country. Soil N density increased from the arid to semi-arid zone in northern China, and decreased from cold-temperate to tropical zone in the eastern part of the country. An analysis of general linear model suggested that climate and vegetation determined the spatial pattern of soil N density for natural vegetation, which explained 75.4% of the total variance.     

鄂尔多斯高原脉冲降雨对油蒿灌丛群落土壤碳排放的影响

Precipitation is the major driver of ecosystem functions and processes in semiarid and arid regions. In such water-limited ecosystems, pulsed water inputs directly control the belowground processes through a series of soil drying and rewetting cycles. To investigate the effects of sporadic addition of water on soil CO₂ efflux, an artificial precipitation event (3 mm) was applied to a desert shrub ecosystem in the Mu Us Sand Land of the Ordos Plateau in China. Soil respiration rate increased 2.8-4.1 times immediately after adding water in the field, and then it returned to background level within 48 h. During the experiment, soil CO₂ production was between 2 047.0 and 7 383.0 mg m^-2. In the shrubland, soil respiration responses showed spatial variations, having stronger pulse effects beneath the shrubs than in the interplant spaces. The spatial variation of the soil respiration responses was closely related with the heterogeneity of soil substrate availability. Apart from precipitation, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen pool were also identified as determinants of soil CO₂ loss in desert ecosystems.     

中国北方温带草原土壤微生物对气温变暖与添加氮素的响应特征

The responses of soil microbes to global warming and nitrogen enrichment can profoundly affect terrestrial ecosystem functions and the ecosystem feedbacks to climate change. However, the interactive effect of warming and nitrogen enrichment on soil microbial community is unclear. In this study, individual and interactive effects of experimental warming and nitrogen addition on the soil microbial community were investigated in a long-term field experiment in a temperate steppe of northern China. The field experiment started in 2006 and soils were sampled in 2010 and analyzed for phospholipid fatty acids to characterize the soil microbial communities. Some soil chemical properties were also determined. Five-year experimental warming significantly increased soil total microbial biomass and the proportion of Gram-negative bacteria in the soils. Long-term nitrogen addition decreased soil microbial biomass at the 0-10 cm soil depth and the relative abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the soils. Little interactive effect on soil microbes was detected when experimental warming and nitrogen addition were combined. Soil microbial biomass positively correlated with soil total C and N, but basically did not relate to the soil C/N ratio and pH. Our results suggest that future global warming or nitrogen enrichment may significantly change the soil microbial communities in the temperate steppes in northern China.     

青藏高原高寒草地土壤pH值的大尺度格局及其与气候、土壤因子的关系

Soil acidity is an important parameter that can regulate ecosystem structure and function. However, a quantitative understanding of the relationships between soil pH and environmental factors remains unavailable. In this study, relationships of soil pH with both climatic and edaphic factors in alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau, China were quantified using data obtained from a regional soil survey during 2001-2004. Our results showed that soil pH decreased along the gradient of both mean annual temperature and precipitation. Likewise, soil pH exhibited consistent negative correlations with soil moisture and silt content. However, soil organic and inorganic carbon contents played opposite roles in shaping patterns of soil pH： the accumulation of soil organic matter led to higher soil acidity, while the existence of soil inorganic matter was favorable for maintaining higher soil alkalinity. The variation partitioning analysis indicated that the combination of climatic and edaphic variables explained 74.3% of the variation in soil acidity. These results suggest that soil pH could be predicted from routinely-measured variables, allowing a robust pedotransfer function to be developed. The pedotransfer function may facilitate land surface models to generate more reliable predictions on ecosystem structure and function around the world.     

草甸草原模拟氮沉降抑制甲烷吸收、促进氧化亚氮排放

Few studies are conducted to quantify the effects of enhanced N deposition on soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emission and methane (CH4) uptake in the meadow steppe of Inner Mongolia,China.A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess the effects of nitrogen (N) deposition rates (0,10,and 20 kg N ha-1 year-1 as (NH4)2SO4) on soil N2O and CH4 fluxes.The seasonal and diurnal variations of soil N2O and CH4 fluxes were determined using the static chamber-gas chromatography method during the two growing seasons of 2008 and 2009.Soil temperature,moisture and mineral N (NH4+-N and NO3--N) concentration were simultaneously measured.Results showed that low level of (NH4)2SO4 (10 kg N ha-1 year-1) did not significantly affect soil CH4 and N2O fluxes and other variables.High level of (NH4)2SO4 (20 kg N ha-1 year-1) significantly increased soil NO3--N concentration by 24.1％ to 35.6％,decreased soil CH4 uptake by an average of 20.1％,and significantly promoted soil N2O emission by an average of 98.2％.Soil N2O emission responded more strongly to the added N compared to CH4 uptake.However,soil CH4 fluxes were mainly driven by soil moisture,followed by soil NO3--N concentration.Soil N2O fluxes were mainly driven by soil temperature,followed by soil moisture.Soil inorganic N availability was a key integrator of soil CH4 uptake and N2O emission.These results suggest that the changes of availability of inorganic N induced by the increased N deposition in soil may affect the CH4 and N2O fluxes in the cold semi-arid meadow steppe over the short term.     

模拟增温和降水调控对土壤微生物碳氮、群落基质利用模式及群落组成的短期影响

Soil microorganisms are major drivers of soil carbon(C) cycling;however,the response of these microorganisms to climate change remains unclear.In the present study,we investigated how 18 months of multifactor climate treatments(warmed air temperature by 3℃ and decreased or increased precipitation manipulation by 30%) affected soil microbial biomass C and nitrogen(N),community substrate utilization patterns,and community composition.Decreased and increased precipitation significantly reduced microbial biomass C by 13.5% and 24.9% and microbial biomass N by 22.9% and 17.6% in unwarmed plots,respectively(P0.01).Warming enhanced community substrate utilization by 89.8%,20.4%,and 141.4% in the natural,decreased,and increased precipitation plots,respectively.Particularly,warming significantly enhanced the utilization of amine and carboxylic acid substrates among all precipitation manipulation plots.Compared with the natural air temperature with natural precipitation treatment,other treatments affected fungal community richness by -0.9% to 33.6% and reduced the relative abundance of the dominant bacterial and fungal groups by 0.5% to 6.8% and 4.3% to 10.7%,respectively.The warming and/or precipitation manipulation treatments significantly altered Zygomycota abundance(P0.05).Our results indicate that climate change drivers and their interactions may cause changes in soil microbial biomass C and N,community substrate utilization patterns,and community composition,particularly for the fungal community,and shifts in the microorganism community may further shape the ecosystems function.     

引入分维理论评价土壤对优势流的敏感性

Food dye Brilliant Blue was introduced as the tracer in a dye-tracing experiment to obtain dye profile patterns of sandy loam soil,aeolian sandy soil,percolating paddy soil and permeable paddy soil.The dyed soil profiles were then photographed and the photos were scanned into a computer.Edited with certain software,only the dyed areas were left on the profile photos,which indicted the preferential flow paths for water and solute transport.Fractal dimensions of the dye patterns were calculated according to Arnold‘s function.Soil particle size distribution was analyzed by pipette method.The regression analysis showed that there was significant relationship between soil clay content and fractal dimension D of the dye pattern of soil profile.Based on the experiment results,the possibility of introducing fractal dimension to estimation of soil sensitivity to preferential flow is discussed.     

内蒙古草原碳、氮储量:气候与土壤质地的关系

Understanding the spatial variability of soil carbon(C) storage and its relationship with climate and soil texture is critical for developing regional C models and for predicting the potential impact of climate change on soil C storage. On the basis of soil data from a transect across the Inner Mongolian grasslands, we determined the quantitative relationships of C and nitrogen(N) in bulk soil and particle-size fractions(sand, silt, and clay) with climate and soil texture to evaluate the major factors controlling soil C and N storage and to predict the effect of climate changes on soil C and N storage. The contents of C and N in the bulk soil and the different fractions in the 0–20 and 20–40 cm soil layers were positively correlated with the mean annual precipitation(MAP) and negatively correlated with the mean annual temperature(MAT). The responses of C storage in the soil and particle-size fractions to MAP and MAT were more sensitive in the 0–20 cm than in the 20–40 cm soil layer. Although MAP and MAT were both important factors influencing soil C storage, the models that include only MAP could well explain the variation in soil C storage in the Inner Mongolian grasslands. Because of the high correlation between MAP and MAT in the region, the models including MAT did not significantly enhance the model precision. Moreover, the contribution of the fine fraction(silt and clay) to the variation in soil C storage was rather small because of the very low fine fraction content in the Inner Mongolian grasslands.     

基于1:50 000土壤数据库并结合PKB方法估算中国浙江省土壤有机碳储量的研究

Soil organic carbon(SOC) is an important component of farming systems and global carbon cycle. Accurately estimating SOC stock is of great importance for assessing soil productivity and modeling global climate change. A newly built 1:50 000 soil database of Zhejiang Province containing 2 154 geo-referenced soil profiles and a pedological professional knowledge-based(PKB) method were used to estimate SOC stock up to a depth of 100 cm for the Province. The spatial patterns of SOC stocks stratified by soil types,watershed(buffer analysis), topographical factors, and land use types were identified. Results showed that the soils in Zhejiang covered an area of 100 740 km2 with a total SOC stock of 831.49 × 106 t and a mean SOC density of 8.25 kg m-2, excluding water and urban areas. In terms of soil types, red soils had the highest SOC stock(259.10 × 106t), whereas mountain meadow soils contained the lowest(0.15 × 106t). In terms of SOC densities, the lowest value(5.11 kg m-2) was found in skel soils, whereas the highest value(45.30 kg m-2) was observed in mountain meadow soils. Yellow soils, as a dominant soil group, determined the SOC densities of different buffer zones in Qiantang River watershed because of their large area percentage and wide variation of SOC density values.The area percentages of various soil groups significantly varied with increasing elevation or slope when overlaid with digital elevation model data, thus influencing the SOC densities. The highest SOC density was observed under grassland, whereas the lowest SOC density was identified under unutilized land. The map of SOC density(0–100 cm depth) and the spatial patterns of SOC stocks in the Province would be helpful for relevant agencies and communities in Zhejiang Province, China.     

Grassland conversion along a climate gradient in northwest China: Implications for soil carbon and nutrients

Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and nutrient availability are key indicators of soil quality, and both can be influenced by land-use change. However, it is still unclear whether the impact of land-use change on SOC and nutrient stocks differs between ecoregions. Grasslands near the northeast border of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) occur across several ecoregions that have recently been subjected to substantial land-use change. Based on long-term land-use history, we conducted a field investigation comparing soil C and nutrient stocks between natural grassland (NGL) and three types of converted grassland (agricultural grassland, AGL; farmland, FL; and abandoned farmland, AFL) in three ecoregions along a climate gradient: alpine meadow, temperate steppe and temperate desert. Compared with NGL, soil C stocks in converted grasslands were 22%–30% lower in the alpine meadow, but 60–82% higher in the temperate steppe and 6%–76% higher in the temperate desert. Converted grasslands also contained higher stocks of available nitrogen and phosphorus than NGL in the temperate steppe and desert. Soils (0–40 cm) in NGL contained 14.8 ± 0.1 kg C m⁻² in alpine meadow, 6.7 ± 0.6 kg C m⁻² in temperate steppe and 1.7 ± 0.3 kg C m⁻² in temperate desert. Together, our results indicate that the responses of soil C and nutrients to grassland conversion differed between ecoregions. Thus, to optimize soil C sequestration rates and overall soil quality, we suggest that land-use policies in this area should take into account local environmental conditions.     

Temperature sensitivity of gross N transformation rates in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Purpose

Alpine ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are sensitive to global climatic changes. However, the effects of temperature change resulting from global warming or seasonal variation on soil N availability in those ecosystems are largely unknown.

Materials and methods

We therefore conducted a ¹⁵N tracing study to investigate the effects of various temperatures (5–35 °C) on soil gross N transformation rates in an alpine meadow (AM) soil on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. A natural secondary coniferous forest (CF) soil from the subtropical region was chosen as a reference to compare the temperature sensitivity of soil gross N transformation rates between alpine meadow and coniferous forest.

Results and discussion

Our results showed that increasing temperature increased gross N mineralization and NH₄ ⁺ immobilization rates and overall enhanced N availability for plants in both soils. However, both rates in the CF soil were less sensitive to a temperature change from 5 to 15 °C compared to the AM soil. In both soils, different N retention mechanisms could have been operating with respect to changing temperatures in the different climatic regions. In the CF soil, the absence of NO₃ ^? production at all incubation temperatures suggests that in the subtropical soil which is characterized by high rainfall, an increase in N availability due to increasing temperature could be completely retained in soils. In contrast, the AM soil may be vulnerable to N losses with respect to temperature changes, in particular at 35 °C, in which higher nitrification rates were coupled with lower NH₄ ⁺ and NO₃ ^? immobilization rates.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that increased soil temperature arising from global warming and seasonal variations will most likely enhance soil N availability for plants and probably increase the risk of N losses in the alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

     

黄土高原草地土壤有机碳分布及其影响因素

以黄土高原水平方向的4种主要草地类型为研究对象,分析了不同草地类型土壤有机碳(SOC)的分布特征及其影响因素。结果表明:土壤有机碳含量随土壤深度的增加而降低,其中0～20 cm土壤有机碳含量与20～40、40～60、60～80、80～100 cm有机碳含量差异显著。4种草地类型土壤有机碳含量分布规律:0～40 cm为高山草甸草原>典型草原>森林草原>荒漠草原,40～100 cm为高山草甸草原>森林草原>典型草原>荒漠草原;4种草地类型中各土层土壤有机碳含量最高的是高寒草甸,其空间变异最大,最小的是荒漠草原,其变异最小。黄土高原上高寒草甸草原、森林草原、典型草原土壤有机碳均集中分布在浅表层0～40 cm,分别占0～100 cm的71%、50%、46%,而荒漠草原各层分布较均匀;黄土高原土壤有机碳含量与海拔高度呈显著正相关(p<0.01);0～40 cm土壤有机碳含量与土壤含水量呈显著正相关(p<0.01);与全氮有极显著的正相关性,相关系数达0.984 3;与年均温呈极显著负相关(p<0.01),几种草地类型100 cm深土壤有机碳含量与年降水量无明显相关。     

Climate and vegetation determine soil organic matter status in an alpine inner-tropical soil catena in the Fan Si Pan Mountain,Vietnam

High mountain ecosystems are generally considered to be particularly sensitive to global climate change. Studies of pedogenesis associated with altitudinal variation, vegetation type and soil carbon content on the same type of parent rock are very limited in inter-tropical mountain areas. Therefore the altitudinal variation of soil pedogenesis through 9 selected profiles from the altitude of 1340 m to 3143 m asl, the summit of the Fan Si Pan Mountain, in the north of Vietnam was examined. Fan Si Pan Mountain is composed of a homogenous alkaline granite rock and is the highest point of the Inter-tropical Continental Asia. The Soil Organic Matter properties (C, N, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N contents) of the different grain-size fractions of the topsoil of 4 selected profiles corresponding to different ecosystems were also examined.     

Nitrogen deposition impacts on the amount and stability of soil organic matter in an alpine meadow ecosystem depend on the form and rate of applied nitrogen

The effects of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on carbon (C) sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems are controversial. Therefore, it is important to evaluate accurately the effects of applied N levels and forms on the amount and stability of soil organic carbon (SOC) in terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, a multi‐form, small‐input N addition experiment was conducted at the Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station from 2007 to 2011. Three N fertilizers, NH₄Cl, (NH₄)₂SO₄ and KNO₃, were applied at four rates: 0, 10, 20 and 40 kg N ha^?1 year^?1. One hundred and eight soil samples were collected at 10‐cm intervals to a depth of 30 cm in 2011. Contents and δ¹³C values of bulk SOC were measured, as well as three particle‐size fractions: macroparticulate organic C (MacroPOC, > 250 µm), microparticulate organic C (MicroPOC, 53–250 µm) and mineral‐associated organic C (MAOC, < 53 µm). The results show that 5 years of N addition changed SOC contents, δ¹³C values of the bulk soils and various particle‐size fractions in the surface 10‐cm layer, and that they were dependent on the amounts and forms of N application. Ammonium‐N addition had more significant effects on SOC content than nitrate‐N addition. For the entire soil profile, small additions of N increased SOC stock by 4.5% (0.43 kg C m^?2), while medium and large inputs of N decreased SOC stock by 5.4% (0.52 kg C m^?2) and 8.8% (0.85 kg C m^?2), respectively. The critical load of N deposition appears to be about 20 kg N ha^?1 year^?1. The newly formed C in the small‐input N treatment remained mostly in the > 250 µm soil MacroPOC, and the C lost in the medium or large N treatments was from the > 53 µm POC fraction. Five years of ammonium‐N addition increased significantly the surface soil POC:MAOC ratio and increased the instability of soil organic matter (SOM). These results suggest that exogenous N input within the critical load level will benefit C sequestration in the alpine meadow soils on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau over the short term.     

Timing patterns of nitrogen application alter plant production and CO2 efflux in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau,China

Nitrogen (N) availability is an important factor that determines ecosystem productivity and respiration, especially in N-limited alpine ecosystems. However, the magnitude of this response depends on the timing and amounts of N input. Moreover, we have only a limited understanding of the potential effects of the timing of N fertilization on ecosystem carbon (C) and N processes, and activities of the soil microbes. A nitrogen fertilization experiment was conducted in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau to determine how plant productivity and ecosystem respiration (RE) respond to the timing and amount of N application. In this study, half of the N was added either in the early spring (ES), before the growing season, or in the late fall (LF), after the growing season. All treatments received the other half of the N in mid-July. Three N levels (10, 20, 40 kg N hm⁻² yr⁻¹) were used for each of two N treatments, with no N addition used as a control. Plant aboveground biomass, ecosystem respiration (RE) and soil respiration (RS) were measured for the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons. The LF treatment enhanced ecosystem CO₂ efflux compared with the ES treatment at high N addition levels, resulting from an increase of soil dissolved organic C (DOC) and soil microbial activity. The ES treatment resulted in increased plant aboveground biomass when compared with LF during both growing seasons, although this increase accounted for little variation in ecosystem and soil respiration. Overall, the ES treatment is likely to increase the ecosystem C pool, while the LF treatment could accelerate ecosystem C cycling, especially for the high N treatment. Our results suggest that supplying N during the early stage of the growing season benefits both forage production and soil C sequestration in this alpine ecosystem.     

Short‐term sequestration of slurry‐derived carbon and nitrogen in temperate grassland soil as assessed by 13C and 15N natural abundance measurements

Land application of animal wastes from intensive grassland farming has caused growing environmental problems during the last decade. This study aimed to elucidate the short‐term sequestration of slurry‐derived C and N in a temperate grassland soil (Southwest England) using natural abundance ¹³C and ¹⁵N stable isotope techniques. Slurry was collected from cows fed either on perennial ryegrass (C3) or maize (C4) silages. 50 m³ ha^—1 of each of the obtained C3 or C4 slurries (δ¹³C = —30.7 and —21.3‰, δ¹⁵N = +12.2 and + 13.8 ‰, respectively) were applied to a C₃ soil with δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of —30.0 ± 0.2‰ and + 4.9 ± 0.3‰, respectively. Triplicate soil samples were taken from 0—2, 2—7.5, and 7.5—15 cm soil depth 90 and 10 days before, at 2 and 12 h, as well as at 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14 days after slurry application and analyzed for total C, N, δ¹³C, and δ¹⁵N. No significant differences in soil C and N content were observed following slurry application using conventional C and N analysis techniques. However, natural abundance ¹³C and ¹⁵N isotope analysis allowed for a sensitive temporal quantification of the slurry‐derived C and N sequestration in the grassland soil. Our results showed that within 12 hours more than one‐third of the applied slurry C was found in the uppermost soil layer (0—2 cm), decreasing to 18% after 2 days, but subsequently increasing to 36% after 2 weeks. The tentative estimate of slurry‐derived N in the soil suggested a decrease from 50% 2 hours after slurry application to only 26% after 2 weeks, assuming that the increase in δ¹⁵N of the slurry plots compared to the control is proportional to the amount of slurry‐incorporated N. We conclude that the natural abundance tracer technique can provide a rapid new clue to the fate of slurry in agricultural C and N budgets, which is important for environmental impacts, farm waste management, and climate change studies.     

Identifying resource competition in maize-based soil conservation systems using 13C and 15N isotopic discrimination

Soil conservation measures such as establishing grass barriers or cover crops effectively control erosion but also provoke competition, which reduces yields of companion crops. We used ¹³C and ¹⁵N natural abundance profiles to identify the causes of competition of soil conservation measures on a field with 59% slope in Northwest Vietnam three years after establishment. Treatments were maize under farmer’s practice (T1, control), maize with Guinea grass barriers (T2), maize under minimum tillage (MT) with Pinto peanuts as cover crop (T3), and maize under MT and relay cropped with Adzuki beans (T4). A pretest using data from zero-N plots revealed that abundance of water and limited nitrogen availability induced low grain N concentrations, enriched leaf δ¹³C, and reduced maize grain yield. Similar low N leaf concentrations and elevated δ¹³C values were observed in maize growing close to frequently pruned grass barriers under positive water balance conditions, indicating that yield decline in these rows can be attributed mainly to N competition. Enriched δ¹⁵N values of maize from rows next to barriers indicated reliance on soil N rather than on ¹⁵N-depleted fertiliser N. Vigorous cover crop growth under MT resulted in maize yield decline due to N competition while relay-cropped legumes did not trigger inter-species competition having a similar maize yield, leaf N concentration, δ¹³C, and δ¹⁵N as the control.     

Short-term carbon and nitrogen dynamics in soil,litterfall and canopy of a suburban native forest subjected to prescribed burning in subtropical Australia

Purpose

This study aimed to understand the mechanisms of the variations in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools and examine the possibility of differentiating the burning effects from seasonal and pre-existed N limitations in a native suburban forest ecosystem influenced by prescribed burning in subtropical Australia.

Materials and methods

Soil and litterfall samples were collected from two study sites from 1 to 23 months since last burnt. Soil labile C and N pools, soil C and N isotopic compositions (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N), litterfall mass production (LM), and litterfall total C, total N, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N were analysed. In-situ gas exchange measurements were also conducted during dry and wet seasons for Eucalyptus baileyana and E. planchoniana.

Results and discussion

The results indicated that labile C and N pools increased within the first few months after burning, with no correlations with climatic factors. Therefore, it was possible that the increase was due to the burning-induced factors such as the incorporation of ashes into the soil. The highest values of soil and litterfall δ¹⁵N, observed when the study was commenced at the experimental sites, and their high correlations with climatic factors were indicative of long-term N and water limitation. The ¹³C signals showed that soil N concentrations and climatic factors were also two of the main factors controlling litterfall and foliage properties mainly through the changes in photosynthetic capacity and stomatal conductance.

Conclusions

Long-term soil N availabilities and climatic factors were the two of the main driving factors of C and N cycling in the studied forest sites. Further studies are needed to compare soil and litterfall properties before and after burning to profoundly understand the effects of prescribed burning on soil labile C and N variations.