Dinitrogen fixation by biological soil crusts in an Inner Mongolian steppe

Eurasian steppe ecosystems are nitrogen-limited and suffer additionally from high grazing intensities in many areas. Soil surface-bound cyanobacteria are able to fix nitrogen and can be the major source of plant available nitrogen in such ecosystems. In this study, the abundance and dinitrogen fixation capacity of the most common soil surface-bound microbial and lichen species were determined at an ungrazed, a winter-grazed, and a heavily grazed steppe site in the Xilin River catchment, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China. The microorganisms were identified as Nostoc spec. and the lichen species as Xanthoparmelia camtschadalis (Ach.) Hale by a combination of classical light microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy and molecular analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) region of ribosomal RNA. Both species were found exclusively at grazed steppe sites, with a clear difference in abundance depending on the grazing intensity. At the winter-grazed site, Nostoc was more abundant than Xanthoparmelia; for the heavily grazed site, the opposite was found. N₂ fixation was quantified with both the acetylene reduction method and ¹⁵N₂ incubation. Cyanobacterial colonies of Nostoc fixed N₂ vigorously, whereas X. camtschadalis did not at all. The fraction of nitrogen derived from the fixation of molecular nitrogen in Nostoc was 73%, calculated from ¹⁵N natural abundance measurements of Nostoc with X. camtschadalis as reference. The conservatively calculated N₂ uptake by Nostoc was 0.030–0.033 kg N ha⁻¹ for the heavily grazed site and 0.080–0.087 kg N ha⁻¹ for the winter-grazed site for the growing seasons of 2004 and 2005, respectively. Together with previous findings, this study demonstrates that N₂ fixation by Nostoc can potentially replace significant amounts, if not all, of the nitrogen lost in the form of N₂O and NO soil emissions in this steppe ecosystem.     

Effects of grazing by sheep on the structure of methane-oxidizing bacterial community of steppe soil

Soils of three sites were studied in the Inner Mongolia steppe; one site non-grazed for 26 yr (NG26), another site non-grazed for 6 yr (NG6) and a third site freely grazed all along (FG). The composition of methantrophic communities was characterized by pmoA gene fragments (coding for a subunit of particulate methane monooxygenase) that were PCR amplified from total soil DNA extracts, using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) method. Cluster analysis based on the DGGE band patterns indicated that the methanotrophic communities structure of NG6 and FG soils were similar to each other but different from that of NG26 soil. Sequence analysis showed that most bands belonged to the cluster of USCγ. This is the first report that USCγ cluster is dominated in the grassland soil.     

不同放牧强度对呼伦贝尔羊草草甸草原土壤活性有机碳的影响

土壤活性有机碳是土壤中较为活跃的化学组分,能反映土壤有机碳(SOC)的有效性,可作为土壤质量和肥力的指示性指标。研究探讨放牧干扰对羊草草甸草原土壤活性有机碳的影响,从而了解放牧对草地生态系统中碳循环的影响机制,旨在为退化草地生态恢复过程提供理论支撑。依托于呼伦贝尔草原生态系统国家野外科学观测研究站的长期肉牛放牧平台,分析6种不同放牧强度[不放牧(G0.00)、较轻度放牧(G0.23)、轻度放牧(G0.34)、中度放牧(G0.46)、重度放牧(G0.69)、极重度放牧(G0.92)]下羊草草甸草原土壤活性有机碳的变化,并探讨其相关性。结果表明:(1)土壤有机碳和活性碳组分的含量在不同土层间差异显著,随着土层深度的增加,SOC和活性有机碳[颗粒有机碳(POC)、可溶性有机碳(DOC)、微生物生物量碳(MBC)、易氧化有机碳(EOC)]含量均显著降低。(2)不同土层活性有机碳占比与放牧强度呈线性正相关,随着放牧强度的增加土壤活性有机碳占比也随之增加,不同放牧强度不同土层下土壤各形态活性有机碳占比呈POC>EOC>MBC>DOC的趋势,且EOC、MBC和POC占比随土壤深度增加而降低。(3)随着放牧强度的增加,植被群落地上生物量、地下生物量和土壤水分均呈下降趋势。(4)放牧强度与SOC和DOC呈显著负相关;植被群落地上生物量与土壤碳组分间呈显著正相关;地下生物量与DOC之间呈极显著正相关;土壤温度与POC呈显著负相关;土壤水分与POC呈极显著正相关,与SOC之间呈显著正相关。研究表明:放牧会降低地上生物量、地下生物量和土壤水分,适度放牧不仅能增加土壤有机碳和活性碳组分,而且能增加土壤活性碳占比,且符合中度干扰     

放牧模式对内蒙古典型草原生长季土壤呼吸速率的影响

【目的】放牧改变了典型草原生产力和土壤养分循环,影响了植被和土壤微生物的生长状况,进而使草原土壤碳排放量发生变化。本研究通过分析不同放牧措施下内蒙古典型草原生长季土壤呼吸速率 (Rs) 的差异,了解不同放牧管理模式影响草原碳交换和碳平衡的主要途径。【方法】基于内蒙古典型草原全年放牧、休牧及禁牧三种放牧措施,于2014和2015年的7月和9月对Rs进行原位测定,并分析了不同放牧措施下Rs及其影响因子的差异。【结果】1) 三种放牧措施下,Rs表现为休牧样地 [CO₂ 2.00 μmol/(m2·s)] > 禁牧样地 [CO₂ 1.94 μmol/(m2·s)]> 全年放牧样地 [CO₂ 1.56 μmol/(m2·s)]。放牧对Rs的影响还存在季节效应,7月份放牧降低了Rs,而9月份放牧则提高了Rs。2) 与禁牧措施相比,放牧和休牧管理均降低了地上生物量(70.6%和47.3%)、土壤总碳含量(34.5%和32.0%)、土壤总氮含量(37.0%和34.5%),但休牧显著提高了根系生物量(37.2%)。全年放牧样地中土壤可溶性有机碳提高,但微生物磷脂脂肪酸含量下降。3) 7月份Rs主要与土壤湿度和地上生物量显著正相关,而9月份则与土壤温度和土壤PLFAs含量显著正相关。结构方程模型 (SEM) 结果显示,土壤温度 (0.905) 和湿度 (0.188) 通过影响微生物和根系的代谢环境对生长季Rs起主导作用,放牧通过降低土壤湿度和地上生物量对Rs有抑制作用 (–0.137)。【结论】全年放牧通过抑制微生物的生长降低了土壤呼吸速率,休牧通过提高根系生物量增加了土壤呼吸速率,说明放牧对内蒙古典型草原生长季土壤呼吸速率的影响途径因放牧模式的不同而不同。     

Vegetation characteristics and soil properties in grazing exclusion areas of the Inner Mongolia desert steppe

In arid and semi-arid desert steppe areas, grazing exclusion with fencing is widely regarded as an effective strategy for restoring degraded vegetation and enhancing the quality of degraded soil. In this study, we hypothesized that grazing exclusion caused by fencing enhances both vegetation and soil properties, and that the longer an area is fenced, the more considerable the improvement. We conducted an observational study wherein random sampling was utilized to select 9 plots fenced for ten or more years, 25 plots fenced for four to nine years, 25 plots fenced for one to three years and 29 free-grazing plots within an area of approximately 63,000 km² of Inner Mongolia desert steppe. A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences in the characteristics of grassland vegetation or soil properties between grasslands fenced for one to three years and free-grazing grassland. After 4 years of fencing, noticeable increases in above-ground biomass, litter content, Simpson index, soil organic carbon, and available nitrogen were observed. Significant positive differences in vegetation coverage, height, species richness, soil available phosphorus, and available potassium were associated with plots with a minimum of 10 years of fencing. The soil layer with the greatest difference in the fenced-in areas for soil organic carbon was at 0–25 cm. For available nitrogen and available phosphorus, fencing produced the most significant differences in the 0–20 cm soil layer, while for available potassium, fencing produced the most significant differences in the 0–30 cm soil layer. However, the fencing did not indicate any statistically significant differences in terms of clay, silt, and sand content in any soil layer. The data support our hypothesis that grazing exclusion improves both vegetation and soil properties, and that longer periods of grazing exclusion result in greater degrees of improvement. This research offers technical guidance for the reasonable choice of fencing time across a vast area of the Inner Mongolian desert steppe.     

放牧和刈割对草甸草原中小型土壤动物群落的影响

为了解放牧和刈割对草甸草原中小型土壤动物群落结构的影响,于2019~2020年在内蒙古呼伦贝尔市鄂温克旗贝加尔针茅草甸草原采用自由放牧、刈割和围封3种不同草地利用方式下,研究了内蒙古草甸草原中小型土壤动物群落结构特征。调查研究在草地返青期、生长期和枯黄期3个时期进行,共捕获中小型土壤动物284只,隶属于12目34个类群。结果表明:放牧导致中小型土壤动物数量、类群数和多样性指数降低,而刈割影响相对较轻;返青期、生长期、枯黄期对应的春、夏、秋三季中小型土壤动物群落结构存在明显差异,土壤动物个体数、类群数和多样性指数均在草地枯黄期最多。放牧和刈割利用方式下改变了草甸草原中小型土壤动物在草地生长期Shannon-Weiner指数、Margalef指数、Pielou指数的变化趋势。中小型土壤动物群落表聚性在刈割利用方式中表现最为典型,放牧利用方式下0~10 cm土层中小型土壤动物有向10~20 cm 土层移动趋势;土壤pH和速效钾含量与中小型土壤动物类群有密切关系。     

放牧对荒漠草原植物生物量及土壤养分的影响

以宁夏荒漠草原为研究对象,探讨放牧对荒漠草原植物多样性、 生物量及土壤养分特征的影响。结果表明, 放牧对荒漠草原植物群落多样性、 均匀度和丰富度影响显著。植物群落多样性和均匀度随着放牧强度的增加均呈先增加后降低的趋势,在轻度放牧达到最大值。同围封禁牧相比,重度、 中度和轻度放牧草地的植物地上和地下部生物量显著降低,分别降低了43.8%、 42.0%、 15.4% 和 27.7%、16.2%、11.9%。土壤有机碳随着放牧强度的增加而降低,而土壤全氮含量随着放牧强度的增加呈先增加后降低的趋势。围封禁牧草地土壤有机碳比重度放牧增加了18.1%,而土壤全磷、 速效磷和全钾含量分别降低了 21.1%、 51.9% 和 11.0%。土壤有机碳含量对植物群落地上和地下部生物量的影响大于土壤全氮、 全磷、 全钾、 速效磷和速效钾。放牧干扰下荒漠草原土壤环境及其养分含量,能在一定程度上反映植物群落多样性和生物量的变化。     

Spatial variability in soil heat flux at three Inner Mongolia steppe ecosystems

Closing the energy budget at flux measurement sites is problematic, even when the fetch extends over flat, homogeneous surfaces with low vegetation cover. We used the residual energy balance and ordinary least square (OLS) linear regression methods to quantify spatial variability in soil heat flux contributing to energy balance closure (EBC), by deploying a mobile energy system within the footprints of three Eddy-covariance towers located in the steppe of Inner Mongolia, China. The EBC at the study sites had a daily average residual of 8–19 W m⁻² with OLS slopes of 0.83–0.96. The EBC was better achieved at the wet site than at the dry site. The spatial variability in soil heat flux was 48 W m⁻² (13% of R_n) during the day and 15 W m⁻² (34%) at night, with an average of 29 W m⁻² (24%) across the three sites. A 9% OLS slope difference due to this variability was recorded from our eight plot measurements. A large amount of missing energy (110 W m⁻² at peak) could occur with decreasing OLS slope of 23% across the three grassland sites when soil heat flux is not taken into account. In particular, heat storage in the top soil layer not only influenced the magnitude of EBC, but also adjusted soil heat flux to match the ‘truth schedule’. Heat storage in the top soil layer comprised half of the soil heat flux when the heat flux plate was deployed at a depth of 30 mm. If this part of heat storage was neglected, the residual of EBC would increase as large as 60 W m⁻² with OLS slope decreasing 9%. Comparing them with the multiple-location soil heat flux measurements, the single-location measurements from near the Eddy-covariance towers obtained a slightly better EBC with the OLS slope increasing by 4%.     

蒙古高原中部草地土壤冻融过程及土壤含水量分布

利用土壤剖面的温度、湿度观测数据,结合气象资料初步分析了蒙古高原中部典型针茅草原在季节转变过程中(2003～2004年)的土壤冻融过程和土壤含水量分布动态。研究表明,0～150cm深度范围的土壤完全冻结天数为154～160d。冻融日循环主要发生在表层0～5cm。0～30cm土层的土壤含水量变化剧烈,与地温有较好的一致性。0～10cm深度土壤含水量高于其他土层。随着深度的增加,土壤含水量季节波动性变小。冻结过程有利于保持土壤水分,有利于春季草地植被返青。     

肃北高寒草原不同放牧强度土壤养分变化特征

研究了肃北高寒草原不同放牧强度下不同土层土壤养分及 5 种微量元素有效态含量变化特征。结果表明：①高寒草原土壤物理性质的变化对土壤养分及微量元素具有重要的调控作用;②随着放牧强度的提高,0 ~ 10、10 ~ 20 cm 土层土壤体积质量均呈不同程度的增加,土壤孔隙度和土壤含水量则呈显著的递减趋势;③轻度放牧草地土壤有机质、土壤全 N 含量高于中度放牧和重度放牧草地;20 ~ 30 cm 土层有机质随放牧强度的增大呈明显下降趋势,即随放牧强度的增大深层土壤肥力呈退化趋势;肃北高寒草原的速效养分以多 N 少 P 富 K 为特点,土壤速效 N、P、K 含量在总体上随放牧强度的增加呈下降趋势;④肃北高寒草原 5 种微量元素的高低顺序依次是：Na＞Fe＞Mn＞Cu＞Zn,不同放牧强度下各微量元素的变化一致,顺序依次是：轻度放牧＞对照＞中度放牧＞重度放牧;⑤放牧强度对 10 ~ 20 cm 的土层影响最大,随放牧强度的增大,地表植物营养吸收层土壤营养成分、微量元素呈降低,导致地表植被生长能力降低,最终导致地表土壤沙化,最后使草地大面积退化。     

Carbon storage in low‐alpine grassland soils: effects of different grazing intensities of sheep

Grazing in outlying fields has a long history and is important in local communities worldwide. During the last few decades, grazing pressure has both decreased and increased in alpine ecosystems, but little is known about the effects on soil carbon storage. As part of a sheep grazing experiment with three sheep stocking rates of no sheep (control), 25 and 80 sheep km^?2, we tested effects of grazing on soil organic carbon storage, the form of soil organic matter (SOM) and its lability (potential carbon mineralization) in organic horizons of low‐alpine grasslands in southern Norway. After 7 years of grazing, the greatest sheep density reduced soil organic carbon concentration (% SOC) and carbon stocks at equivalent soil mass as compared with the control. In contrast, the low stocking rate caused no change or a slight increase. The form of SOM, expressed as ratios of particulate organic carbon to soil organic carbon, was only slightly affected by grazing, with a small decrease and moderate increase at the greater and smaller stocking rate, respectively. The lability of SOM was not affected by grazing directly, but was significantly related to the mineral content of the O‐horizons. In general, there were large differences between the plant communities of snowbed and willow‐shrub for several soil attributes. We concluded that 7 years of grazing had limited impacts on stocks, form and lability of SOM.     

秸秆还田与施肥方式对稻麦轮作土壤细菌和真菌群落结构与多样性的影响

为探索秸秆还田与施肥方式2种农田措施对水稻-小麦(稻麦)轮作土壤微生物群落的影响,阐释其对土壤细菌和真菌群落结构和多样性的影响机制,本研究通过7年稻麦轮作长期定位监测试验,设置无肥空白(CK)、常规施肥(RT)、秸秆还田+常规施肥(RS)和秸秆还田+缓释肥(SS) 4个处理,采用Illumina Miseq高通量测序技术,分析土壤细菌和真菌群落结构和多样性,探索影响微生物群落的主控环境因子。结果表明, SS作物产量在2016年和2017年分别比RT显著提高11.6%和8.2%(水稻)、4.8%和3.6%(小麦),与RS无显著差异。相比RT,秸秆还田处理显著降低了土壤pH,提升了土壤有机碳和铵态氮含量;与RS相比,SS处理提高了铵态氮含量。秸秆还田处理提升了真菌群落多样性,但对细菌群落多样性无显著影响。SS与RS在细菌真菌群落多样性方面均无显著差异。相关性分析表明,细菌群落多样性与土壤pH呈负相关,与总氮含量呈正相关;真菌群落多样性则与土壤有机碳含量显著正相关。NMDS分析表明,施肥对于细菌群落结构影响较大(55.61%),真菌群落结构则对秸秆还田响应更明显(26.94%)。与RT相比,秸秆还田显著提升了细菌放线菌门、绿弯菌门、厚壁菌门的相对丰度,同时显著提升了真菌中子囊菌门的相对丰度,降低了担子菌门和接合菌门的相对丰度,加强了土壤碳氮循环能力并抑制了病原菌。SS与RS相比,仅提升了真菌中子囊菌门的相对丰度。综上,秸秆还田配施缓释肥有助于维持或者提高土壤养分有效性、作物产量及细菌真菌群落多样性,可以促进土壤碳氮循环。     

Partitioning soil respiration in a temperate desert steppe in Inner Mongolia using exponential regression method

Accurately partitioning soil respiration into autotrophic and heterotrophic components is important for understanding how ecosystem carbon budgets will respond to climate change. Usually, heterotrophic respiration can be estimated by a linear relationship between soil respiration and root biomass. In this study, however, we found that an exponential relationship was more appropriate than a linear relationship for relating soil respiration to root biomass in a temperate desert steppe in Inner Mongolia, China.     

Moderate sheep grazing in semiarid shrubland alters small-scale soil surface structure and patch properties

We investigated whether long-term moderate livestock grazing by sheep (ca. 10 animal unit days/ha) in a semiarid shrubland with a long-term average annual rainfall of 200 mm causes changes in soil surface structure and dimensions of shrub and intershrub patches. We examined grazing-induced changes in landscape patchiness, patch structure, and soil moisture in three grazed and three ungrazed plots of 4 m × 4 m on a south-facing slope and the opposite, more productive north-facing slope. The measurements were done in early spring 2001 and 2002 before grazing started, in two surveys, one using two parallel transects and one using sample quadrats of 20 cm × 30 cm under three shrubs per plot and on an adjacent part of the intershrub matrix. On the north-facing slope, the sheep reduced shrub patch size as they trampled the soil mounds under the shrubs and browsed the shrub canopy. Reduced shrub patch size decreases the area and resources available for plant production. On the south-facing slope, the sheep mainly disrupted the soil crust in the intershrub area. This may increase soil erosion, but also seedling establishment. The contrast in impacts on the two slopes is due to the interaction between environment (productivity, exposure and vegetation) and sheep behavior (herbivory and trampling). On both slopes, the changes due to grazing are significant, though small. Changes in patch size and properties induced by moderate grazing can have positive and negative effects on productivity and diversity, but may also be viewed as early signs of landscape degradation as is often caused by heavy grazing.     

Effects of crop abandonment and grazing exclusion on available soil water and other soil properties in a semi-arid Mongolian grassland

Improper cropping and overgrazing have led to land degradation in semi-arid regions, resulting in desertification. During desertification, vegetation changes have been widely observed, and are likely controlled to some extent by soil water. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in soil physical properties, organic C, and vegetation induced by land-use changes, with special reference to the dynamics of available soil water. We selected four study sites in a typical Mongolian steppe grassland: grassland protected from grazing, grazed grassland, abandoned cropland, and cultivated cropland. Grazing exclusion increased the cover of perennial grass, with little increase in the root weight. Since there was no difference in available water between the grasslands with and without grazing, there appears to be no serious soil compaction due to overgrazing. On the other hand, vegetation cover and the number of species were poor in both abandoned cropland and cultivated cropland. However, the root weight was greater in abandoned cropland. Although the abandonment of cultivation appeared to increase organic C, available water did not differ significantly in comparison with cultivated cropland. The silt contents were significantly lower in abandoned and cultivated cropland than in both grasslands, suggesting the effects of wind erosion. In addition, the silt contents were positively correlated with the volume fraction of storage pores for available water. Therefore, the lower silt contents may constrain the volume of available water in abandoned cropland. Moreover, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity results indicated that the diameters of storage pores for available water at the present study sites were smaller than those suggested by previous studies. Although the differences in vegetation cover by different land-use types were observed at every site, differences in the volume of available water were observed at between abandoned cropland and cultivated cropland. The reason why the no differences in available water between grazed grassland and grasslands protected from grazing may be short time of grazing exclusion for 2 years for evaluating the effects of exclusion on soil properties.     

Changes in soil properties following shrub encroachment in the semiarid Inner Mongolian grasslands of China

ABSTRACT

Shrub encroachment is very common in the semiarid regions of China. However, surprisingly little research has been conducted to evaluate the effects of shrubs on soil properties in these regions compared with other regions in the world. Three sites, one without shrub (state 1), one with 13% shrub coverage (state 2), and the third one with 40% shrub coverage (state 3) in the semiarid Inner Mongolian grasslands were selected to investigate the effects of the shrub Caragana microphylla Lam on soil properties. Soil samples were collected from three sites to evaluate the changes of bulk density (BD), grain size distribution, aggregate stability, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and soil water content (SWC) with the development of shrub encroachment. The results showed that BD and soil sand declined, and silt, aggregate >2 mm and the mean weight diameter (MWD) rose from state 1 to state 3, especially in 20–60 cm depths. With the shrub encroachment, the content of SOC and TN increased, and especially, the increase trends were more obvious in the deeper soil than in the surface soil. SWC increased with the development of shrub encroachment at 20–60 cm depths. Greater and deeper water infiltration existed after heavy rainfall in states 2 and 3, suggesting that macropore ?ow appeared in shrub encroachment sites. All these results indicated that shrub encroachment improved soil physicochemical properties, particularly in deep soil.     

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.     

Impact of expected increase in precipitation intensities on soil loss—results of comparative model simulations

The impact of the expected climate change on the frequency and extent of soil erosion processes is hardly assessable so far. This is mainly because available models of climate change reliably produce at best mean daily precipitation data, whereas erosion is the result of extreme but short time rainfall and runoff events, normally lasting no longer than a few hours. The frequency and intensity of these extreme rainfall events are expected to increase in some regions, which could lead to increased erosion rates. Mathematical models are able to describe erosion rates under conditions of these extreme events, however, so far prognostic meteorological data necessary for the application of these models are not available.The use of a new method for the projection of meteorological time series and their extremes using global climate simulations [Enke and Spekat, 1997, Enke, 2000, Enke, 2003, Enke et al., 2005 and Enke et al., in press] permits for the first time an approximation of future soil loss.This research is based on simulated, high resolution data for extreme rainfall events in the period of 2031–2050, which reproduces the mean frequency, intensity and duration of future events with high precipitation intensities relevant to erosion within the investigated seasonal period from June to August. The simulations are performed for two exemplary sites in Saxony, based on the EROSION 2D model (Schmidt, J., 1990. A mathematical model to simulate rainfall erosion, Catena, Suppl. 19), which is a process-based soil erosion model for simulating soil erosion and deposition by water on single slopes. Simulated precipitation for the 2031–2050 time period is used to model soil loss, and results are compared to soil loss based on 20 years of measured precipitation from 1981 to 2000.The simulation results allow the impacts of climate change on erosion rates to be quantified by comparing current climate with predicted, future climate. However, expected changes in land use due to changed economic conditions are not taken into account in this analysis.     

Long-time precipitation reduction and nitrogen deposition increase alter soil nitrogen dynamic by influencing soil bacterial communities and functional groups

The effects of precipitation reduction and nitrogen deposition increase on soil bacterial communities and functions impact soil nitrogen cycling. Seasonal changes could modify the effects of precipitation reduction and nitrogen deposition increase on bacterial communities and functions by changing soil environments and properties. Understanding soil microbial communities and the seasonal response of functions to precipitation reduction and nitrogen deposition increase may be important for the accurate prediction of changes in the soil nitrogen dynamics. Thus, a long-term field simulation experiment of nitrogen deposition increase and throughfall exclusion was established to investigate soil bacterial communities’ response to nitrogen deposition increase and/or precipitation reduction, with no nitrogen deposition increase and no precipation reduction as a control, in a temperate forest. We examined soil bacterial communities (Illumina sequencing) under different treatments during the winter, freezing-thawing cycle periods (FTCs), and growing season. The bacterial functional groups were predicted by the FAPROTAX database. The results showed that nitrogen deposition increase, precipitation reduction, the combined effect of nitrogen deposition increase and precipitation reduction, and seasonal changes significantly altered the soil bacterial community composition. Interestingly, by combining the result of a previous study in which nitrogen deposition increase increased the nitrous oxide flux in the same experimental system, the loss of soil nitrogen was increased by the decrease in denitrification and increase of nitrification bacteria under nitrogen deposition increase, while ammonification bacteria significantly increased and N-fixing bacteria significantly decreased with precipitation reduction compared to the control. In relation to seasonal changes, the aromatic-degrading, cellulolytic, and ureolytic bacteria were lowest during FTCs, which indicated that FTCs might inhibit biodegradation. Nitrification and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria increased with nitrogen deposition increase or precipitation reduction and in FTCs compared to the control or other seasons. The interaction between treatment and season significantly changed the soil bacterial communities and functions. These results highlight that nitrogen deposition increase, precipitation reduction, seasonal changes, and their interactions might directly alter bacterial communities and indirectly alter the dynamics of soil N.