Authors: YaLin Hu DeHui Zeng YunXia Liu YuLan Zhang ZhenHua Chen ZhengQuan Wang
Publish Date: 2010/02/26
Volume: 333, Issue: 1-2, Pages: 81-92
Abstract
Soil microbial properties play a key role in belowground ecosystem functioning but are not well understood in forest ecosystems under nitrogen N enrichment In this study soil samples from 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm layers were collected from a Dahurian larch Larix gmelinii Rupr plantation in Northeast China after six consecutive years of N addition to examine changes in soil pH nutrient concentrations and microbial biomass and activities Nitrogen addition significantly decreased soil pH and total phosphorus but had little effect on soil total organic carbon TOC and total N TN concentrations The NO 3 − N concentrations in the two soil layers under N addition were significantly higher than that in the control while NH 4 + N concentrations were not different After six years of N addition potential net N mineralization and nitrification rates were dramatically increased Nitrogen addition decreased microbial biomass C MBC and N MBN and MBC/TOC and MBN/TN in the 0–10 cm soil layer but MBC/MBN was increased by 67 in the 0–10 cm soil layer Soil basal respiration microbial metabolic quotient qCO2 and βglucosidase urease acid phosphomonoesterase and nitrate reductase activities in the two soil layers showed little change after six years of N addition However soil protease and dehydrogenase activities in the 0–10 cm layer were 41 and 54 lower in the N addition treatment than in the control respectively Collectively our results suggest that in the midterm N addition leads to a decline in soil quality in larch plantations and that different soil enzymes show differentiated responses to N additionThis work was supported by the Key Programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences grant No KZCX2YW40501 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China grant No 30130160 We thank Scott X Chang and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments which helped in improving the manuscript Authors thank R Mao for laboratory analyses and others for field assistance and gratefully acknowledge the Maoershan Forest Research Station of Northeast Forestry University for permission to access the study site
Keywords: