Influences of nitrogen addition and aboveground litter-input manipulations on soil respiration and biochemical properties in a subtropical forest

Publication date: Available online 10 December 2019Source: Soil Biology and BiochemistryAuthor(s): Yong PENG, Si-yi SONG, Zeng-yan LI, Shun LI, Guan-tao CHEN, Hong-ling HU, Jiu-long XIE, Gang CHEN, Yin-long XIAO, Li LIU, Yi TANG, Li-hua TUAbstract:Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has rapidly increased in subtropical ecosystems and may have altered the input of aboveground litter to soil, which substantially impacts soil carbon (C) and nutrient cycling. But how the soil processes and properties respond to N deposition under uncertain fresh litter input is poorly understood. In order to examine the responses of soil respiration and biochemical properties to N addition and aboveground litter manipulation, a field N addition and litterfall manipulation interaction experiment was performed in an evergreen broadleaf forest on the western edge of the Sichuan Basin in China. Three levels of N addition, including an N control (CN, ambient N input) and low N (LN, + 50 kg N ha−1 year−1) and high N (HN, + 150 kg N ha−1 year−1), and three levels of litterfall manipulation, including intact litter input (L0, no litter alteration), litter reduction (L−, reduced by 50%) and litter addition (L+, increased by 50%), were conducted monthly starting in January 2014 and August 2015, respectively. Soil respiration was measured monthly from January 2016 to December 2017. Soil samples were collected four times, in October 2016 and January, April and July 2017, to measure soil biochemical...
Source: Soil Biology and Biochemistry - Category: Biology Source Type: research