Sheep manure application increases soil exchangeable base cations in a semi-arid steppe of Inner Mongolia

The long-term productivity of a soil is greatly influenced by cation exchange capacity（CEC）.Moreover,interactions between dominant base cations and other nutrients are important for the health and stability of grassland ecosystems.Soil exchangeable base cations and cation ratios were examined in a 11-year experiment with sheep manure application rates 0–1,500 g/（m2？a） in a semi-arid steppe in Inner Mongolia of China,aiming to clarify the relationships of base cations with soil p H,buffer capacity and fertility.Results showed that CEC and contents of exchangeable calcium（Ca2＋）,magnesium（Mg2＋）,potassium（K＋） and sodium（Na＋） were significantly increased,and Ca2＋ saturation tended to decrease,while K＋ saturation tended to increase with the increases of sheep manure application rates.The Ca2＋/Mg2＋ and Ca2＋/K＋ ratios decreased,while Mg2＋,K＋ and Na＋ saturations increased with increasing manure application rates.Both base cations and CEC were significantly and positively correlated with soil organic carbon（SOC） and soil p H.The increases of SOC and soil p H would be the dominant factors that contribute to the increase of cations in soil.On a comparison with the initial soil p H before the experiment,we deduced that sheep manure application could partly buffer soil p H decrease potentially induced by atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur.Our results indicate that sheep manure application is beneficial to the maintenance of base cations and the buffering of soil acidification,and therefore can improve soil fertility in the semi-arid steppes of northeastern China.

氮添加抑制温带草甸草原凋落物的长期分解

植物凋落物分解是陆地生态系统碳平衡和养分周转的关键,对持续的人为氮输入增加十分敏感。氮素增加影响凋落物分解的研究大多依赖于短期实验,这可能掩盖氮素增加对凋落物分解的真实影响。因此,长期实验对于全面评价凋落物分解对氮素增加的响应是非常必要的。本研究基于氮添加实验(0-50 g N m^(-2) yr^(-1)),对羊草(Leymus chinensis)凋落物分解进行了长达4年的研究,探讨了影响凋落物分解的非生物和生物因子。研究结果表明,随着氮添加速率的增加,凋落物分解速率呈持续下降趋势,为氮添加抑制凋落物分解提供了可靠的证据。氮添加条件下土壤环境(酸化和养分化学计量学)、微生物活性(微生物生物量和酶活性)、凋落物质量(残余木质素和养分含量)和植物群落(地上生产力和物种丰富度)的变化共同导致了凋落物分解速率的降低。在分解过程中,凋落物质量的变化,包括木质素的积累和养分的残留,主要受土壤环境和微生物活性的影响。该研究有助于阐明不同氮添加速率对凋落物分解的长期影响,并有助于理解生态系统氮素增加与碳循环之间的关系及相关机理。

Enhanced carbon acquisition and use efficiency alleviate microbial carbon relative to nitrogen limitation under soil acidification

Background:Soil microbial communities cope with an imbalanced supply of resources by adjusting their element acquisition and utilization strategies.Although soil pH has long been considered an essential driver of microbial growth and community composition,little is known about how soil acidification affects microbial acquisition and utilization of carbon(C)and nitrogen(N).To close the knowledge gap,we simulated soil acidification and created a pH gradient by adding eight levels of elemental sulfur(S)to the soil in a meadow steppe.Results:We found that S-induced soil acidification strongly enhanced the ratio of fungi to bacteria(F:B)and microbial biomass C to N(MBC:MBN)and subsequently decreased the C:N imbalance between microbial biomass and their resources.The linear decrease in the C:N imbalance with decreasing soil pH implied a conversion from N limitation to C limitation.To cope with enhanced C versus N limitation,soil microbial communities regulated the relative production of enzymes by increasing the ratio ofβ-glucosidase(BG,C-acquiring enzyme)to leucine aminopeptidase(LAP,N-acquiring enzyme),even though both enzymatic activities decreased with S addition.Structural equation modeling(SEM)suggested that higher C limitation and C:N-acquiring enzyme stimulated microbial carbon-use efficiency(CUE),which counteracted the negative effect of metal stress(i.e.,aluminum and manganese)under soil acidification.Conclusions:Overall,these results highlight the importance of stoichiometric controls in microbial adaption to soil acidification,which may help predict soil microbial responses to future acid deposition.

低频率的氮添加使内蒙古草原土壤微生物生物量碳出现更大幅度下降

土壤微生物生物量在生物地球化学循环过程中至关重要,是土壤碳固持的前体物质。人为氮输入深刻地改变了草地土壤微生物生物量。然而,传统氮沉降模拟实验仅通过低频率的氮添加进行,与持续高频率的自然氮沉降相比,对土壤微生物生物量的影响可能存在差异。不同频率的氮添加对土壤微生物生物量的影响尚缺乏可靠的数据支撑。本研究通过在不同的氮添加速率(0–50 g N m^(−2) yr^(−1))下,控制氮添加频率(每年2次和12次),研究了土壤微生物生物量碳对不同氮添加频率的响应。研究结果表明,在两种氮添加频率下,随着施氮水平的提高,土壤微生物生物量碳逐渐降低。然而,在低施氮频率下,土壤微生物生物量的下降幅度更大,这说明传统的氮添加实验可能高估了氮沉降对土壤微生物生物量的影响。在低施氮频率下,土壤酸化、无机氮积累、碳氮失衡、地下净初级生产力分配减少和真菌细菌比例降低等情况加剧,导致微生物生物量出现较大幅度下降。在未来研究中,为可靠预测氮沉降对草地生态系统土壤微生物功能和碳循环的影响,不仅要考虑氮添加的剂量,还需要考虑氮添加的频率。

Responses and sensitivity of N, P and mobile carbohydrates of dominant species to increased water, N and P availability in semi- arid grasslands in northern China

Aims We aimed to improve the understanding of the carbon and nutri-ent physiological responses and adaptation of semi-arid grassland plants to environmental changes.Methods We investigated plant leaf non-structural carbohydrate(NSC=solu-ble sugars+starch),nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P)levels in an Inner Mongolian semi-arid grassland community treated with water,N and P additions for 8 years.Two dominant grasses(Agropyron cris-tatum(L.)Gaertn.,Stipa krylovii Roshev.)and two forbs(Artemisia frigida Willd.,Potentilla bifurca L.)were analyzed.Important Findings Water addition decreased plant leaf N and P concentrations,whereas N and P addition increased them,indicating that the semi-arid grassland studied suffers from a shortage of N and P sup-ply.Both N and P addition decreased the levels of soluble sugars,starch and thus also NSC in plant leaves,which may be attributed to(i)increased carbohydrate consumption associated with a higher growth rate,and(ii)a dilution effect of greater plant size under N and P addition.Water addition tended to increase the leaf NSC levels both in the grasses(+9.2%)and forbs(+0.6%only),which may be a result of increased photosynthesis of plants with increased water availability.Under conditions of ambient and increased water supply in the present study,N addition resulted in an N/P ratio of>16 in the grasses but a significantly lower N/P ratio of<11 in the forb species.This finding implies that growth of the two grass spe-cies will be limited mainly by P availability but the forbs will still be mainly limited by N supply if N deposition,alone or in combination with summer precipitation,continues to increase as predicted in Inner Mongolia.